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Psychiatry training and career conundrums – a working mother's perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Veena Nanjangud
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The Psychiatrist , Volume 35 , Issue 8 , August 2011 , pp. 317 - 318
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2011

This letter stems from an experience of the numerous problems and choices that a working mother, and a psychiatric trainee, has to face and ones that I hope that many other working mums in psychiatry training will be able to empathise and identify with. Hopefully, it will provide some food for thought and determination to continue a career with a greater conviction.

Having chosen psychiatry as one of my specialty interests as a foundation doctor, I decided to continue my further training in psychiatry, fascinated by the subject, with the work-life balance it offers and the non-resident on-calls at many places as the added attraction. Being a trainee in core psychiatry training seemed to be the right job and the right pace of work I was looking for. But that is when our little one came into our lives and things changed.

Taking time off for maternity leave and coming back to part-time working as a less-than-full-time trainee prolonged the period of training. Specialty training lasts a good number of years and thus extended led me to think about the ‘quarter-life crisis’ Reference Atwood, Scholtz and Nicholls1 that many trainees in similar circumstances might face. Full-time training helps to achieve training goals earlier but part-time training allows for a more balanced life and more free time for family and children. 2,3 Trainees move in and out of jobs and are committed to training and flexible working.

Indeed, career goals need to be matched to individual circumstances. Many a time I struggled with swapping rotas and arranging for picking up and looking after our child. This made me think time and again whether I should just change my specialty to another interesting basic science or paraclinical subject that will help me avoid the rota headache. There is also the issue of career progression and being an ‘eternal’ trainee. This would be even more relevant if we plan to expand our family. Which reminds me of a situation when I have been jokingly advised not to have babies until becoming a consultant!

May I conclude that being a working mother and juggling family life as well as trying to make a successful career, and finding that right balance, is a tremendous, albeit immensely gratifying task indeed.

References

1 Atwood, JD, Scholtz, C, Nicholls, I. The quarter-life time period: an age of indulgence, crisis or both? Contemp Fam Therapy 2008; 30: 233–50.Google Scholar
2 NHS Medical Careers. Less than full time training. NHS Medical Careers, 2011 (http://www.medicalcareers.nhs.uk/career_options/less_than_full_time_training.aspx).Google Scholar
3 Modernising Medical Careers. A Reference Guide for Postgraduate Specialty Training in the UK – The Gold Guide, Fourth Edition. Modernising Medical Careers, 2010 (http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/specialty_training/specialty_training_2011_final/gold_guide.aspx).Google Scholar
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