Yr 2 Perspective of a Med School Wife: Megan

Megan is a new contributor to my little review game, so I'll tell you a little bit about her before writing her responses. Megan is married to Devin who is a second year medical student at Western University - COMP NW. They have a little boy, SJ, who just turned two. I remember meeting Megan and Devin at the beginning of first year and SJ couldn't walk yet. It was fun to watch him escalate from crawling to running! Scott and I see these three often to play games, talk sports (while Megan, SJ, and I observe), or on occasion find ourselves at Buffalo Wild Wings. We will miss them when they move to Medford for locations, but already hooked them up to live in my parents neighborhood!

What are your responsibilities while your husband is at school this year?

This year I started working at WOW! Fitness' day care. It has been a blessing and a challenge. Our day usually consists of working at the day care in the morning, coming home and preparing lunch for Devin and SJ, putting SJ down for a nap and then heading back to the gym for a couple more hours. I take care of the cooking, cleaning and taking care of SJ so that Devin has time to focus on school. On days that I don't work at the gym I have been busy with my church calling, leading teenage girls.

What did you do differently in year two to support your med student?

The second year seemed so much easier than the first year! All of the initial adjustments that we went through from the first year seemed to have smoothed themselves out. We both knew what to expect. I don't know if I necessarily did anything different, but I have tried to support Devin as much as possible and make his life easier, which in turn makes our life easier! Devin has also done a really good job at making sure that we know, as his family, we are still his #1 priority - whether that means coming home from lunch every day, making sure that we have dinner together, or helping with SJ as much as possible.

How did you prepare for rotations?

I feel like, no matter how much you prepare for rotations and the lottery, you can always end up in a place that you least expect. At least, that's what happened to us! We thought we had everything planned out and when we finally got our rotation locations we were shocked! But it has actually turned out to be a very good thing, and we're very excited about our new location! (Though we are going to miss our friends here tremendously!) So my advice when it comes to rotations, keep an open mind! It will work out!

What was the most difficult part of year two for you?

All of the stress with the boards coming up has been pretty hard! I can't wait until those are over! Test weekends are hard but, if you know they are coming, you can make sure that you have stuff going on that weekend to make it go by faster!

Any advice for first years?

It's always hard not having your husband/significant other around. It's hard feeling like a 'single mom' or just plain single, but you need to remember you're not alone! These days will come to an end, eventually. While it's a big sacrifice for these next couple of years, in the grand scheme of things I would do it again so that my husband can do something that he loves.