Session 89 Our poster this week is worried about what being a premed and medical student will do to her relationship with her children and if it gets any better. Check out all our other podcasts on MedEd Media including The Premed Years Podcast, The MCAT Podcast, and Specialty Stories. We also have the upcoming Ask Dr. Gray, Premed Q&A. I'm taking our Facebook Live videos and convert them into podcasts. We have an amazing Facebook group of over 3,000 students or simply visit our Facebook page. I cover questions you send in or something that comes up during coaching calls with students earlier in the day or the day before. Back to our episode today, we have an interesting story from a 39-year-old mother who is deciding to choose to pursue medicine. [02:13] OldPreMeds Question of the Week: "I'm a 39-year-old mother of three - five, seven, and nine years old, in Canada. And I'm very seriously considering finally applying to medical school next summer for the July 2019 start. I graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing degree in 2001 and worked as an RN for thirteen years in pediatric oncology and I loved it. I've been at home with my children for the past five years now. But my littlest is entering kindergarten and I found  myself wondering if pursuing medicine is actually a realistic call. I've wanted to be a doctor since I was nine. I talked myself out of it in university. I wasn't smart enough, didn't have what it takes, etc. But it's always been there in the back of my mind. My life took a heartbreaking turn two years ago when I was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease with pulmonary fibrosis. I'm stable now and I've been for a while. My pulmonologist knows my med school dreams and she fully supports me in this endeavor. At this point, we don't really know if I have ten years left until my disease progresses or five or forty. To which I say, no one really knows how much time they have left. You or I could be hit by a truck tomorrow. And I'll be darn if I'm just going to sit here and let this disease dictate my life. I wouldn't even mention my pulmonary fibrosis. If it weren't for the fact that being diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening lung disease. And having to navigate the medical system as a patient for the past years was the catalyst for me in deciding that I could really affect some change as a physician. I think I could truly help my patients. I need to do a year of some basic sciences and MCAT prep. And it does need to be full-time study or it doesn't count towards my GPA, which was 3.1 for my nursing degree. Suffice it to say, I'd make a much better student now than I was when I was 20. So this next year will be a lot of work and cost a lot of money with of course no guarantee that I would be accepted. I guess my hesitation isn't so much the next year or two of premed work where there isn't any actual premed or even postbac streams at my university where we live. And there's zero chance we could relocate due to my husband's job here. Work doesn't scare me. I know I can do it. My hesitation is around what it will cost my children. I'm afraid of how much less time I will have with them. I'm afraid that I won't be there when they need me the most. I feel like children need their mothers close by in the teen years maybe even more than in their early years. Of course I know that it will teach them loads about perseverance and strength and determination. But will that be enough to offset not having me around as much? I so badly wish I had a crystal ball so I could see into the future and know if it was the right decision. For those of you who are further down the path, at what point do you feel that you got your life back a little bit again? Do you feel like the sacrifices that took for you to become a doctor were worth it in the end? And any Canadians up in here?” [05:32] What Could Affect You More This is an interesting story of a nurse who has been a stay-at-home mom for the last five years. She has three kids