Surviving in a system not made for them
My husband has had a non traditional path to medicine. He was born outside of the US and came to the US for college. He is first generation in his family to leave his country and go to college. He comes from a low income background, didn’t learn English until he was a teenager, and had to constantly hustle just to get by. In contrast I grew up in a pretty average middle class family in the US and seeing him constantly struggle has been gut wrenching. We have been together 10 years now. When he got into medical school I felt immense relief because I felt like he had ‘made it’ and the burden of being the positive cheerleader who always believes in him and never has doubt would be lifted. That of course was a bit naive. Medical school has been another enormous challenge for him as he struggles with standardized testing and balancing constant family obligations with the demands of his education. We have a child and want another child but I look ahead to residency and beyond and I just feel tired. I’m so tired of seeing him work three times as hard as his classmates just to barely make it through. I worry that this will always be the case because this system simply wasn’t meant for people from his background. He loves medicine and is so passionate about being able to make it through to help fix the system, but I see the constant weight on his shoulders and I am having a hard time keeping my own anxiety about what this path will do to our family in check. I would love to hear advice from others who have been through it. I want to be as supportive as I can but I understand that there is just so much about this path and about his place in it that I don’t understand.
Posted May 12, 2026, 3:03 PM UTC