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Duality
PREFACE: In the late twentieth century, as more and more women entered the medical profession and became mothers, people wondered what it would mean. As might have been expected, there are many realities. For Julie Rosenbaum, who teaches in a primary care internal residency program, a major concern is how she and her husband juggle their jobs with raising young children. In a split-voice narrative, Rosenbaum details the dual focus of her days and how they interact. As she and her husband ponder what’s best, she reports that academic medicine is simultaneously pondering how best to work with and support doctor-parents. Then pediatrician and professor Anjali Jain tells what happened when her family moved from the U.S. to the U.K. and her special-needs child wasn’t well diagnosed or cared for by England’s National Health Service. As a doctor, she knew there was a problem; as a mother, she did all she could to find a solution. Eventually, she and her husband made a choice and found a solution—an American one.
Morning: as usual, I didn’t get enough sleep last night. The alarm goes off at 6 a.m.; I hear the baby stirring. I’m alone in bed. My husband left early to take the train into the city, where he works as an academic scientist. Today I’ll take the children to and from day care. Despite my multiple responsibilities at home and the office, each work day is bounded by the transitions where I transfer my children to and from the care of others. Even on days when my husband helps, which he does several times a week, I still attend
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