# Any doctors/med school students..?



## timmster (Jan 26, 2011)

Maybe this belongs on the medical school forum but it here goes..

So I'm just about to wrap up my first year of undergrad as a bio-med major, and since I've been planning to move to my own apartment next year as opposed to a dorm, I've been thinking getting a GSD of my own. 

However, i've been thinking down the road and i'm having second thoughts because of all the horror stories i've been hearing about med school and residencies, and 12-16 hour long shifts

So to all the doctors or med school students out there, do you think it would be possible to own a German Shepherd through all the stages of becoming a doctor? 

And as a side question to the non-medical people, how much of your time do you estimate you spend caring for/exercising/training your German Shepherd every day? (This will help plan out my future schedule)

Thanks everybody!


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I am not a medical person but I have gotten through graduate school (chemistry, so as intense as any biomedical undergrad stuff) and have had one of my two childrent also get through grad school.........and think it is probably better to wait.

This is your first year of undergrad school and I gather your first apartment? Moving out of the dorm, in itself can bring new distractions. There is a lot of change during those years. I would fully enjoy the college experience as well as all the studies you will have to do and a dog is a major committment.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

I think you should wait. Getting a puppy now is a long term committment. And med school is a long term committment AND a huge time committment. Even more than the 16 hour shifts is coming home dead tired and the last thing you're going to want to do is take care of a dog. Not in med school, but a friends of mine are and it ain't fun. 

HOWEVER. I fyou move out of the dorm and into an apartment and you decide you still really want a dog around...why not foster? You've got some great GSD rescues in your area and fostering is a short-term committment. I think it would be great to do that so you can get your dog fix. Plus, you're helping your friends in need. Then you can just stop if you get to busy or when you go to med school.


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## djharper (Dec 7, 2010)

I'm a practicing physician AND I teach medical students and residents. You won't be able to care for your dog, IMHO, when you are doing school and residency. Also it is harder to find a place to live with a dog. A few of my students have dogs and are making it work, but it makes life tougher on them and their pet. So, it is not an impossible quest, but it is a complication. You can have a dog when you've finished your training.

Good luck, BTW - this is the best job in the world and I'm still loving it 30 years after graduating from med school!


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## Klamari (Aug 6, 2010)

I just finished nursing school, and med school is probably different than nursing school because they crammed my junior and senior year into 16 months but....there is no way I could have given proper attention to a dog during school. 
My entire life revolved around studying and the hospital. Now if you're a complete brainiac and the material comes easier to you, then you might have the time. But that wasn't the case for me 

Now that I'm working full time, I have a lot more free time. I still work 12-14 hour shifts (depending on the day) but I only work 3 days a week. My family will be taking care of my pup while I'm at work, so the long shifts aren't that big of a deal in my situation. 

Believe me, I know it's agonizing to wait. The week I graduated I was calling breeders. But in my opinion, it will be so much easier on your wallet and stress levels if you wait until you finish school. If you still need your dog/puppy fix, you might consider what Justine suggested--fostering for short times. 
I got my dog fix by going to my future-club's training sessions and just watching and learning. 

Good luck in school!!!


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

GSDElsa said:


> I think you should wait. Getting a puppy now is a long term committment. And med school is a long term committment AND a huge time committment. Even more than the 16 hour shifts is coming home dead tired and the last thing you're going to want to do is take care of a dog. Not in med school, but a friends of mine are and it ain't fun.
> 
> *HOWEVER. If you move out of the dorm and into an apartment and you decide you still really want a dog around...why not foster? You've got some great GSD rescues in your area and fostering is a short-term commitment. I think it would be great to do that so you can get your dog fix. Plus, you're helping your friends in need. Then you can just stop if you get to busy or when you go to med school*.


Great idea!


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

One of my best friends completed residency two years ago and had a dog and two horses,cats, etc through it all. But her husband and two kids were VERY helpful through everything. Given the shifts she has worked and the at times unpredictable nature of it all, I doubt she could've done it alone with all the animals. Her dog was also not a puppy (so good bladdar control), but was a very energetic young adult lab.

If you have a backup plan in place, IE a professional service for potty breaks and walks daily, or utilize doggie daycare to its fullest extent, you could probably do it. But again you'd have to have a backup even for daycare for the days when work holds you over past pickup time.


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## crackem (Mar 29, 2006)

wait till your spending 15-18 hours at a time in a hospital on rotation. How much time are you going to want to spend with a dog then. Especially when you'll have to turn around and go back in 5 hours for the same shift.


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## GSD Fan (Sep 20, 2010)

I'm not exactly a med student, but I'm going for veterinarian. I think it's better to wait too. If you wait til you finish before getting a dog, you'll be able to focus 100% on your grades and stuff for you. Also, you'll be most likely financially set by the time you're ready to get a puppy.


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## Alamgirian6329 (Mar 6, 2011)

Hey Guys... newbie here. 

I actually was born in a Southeast Asia to my father who was a commissioned officer in the Military back home. He would be deployed away from home in initial years of his service (being junior, it is norm to be stationed away from home city). Anyways, I was 4-5 and my dad got brought us little "Lacy" from the military dog center. That is how I fell in love with GSD. But the sad part was, the someone broke into our neighbors, and they knew we had GSD and since we shared a common wall and at night we would have Lacy outdoors, they poisoned her. Im going to refrain from expressing my inner thoughts/words about the responsible people .... 

Anyways, not almost 20 years down, I so want a GSD again. theres two things that make me question my wish... I am finishing my 2nd year medical school. It wont be fair to the dog , I THINK, for me to get one at this point in my life. I have so many friends and close family, cousins and all.... BUT I feel that nothing can match the place that I have in my heart for a dog, and by dog, I ONLY mean GSD  Honestly, I think I am going to make it a Strong Requirement of my spouse, whenever I am ready for that to be OKAY with the dogs and perhaps she can dedicate some time in the initial year or two ? 

Sorry for the long post, but the last thing... I am a guy and all, but yet there is a some feeling in me that scares me of having another GSD.... I dont know, now that I have grown up, how would it hit me IF i had to loose my dog again be it an accident (much more horrible) or jus to have her see my dog being bade farewell  

I still soo miss Lacy.....


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## DharmasMom (Jul 4, 2010)

As a nurse who as spent most of my 20 year career working in the university hospital setting I would say wait. Unless you are married and have someone who could help. Med school is going to be cake walk compared to your residency. And depending on what specialty you choose will depend on exactly how bad your life will suck and for how many years. Surgical residents count their time off in hours. For medicine resident or anesthesia residents life is a bit easier but still pretty brutal compared to my schedule. If you are single it would not be fair to the dog to be left alone that many hours. But like I said, if you are married, then you would have help and it can be done. I have seen med students and residents get married and raise children.


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

timmster said:


> Maybe this belongs on the medical school forum but it here goes..
> 
> So I'm just about to wrap up my first year of undergrad as a bio-med major, and since I've been planning to move to my own apartment next year as opposed to a dorm, I've been thinking getting a GSD of my own.
> 
> ...


I have had a GSD through every stage now of becoming a doctor, except undergrad.

So you are finishing your first year of college then? College is defintely more flexible than medical school or residency in many ways, so it is hard to say what you should do right now... the first two years of med school is actually pretty 8-5p, I enjoyed alot of time with my puppy during med school, but there was alot of studying to be done when you came home. ALTHOUGH, when in medical school on certain rotations you will be on call and have rotations where you are out of town (I spent one of my rotations 4 hours away in the middle of KS for a month). Many others have rotations that are even farther.

Residency is where it will hit you the hardest.

I am in my 2nd year of residency (medicine). We got Kelso as an 8 wk old puppy when I was in my second year of medical school, then our 12 yr old GSD passed away that year, we then drove to TX in my 3rd year of medical school and adopted Allie. I actually became the most involved in rescue and such in my 3-4th year of medical school. But it was still limited.

No way would I have done that except for that I am married to someone with set, reasonable hours... so he is always home, has a set lunch hour that he takes the dogs out..ect.

And 12 hour workdays!!! Those are good days! 30 hour shifts are the max right now, can't imagine having dogs working those hours unless you are married/live with someone or have a really good dogsitter. 

But, lucky for you that is supposed to be changing. July 2011 the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) has capped work hours to 16 hours straight (I think that is what it is). So, although improved, still could not leave a dog alone that long..

Hard to say, no I would not get a puppy during medical school or residency if I did not have live in help (married) or a roomate or even a good dog sitter. (and even then it would be different, my dogs are home with their other owner, their other "person" so I do not feel like I am leaving the responsiblity on someone else or they are getting to know someone else better than me, as it is the person that is just as much their owner and best friend as I am).

But college, if you are responsible, and even the first couple of years of medical school might be do-able, if you have someone to help out in a pinch (family or friends close). 

So that is 5 years from now for you (saying that you have 3 years of undergrad left and the first 2 years of medical school that might be ok).
No one was going to tell me I should wait 5 years, then another 6 or whatever to get through the rest of med school and residency to get a dog!!!!! (that is looking at 10-11 years!)
We can't always predict what we are going to be doing in 5-10 years, if we did many of us probably would not get that next dog, have another child ect ect and look at what we may have missed....

That is the way I look at it. 

And no offense, but I started my first year of college with 40 or so pre-med kids, at the end only about 10 of us graduated going to medical school...so your choices might change as well... 

It depends so much on the situation. When I leave work, my family and dogs are number one. I say..I am going home tonight, stopping the work, not going out to do other things because I want to be with my dogs. We don't even have kids...I know people that are single parents that have made it through med school and residency. When there is a will there is a way.

And I agree, a foster situation would be an awesome thing to do while you might be deciding if a full time GSD is for you or not.

PM me if you would like to chat about it more! And good luck


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I would agree with those who say it would be best to wait unless you have help. I have had dogs throughout school (bio major) but most of that time was living at home so although I was the dogs' caretaker (and the only one who ever took my dogs out anywhere or trained them) my parents did help by letting the dogs out to potty if they asked, and feeding them if I wasn't home for that (which was rarely, I prefer to spend time with my dogs vs. pretty much any other activities.) I got my first two dogs when I was in high school, and they were part of the reason I decided to stay at home during college (plus my university was 15 minutes away from my parents.)

However if you do decide you don't want to wait until you are done with school to get a dog, I know that is a long time, I would say it would be better to get one sooner rather than later because you will likely have a lot more time now versus when you get into the upper end of undergrad or into med school so if you got a puppy now they would be grown by then so would not need the same type of constant supervision as a puppy.


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## timmster (Jan 26, 2011)

hey thanks everybody for the input.

i think i've settled on fostering, theres a rescue pretty close by (Coastal German Shepherd Rescue, which is located in both Orange and San Diego county, for those interested) and they have the option of short term fostering, which means you can take a dog for anywhere from a weekend to a couple weeks, kind of like a retreat for the dog from boarding kennels. 

And after I do that for awhile, I might move to longer term fostering, but I'm worried that I might get too attached to one dog and I'd be really sad when that dog finds a forever home.


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## Kris10 (Aug 26, 2010)

That sounds like a wise decision, and you can really help save lives by doing this. Good luck in fostering and in your looong journey to become a physician


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

A friend of mine just got a puppy back. It seems the father bought the dog for the son who is finishing med school. The son had the puppy for a while and loved him, but realized that there would be no way to do it and residency, so he gave the dog back. 

I would wait until you are more settled.


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## GSDElsa (Jul 22, 2009)

timmster said:


> hey thanks everybody for the input.
> 
> i think i've settled on fostering, theres a rescue pretty close by (Coastal German Shepherd Rescue, which is located in both Orange and San Diego county, for those interested) and they have the option of short term fostering, which means you can take a dog for anywhere from a weekend to a couple weeks, kind of like a retreat for the dog from boarding kennels.
> 
> And after I do that for awhile, I might move to longer term fostering, but I'm worried that I might get too attached to one dog and I'd be really sad when that dog finds a forever home.


I am SO thrilled that you are willing to do this. It is so rewarding to help those GSD's get out of kennels and into a great home. You won't regret it!!! Just make sure you're honest with your experiences and personal limitations so they can match you with the right dog.

Giving them up can be hard, but it makes your heart smile knowing you saved a life and provided a home to creat a stable, great, adoptable dog.


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## Glacier (Feb 25, 2009)

I also think you should wait. I'm currently studying to get into a PharmD or DMV program, and I don't think it'll be fair to the dog since my time will be divided so much. 

I'm going to wait until after I'm done, and have been working for a year or so before purchasing my first dog. Especially since I'd like to participate in Schutzhund, feed the raw diet, as well as being about to enjoy my puppy without worrying about studying for exams. We'll(hubby and I) probably end up adopting or fostering a senior.


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## blehmannwa (Jan 11, 2011)

My husband is a physician. We got our 2 GSD x as soon as he finished residency. I would say to Alamgirian and timmster that dogs are only possible for doctors if there is a strong support person like a spouse or a network of roommates and close friends. I'm a human and I get frustrated with my husband's hours. It works out because I have the dogs for company. The key is that my husband I both love our dogs and make them a priority. (We don't have bio children together but we've been a couple since my son was 4.)

We have a new pup and my husband (hospitalist) was able to arrange four weeks off to be here with our seniors and our pup--like family leave. So my best advice for those in med school and residency would be to wait until that's over to get a dog. You are short on time and money. In a way, money can buy time--like daycare, walkers, and trainers but actual one-on -one time with a dog is invaluable. Med schools and residency are stressful enough without caring for a dog.

Of course, there are exceptions. This is my experience.

Alamgirian, I would not worry about losing a dog. Dogs don't live as long as we do. The loss that you experienced as a child was horrible and I am so sorry but obviously you treasure your memory of Lacy. Worrying about eventual pain shouldn't prevent you from entering into a joyful partnership. I read somewhere that the best thing is having a good dog, the second best is having had one.
As George Carlin said, "Life is a series of dogs."
Best, 
B


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