Many people who decide to enter the medical field often have fears about being able to raise a family and devote enough time to their patients. If they are constantly on call and not able to spend much time at home, some students wonder how they will be able to maintain a stable marriage and also devote sufficient time to raising a family. While these fears are quite realistic for those working towards a career in medicine, they do not have to become obstacles or burdens to the medical professional. Two female practicing physicians that I spoke with, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Akhtar, can attest to the difficulties of raising a family while being a doctor. Despite the difficulties involved in their work, neither physician would change anything about their careers or their family lifestyles. Instead, both women feel satisfied with how they are currently carrying out their lives. They also believe that any challenges they face, relating to either career or family, are worth the extra efforts required to make their lives well-balanced. Both doctors feel that, with careful planning and time management, it is very possible to balance a career in the health fields and a family. Their unique stories show how physicians may handle career and family challenges by using several different types of approaches and methods in order to enjoy a balanced life.

Dr. Campbell is a 38-year old neuroradiologist and works in a private firm within a hospital setting in San Francisco. She had her first son two years ago and recently gave birth to twin boys. Her job, though demanding, has set hours with minimal to no on call times. She works four days a week from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm, and never works on weekends. Two live-in babysitters help her by caring for the children, cooking meals, and cleaning the house. Campbell never cooks meals herself, choosing instead to spend her free time being with her children.

For Campbell, challenges have included trying to find the right people to take care of her children, maintaining friendships outside of the family, and being a good mother, wife, and a professional all at once. She feels it is easy for her to balance her family and career and still have a social life because she did not have children for many years and was able to freely socialize during those times. If she did not have those free years to spend time with her friends and husband, she admits she may have felt disappointed with her lifestyle. However, due to her circumstances, Dr. Campbell feels she has been able to do all that she has wanted to do prior to starting a family.

Now, what is most important to her-her children-come first. Campbell does not worry about the amount of time she is able to spend with her children; instead, she feels that it is the quality of time spent with her kids and not the length that is important. Although she hardly ever finds time for herself, she does not mind because she has accepted the circumstances of her active life. She feels that the difficulties of balancing her life as a physician with a family are not any easier than the hardships endured when she was working towards her medical career. Life is always difficult, but in different ways, and that is what makes her life fulfilling.

A physician with slightly different experiences and perspectives is Dr. Akhtar, a 45-year old family practitioner who works with patients of all ages in a Chicago hospital-run clinic. She has three girls whose ages range from eight to eighteen, and she works forty hours a week, thirty of which are spent with outpatients and ten of which are spent with inpatients. Unlike Campbell, Dr. Akhtar is always on call. Once a month, she is also on call for emergency room patients who do not have their primary care doctors available. Right after work each day, Akhtar spends between half an hour and one hour organizing her patients' records so she does not have to bring her work home. Currently, she does not have a babysitter, but she had one for her daughters during her residency and before they entered school. Akhtar stresses that although her job demands a lot of her time, she is fortunate because her schedule is very flexible. When her children were younger, she did not have to go to work until noon on three days of the week. At noon, she would drop off the kids at the babysitter, and by five o'clock, her husband would pick them up. Thus, the kids spent most of their time with at least one parent. Akhtar also finds time to cook for her children on weekends and once during the week. This assures her that the children receive home-cooked meals as often as possible.

One of Dr. Akhtar's biggest challenges is trying to find time to get everything done. Her solution is to carry out tasks as quickly as possible, to have a to-do list for each day, and to get between six and seven hours of sleep each night in order to feel properly rested. Other difficulties she has faced were the long years in school and the strong dedication that medicine demands. Above all, she admits that her residency was most difficult period of her life. Right now, she never feels like she has to choose between her family and her patients because her family understands that she cannot jeopardize her patients' lives. She never finds time for herself, but she prefers it that way because she likes to spend any free time she has with her children. Overall, Akhtar feels that the challenges do get easier after residency, when some physicians may gain more control over their work schedules.

Although these two physicians differ in the experiences and challenges they have faced, both Campbell and Akhtar feel satisfied and content with their lifestyle, and don't feel they would have done things differently at any stage of their careers. Challenges and the need for a balance exist, but this is true for all careers. Campbell concludes her reflections on maintaining a career and family life by answering the question: "Why is your profession worth the family challenges?". Her reply: "Because you have everything. No regrets. None." A stable balance between a career in the health fields and a family life is something that all prospective health professionals hope to achieve. Although it may take a great deal of time, energy, and careful planning, balancing a career as well as a family life is not an impossible task for any type of professional to maintain.