Gina is a general practitioner, and was previously a palliative care registrar with five years’ working in hospice as a medical officer. She lives in Auckland with her four children, two boys and two girls aged 14, 11, eight and five.
- How does general practice fit in with your family?
I think the reality is that it is hard to fit an ambitious medical career with a satisfactory family life. I have tried many different options including huge hours as a junior doctor in the UK (where I never saw my eldest child!), a job share which still involved 50hrs + a week, au-pairs looking after the children, and a part time job as a medical officer working approx 25 hrs a week over three days. At that time my husband and I shared the childcare. Now I work 9/10 as a GP and my husband is the full-time carer for our children. Being a GP is good as there is little after-hours work so weekends are family time and after 6pm I know I can be at home. - You are 13 years out of medical school —how have you fitted in training?
I initially trained as a physician and did MRCP in the UK. I fitted study into evenings mostly and had the occasional weekend away. I have had to be very disciplined to maximise any time I have available for study and I am quite proactive in getting things done quickly. I have done my GP training mostly on the job and it has, in comparison to MRCP, been extremely straight forward although very expensive. I do find CME in the evenings quite an intrusion on family time and try to balance this by spreading it throughout the year. - Do you have any advice for doctors-in-training who are thinking about balancing a career and kids?
Go for it! Believe in the motto “and all will be well”. The ongoing and enormous pleasure of children more than balances out the juggling required. I think guilt is over-rated—we do the best we can so be kind to yourself! Always tell them how much you love them and what the plans are for the day ahead—it helps kids stay happy if they know what to expect. - How has a medical career affected your family?
Financially it has provided great stability and job security, and as I enjoy my job it makes for a happy mum! - What support do you get from your family?
Huge—we are a team—we aim to support each other. I have 100% commitment to the family from my husband and now that he is the full-time parent it means that the important dates are not missed. I pay for a cleaner twice a week, and my husband does all the cooking during the week except if I am home early. - How have you managed your training while bringing up a family?
By learning that sleep is over-rated and not really needed! I also learned an efficient approach to revision/learning—do what you have to—not more than. I had my eldest child four months before my finals at med school so it is an approach that has worked for me. Being flexible is harder in hospital medicine than in General Practice. If I want to take the kids to school I can just make clinic start an hour later. Hospital medicine did not work like that but overall I don’t think medicine is that flexible. If you want to be a good doctor you need the time to listen and sometimes the one patient who needs the most time is the one at the end of the day! - How did you find the support from your college?
Medical school was great—very supportive with making my attachments close to home. The College of Physicians was harsh in the UK and made no allowances. The hospital where I worked, however, enabled me to apply for my Senior House Officer training as a job —we were the first in the country in the UK back in 1999. That really helped. In New Zealand the GP college has been uninvolved. They have taken my money for training, delivered a good one-year programme at the beginning and then it’s been minimal since. - What, if any, problems did you encounter when returning to training?
Have never really left it. I think medicine is such an evolving science we are constantly learning. - How did you/Did you maintain CME while on maternity leave?
I have only taken maternity leave greater than six months with one of my four children—the last! Otherwise I took approximately three months and so I didn’t really find this a problem. - If you were just graduating from medical school again, what would you do differently?
Realistically I would not switch the country I lived in half way through training. I had poor advice and having arrived here as a registrar was unable to join the Palliative Care training scheme without resitting FRACP (MRCP). This ultimately led to a switch in career which would not have happened if I had remained in the UK.