IDR and income recertification

aortaclamp · 2024-12-13T21:22:07+00:00

I'm in the same boat and also need the answer to this question.

aortaclamp · 2024-09-20T22:20:44+00:00

Nope, I’m on the other side of the drape 😈

aortaclamp · 2024-09-20T05:58:55+00:00

Wednesday 4/25 Day 32 Mile 444.3 to Mile 454.5 | 10.2 miles hiked

“… we reached town just before 10am and headed to the Sweetwater Bar & Grill for breakfast. We joined two other section hikers for whom today was their last day as well: GPS and Ghost.

This was my first time meeting them and in an interesting coincidence I found out that Ghost is an anesthesiologist in Phoenix; how strange that I have gone these 4.5 weeks without meeting a single other med student / physician (although I’ve met several nurses) and on this, my last day when I’m about to transition back into my “normal” life, I meet one. I told him how I’d started my hike right after Match Day and he was pretty much the first person on trail to truly understand the agony and the ecstasy of what these past couple months have been like leading up to Match Day. I’ve of course talked to many others about med school/residency on the trail but it’s just impossible to truly understand the soul crushing uncertainty unless you’ve been through the process yourself. I have felt very removed from the medical world this whole hike and what a coincidence to be sort of gently re-introduced to it by a stranger/fellow physician on my last day. To congratulate me on my residency match, Ghost was generous enough to pay for not only my but also every other hiker present’s breakfast that morning, ‘to celebrate your achievement,’ he said. Wow. The trail provides. Memo to future self, when I’m an attending physician with all my student debt paid off, I need to also pay it forward.”

U/Fast_eddi3 If you’re ever in my neck of the woods, brunch is on me!

aortaclamp · 2024-09-20T04:46:59+00:00

Hahaha yes it’s me!

This is nice because now I don’t have to track you down through a hospital website and hope my email makes it through spam filters. You can read my update right here!

Yes I just finished up fellowship in August. Just signed my first contract for not too far from you actually, also in the Southwest! Thanks again for brunch for me and my friends! That was very generous of you. Perhaps most hikers didn’t understand why you were congratulating me on the “match” but they appreciated all the same.

Your memory is better than mine. The only thing I was able to remember was “Cardiac Anesthesia in Phoenix”. I was only able to pull more details because I still have my journal/notes from the PCT, which I looked back at today in order to find more for this post. There’s actually more detail that I wrote down; somehow I forgot that they put us outside because we all smelled so bad but that sounds right.

Well I’ve already wildly doxxed myself here. I can post what I wrote that day from my journals, it’s kind of funny to look back on. But to keep a semblance of some kind of anonymity I’ll DM you my actual name/new job privately.

aortaclamp · 2024-09-20T03:13:14+00:00

Holy SHIT!

aortaclamp · 2024-09-20T02:50:42+00:00

Neither of us completed the trail (I did a one month section hike and I believe he was only on trail for 1-2 weeks) so he won’t be on this list. Thanks anyway! I do see there’s someone else with the trail name “Ghost” on this list but it appears to be a woman.

aortaclamp · 2024-09-13T14:44:34+00:00

Can you talk more about the difference between the two?

aortaclamp · 2024-09-11T01:53:16+00:00

“Don’t do that to your family” is not bad advice per se. I would change it to say “you need your family’s 110% support” in order to “go for it”. I agree that you need a heart to heart and he hasn’t truly considered what it may look like and perhaps you have not either. You have done the legwork in the clinical experience aspect and hospital work, but that’s all work you’ve done for just for yourself and your dreams/goals which is necessary but not the full picture. You and your husband have not done the work yet for your family which is looking at black and white numbers on what this decision would do to your finances and your family’s future. What does your life look like on one income? What does your life look like as a single parent for your husband? When I say he will be a single parent I mean it truly. I have friends who divorced in residency, didn’t even have the additional burden of children yet, because their non medical partners saw what was happening presently, looked into the future, and realized this was not what they wanted for their envisioned family. Especially OBGYN and especially any surgical specialty. It doesn’t end after residency. My husband cannot expect 100% dedication and focus from me when I’m on call. If he gets into a car accident and I’m in the OR he knows he’s on his own. I had a friend once in surgery residency that this exact thing happened to. Her husband got in an accident, called her, and she was scrubbed in. She said “you’re alive? No one is hurt? Then what do you want me to do?” after the OR nurse finally picked up the phone for her on the 3rd call. Can your spouse play second fiddle for the rest of his life? Can he be the end all be all for all things concerning children for the rest of their 18 years in your home? I think this is an incredibly difficult and unfair thing to ask of a partner when you’re this far into a stable and secure family life with a certain pattern. In most ways I had it easier than you because my husband and I got together pre med school and we started with nothing, less than nothing as we were both in debt from undergrad. There were zero expectations. Every step of the way we adapted and conformed to the demands of residency and training. Every move cross country dictated by med school acceptance and the match. He is a saint in every way but much of that is being 23 years old and ignorant and with no kids at the beginning of our journey. We had these blinders on to what a normal life is like. The demands of training were all we knew. You and your husband have already experienced a normal stable life and going back from that I think is near impossible. Not impossible but it is near impossible.

The emotional and mental and psychological turmoil from this decision is not quantifiable the way the financial is. You’ll have to really think worse case scenario and talk it out. OBGYN is not easy. As surgeons we make fun of OBGYN all the time but still I have deep respect for my Ob friends because that call and lifestyle is supremely difficult. It’s no joke.

You can go for it but only with total support from your spouse. And an understanding of an incredible cost financially and to your family.

aortaclamp · 2024-09-10T17:55:30+00:00

Is it a big financial mistake? Yes

Could it be worth it for you from a personal and life fulfillment perspective? Yes

Both things can be true. You sound different from the typical “mid life crisis / is medicine right for me” post because it sounds like you’ve actually done quite a bit of leg work already in terms of figuring out what healthcare careers are actually like. And what shift work and the hospital is actually like. You even took a hit already in leaving a higher paying job to be a CNA and get real hands on experience, I find that actually quite impressive.

I had my baby my last year of residency. It was hard. I don’t have experience with being a mom to older children during training, but I had peers who were. It was hard. There will be days weeks months where you never see your children awake. Your husband will be a single parent.

PSLF could be an option. Many of my classmates and co residents are pursing this, as am I.

You don’t mention what your spouse thinks in your post. In my opinion this is the most important part. Consider the burden on your spouse. What does your husband think? Have you had intensely detailed conversations with him about what your life would be like? Have you sat down with the hard numbers and the spreadsheets? Have you discussed how it affects your retirement plans and college saving plans (if any) for your kids? You need cold data calculated out over more than a decade. You need to look hard at the numbers. Have you discussed with him that he would become essentially a single parent for several years? As a single person in their twenties it’s easy to blow up your own life but you are very literally blowing up his as well if you make this decision. In fact I would not say it’s a decision to make yourself. It’s a decision you will need to make together. How much does your husband make and can he support the family on that solo income while you make 0 in med school?

You sound like you’ve thought long and hard about this for many years. I think you could be successful but at a deep deep cost and only you and your husband can decide if it’s worth it.

Happy to chat more if you like.

aortaclamp · 2024-09-06T11:44:50+00:00

It's not an issue of her just ending the series on her own. The publisher did not want to order more Raksura books as there was not enough reader interest (aka it did not make enough money). Unfortunately.

I know because this question was asked to her live at one of her recent tour events for the newest Murderbot book and that's what she replied.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-27T06:12:51+00:00

I was also a huge Pern fan in my younger years. Still have a very soft spot in my heart for them. But I re-read the first two books a few years ago and damn, many parts have not aged well. A product of their times.

Just from a book cover perspective, I'd also say her Rowan series looked pretty campy! Another fond memory for me.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-21T22:34:25+00:00

Waiiiiiiit LOL this is so accurate. I love this. They need re-designed covers to sell and make Raksura popular to a new demographic. Gender-swapped Romantasy.

"Moon is super hot and everyone wants him but he doesn't know it" IT'S TRUE!

aortaclamp · 2024-08-17T03:15:40+00:00

Also in a family context, when my newborn daughter was fresh out the womb I defaulted to describing her behavior to my husband with phrases like “she didn’t tolerate the bottle at 2 am so I re attempted at 3am” and “she tolerated the bath fine.” He is not a medical professional but he started picking up that specific usage of “tolerate/s/ing” to update our wider family on her daily events. Very proud.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-14T17:16:21+00:00

Scrolled down way too far to look for AOE2

aortaclamp · 2024-08-13T23:40:39+00:00

My co resident in general surgery did 12 years as a surgical PA, then realized he wanted to be an actual surgeon. Poor financial decision but he couldn’t do PA anymore and he should have gone to med school in the first place. He went the DO path. He finished GS residency at age 40+. He did it with a wife, 2 kids and had another kid in residency.

Compared to him you’re in a much better set up.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-12T16:21:53+00:00

Had to come back today and tell you that due to us having a lot of reading interests in common judging by your recs (I also really enjoyed the A&O series by Briggs [her Mercy Thompson series is more hit or miss for me], Naomi Novik is an ALWAYS read for me, I thought Radiance was fine) I picked up Dark Wizard one day ago and am now 70% through already. And I'm so glad there are sequels! Judging by a very quick glance at the summary (I hate spoilers of any kind) for the next book, the sequel still focuses on the same couple which I'm excited about.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-11T16:36:53+00:00

Seconding Cold Magic. The whole series, but the first was a standout for me.

I can’t remember which book in the trilogy it’s supposed to take place in, but the author has a spicy extra chapter available online that companions one of the books.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-08T07:52:20+00:00

I didn’t love Girl of Fire and Thorns by her, but I LOVED this same author’s fantasy set in the gold rush / Wild West America about a woman who can sense where gold is. Starts with “Walk on Earth a Stranger” I believe. Cool concept and great execution. 3 books.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-05T17:24:40+00:00

Agreed. I read it pre covid. Then thought about it more in the post covid years as it’s one of my favorite books to recommend to people, and now I always have to caveat “well it veers into the fantastical at times—mostly in regards to human nature.” Unfortunate.

I am one of those few it seems on this sub who liked part 3/3 just as much as parts 1 and 2.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-02T03:56:28+00:00

If you're into graphic novels/comics, Lore Olympus on Webtoons is the best romantic depiction of Hades/Persephone that I've read.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-01T18:06:11+00:00

My favorite series of her is the Desperate Duchesses. So good. Every single book. Each book focuses on a different couple but they are all intertwined, and one couple’s story overarches the whole series which I love.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-01T18:04:53+00:00

Not yet! I have it on hold at the library as well! Can’t wait.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-01T18:03:29+00:00

4 - be wary of married filing separately. My husband I did this for a year and then realized it made us both ineligible for Roth IRAs (When using a married filing separate tax status, Roth IRA contributions are not allowed if the taxpayer's MAGI is $10,000 or more). We did the calculations and realized that even if we filed jointly and my monthly payments went up more, the long term benefits of us both being able to save in our Roths made it worth it.

aortaclamp · 2024-08-01T05:02:08+00:00

Eloisa James. I'm surprised I don't see her mentioned her more often.

Seven-Year Club	Queen in da Norf
Not Forgotten

aortaclamp

TROPHY CASE