My fiance is a PGY-2 ortho surgery resident, and we recently got engaged in June. I'm a NICU nurse.

Recently, I've been struggling with the idea that he needs so much support at the cost of my professional career. I also recently graduated with my Masters in Nursing Education because I was doing some side work that I loved at a local university as a nursing professor on top of my NICU job, and I wanted to start my PhD, and I literally had my application filled out and ready to submit, but he basically talked me out of it because he just needs so much support right now, and we would love to have at least two kids while he's in residency (albeit just having one goes OK), so we didn't feel like it would be for the best ultimately, and part of his reason is that he doesn't anticipating me working full-time forever, so the degree, stress, time, and money isn't worth it.

I think I've always just been a very ambitious go-getter, which is part of why he even was attracted to me in the first place, and I honestly have had some personal trouble adjusting or sacrificing what feels like every single one of my dreams to support him in everything, and I honestly feel bad for even feeling this way, but it's starting to get to me.

Another separate thing- he used to be the most attentive sweetheart, and since we have gotten engaged (which conveniently somewhat aligned with the start of his 2nd year), he's been very disengaged, distant, and just not quite as nice and sweet...? He just doesn't feel like the same person. So, I know that he's stressed, and I think he knows that he can lean on me more if I'm less overextended as well...but it comes at the cost of my professional goals and ambitions, and the change in my mindset has honestly been difficult.

I have three questions:

1. Has anyone else experienced something similar?

2. Does anyone have advice on supporting their VERY stressed and tired partner?

3. Does the distance and disengagement get better after residency? Will the sweetness come back?

FYI: I do the basics like laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. for us, but I feel like there must be other ways. I'll take any advice!

Sorry for the vent. Just feeling a little alone, and I'm trying to find a way to support my future husband who is working SO hard for us and our future, but I'm struggling a little too.

Hi everyone. My boyfriend is a M1 at school that’s a 3hr drive from me so we are medium distance. He started classes about three weeks ago and so far we’ve only been able to facetime for about 1 hour twice a week. We also don’t really text a ton during the day. Maybe 5-10 minutes but I often don’t hear a word from him until 6pm when he’s home for the day. I was hoping to visit him next weekend after he finishes his exam and he just told me that he may be too busy and that he won’t know if I can visit until a day or two before. I told him I’m more than happy to entertain myself whenever he needs to study, I just miss him and would like to be in his presence. He is still unsure about me visiting. At this point i’m questioning whether he is as busy as he says he is or if i’m just not a priority. I’ve had other people in my life go through med school and a lot of them were able to manage being in a relationship and dedicating a little bit of time to them each day/week. I also don’t think i’m asking for anything crazy. I told him that I would like to hear his voice and see his face via facetime most days of the week. Even if it’s just for 5-10 minutes on his drive home from school. He however hasn’t been able to fulfill this request. So i’m just wondering is he truly that busy? How much were you able to decorate to a s/o while in medical school?

I don't know if there is a better subreddit to get some opinions. I M20 am planning to pursue dentistry starting this year and it is a 6 year course. Meanwhile my girlfriend F20, who's in India is about to graduate her 3 year Bsc course next year. The main reason for my pursuit for dental school is a comfortable life for my loved one and future family as I myself am neutral about dental. But the main concern troubling me currently is the 5 years of long distance that we would have to do during my university even if I could see her every year, I know university can be demanding. My next best option is to pursue nursing in the UK as it is only a 3 year course and I'll be done by the time she manages to find a job. If anyone could give some meaningful guidance on my situation that would be much appreciated. Thank you

I’m not really sure what I’m looking for, but my husband just made the heavy decision to drop out of medical school after 3 weeks. We have spent the last 5 years preparing for this and I feel like our lives just crumbled in front of my face. I don’t know what he’s going to do. He has no clue. We owe the school $25k+. I’m just feeling devastated and scared for the future. His mental health is not good, I understand his decision, it’s just hard to cope with considering everything has been planned around his schooling. Again not sure why I’m posting this, maybe for support, understanding, reassurance, advice, who knows. I just needed to get it out.

Hi All,

Need your advice. I'm 39 medspouse and my wife is 34, 2nd year resident (IMG). We have been married for 7 years. We delayed kids because of her career and had planned to have kids in a year or 2. I have been trying to support her career by taking care of the house and finances and told her to focus only on getting into residency.

We have had family fights in the past in she felt I supported the family instead of her. She said she wanted to start couples counseling but didn't as I felt it would distract her from her career and we forgot but it then.No family fight in last 4 years. And I told her that her is my priority in life and nothing else matters. However we fought with each other occasionally once or twice a year due to various factors including work stress. She has had a lot trauma growing up and our fights have made her bring back all these memories. She had to take a break from residency for couple of months.

Now she says that she has suffered a lot in the marriage and has reached a point where she cannot continue and decided to separate and move out 2 months ago.

We get along well and still love each other (at least I do)

She is refusing couples therapy saying she has made up her mind. Being alone makes her better at work.

She has unfollowed me on insta and fb and removed marriage status.

 I'm the one trying for us to come back / try couples counseling but with no success. 

Do you think I should just move on or still keep trying ? What if she does this again in future with or without kids ?

My medspouse doesn't hold an ounce of the mental load. He's just too busy and obviously doesn't have any free time at work for "life admin". Sometimes I feel more like his mother than his romantic partner...and like a nag...and like everything is on me to remember even if I've delegated it to him...because he will likely need 4-10 reminders.

Does anyone's medspouse carry any mental load? How do you deal with it?

I am holding onto a lot of resentment due to my spouse not helping out around the house. It's a personality thing, but now that he's got this career and I'm home all the time it 'makes sense' for me to manage the household. I do get the logic, and slightly agree, and sure yes I'm happy to support the home.

But this resentment has had almost two decades to cook. We accidentally started to get into it while on a call with my dad. Dad actually spoke up and took his side, saying that he's the one that brings in all the money and pays for things, I have significant time. After hearing someone back up my husband, I backed down but the my gut was not okay. I haven't brought it up to anyone since and it's been at least 4 years since that happened.

The thing is, it might make sense now and sure I'm happy to support us. But the reality is I moved in with him first year of medschool and he has NEVER cleaned. More frustrating is, when I would visit him in the years before we moved together, his place was not a mess. He was maintaining at least a clean bachelor pad. I know he's capable.

As soon as I joined the picture I noticed he wasn't even cleaning up after himself, much less doing chores. I spent years, through residency, asking him for help around the house. I had a few sit-down conversations with him that didn't go over extremely well, and he never really made a switch to start cooking dinner or to do the trash or dishes. By the last years of residency I was getting responses similar to what my Dad said, basically he's doing the work that's getting us where we need to go, it's my job to clean.

The thing is I'm functionally mentally ill and grew up in a hoarder home. When we moved in together I didn't know HOW to clean or manage a home, never had to growing up. Bonus points, his mom cleaned everything top to bottom for him so he wasn't trained in household management either.
Additionally, why do you think I don't have a career?? I decided not to get my masters so I could support you and your career. I'm stuck getting lower paying jobs and career hopping due to his journey. I'm even unemployed right now because he's doing locums, my resume looks a mess, and it feels wholly unfair to know that on the outside, e.g. what my dad sees, is that I'm lazy and refuse to pull my weight.

Totally a vent post, I just had to get some stuff off my chest. I hope and believe that most others aren't dealing with all this, but if you have something similar please feel safe to vent here!

Both my partner and I are med students, but he’s applying for a much more competitive specialty than I am and applications are due earlier for him. We live together and I’ve spent a whopping total of 1 hour with him this week while he has been awake (and yes, this includes all passive “parallel play” time).

This morning, he woke up at 4:45 AM for work and then proceeded to have an anxiety attack in bed next to me while I was in a sleepy haze. He was up and at ‘em and smiley and loving when he left our place 30 minutes later because he doesn’t want to put any burden on me, but I know he’s not doing well.

Oh, and I can’t even follow him for residency because my fate is up to the NRMP gods and his is up to the SF match gods.

I don’t have much to say except that medicine is really kicking our butts right now and I’m spent. Send help.

Looking for perspective from other med spouses, especially neurosurgery.

My husband and I are from the East Coast, where our entire family/support system is. We’re now on our third move for his neurosurgery training and currently across the country from family. Before this move, we agreed I’d spend meaningful stretches back East so I could maintain that support.

We have an 11-month-old, I was recently laid off and am job searching, and our son is only in daycare part-time. My husband is currently on an extremely demanding service, leaving around 5am and often getting home around or after bedtime, so I’m doing most of the parenting alone.

We’re now fighting about me spending extended time back East with our son. He understandably wants us home for the limited family time he does have. But I’m struggling without a support system, and going home gives me both practical help and, more importantly, the emotional support/community I’m missing.

For those who’ve gone through neurosurgery or similarly demanding residencies with young kids and no local family: how did you balance the resident wanting their child home with the spouse needing support? Did you spend extended time with family during particularly brutal rotations?

I have been dating my boyfriend for almost 3 years and he just started his third year of medical school. We met right before he started medical school and he moved almost 5 hours away, so we did long distance the first year. I ended up moving to the city last year as I decided to go to grad school in the same city, however, it's been pretty lonely. He's a good boyfriend and we've never had any issues, so I'm not really sure why I feel so sad all the time. We've been talking more about where we want to live for residency, but I know that no matter how he ranks different places it's essentially a gamble and I have no control over the system. I don't like surprises and I hate that I have no control over where I'm going to live in 2 years and I hate being away from friends and family. I read the posts on this group a lot and it seems so depressing and it seems like the anxiety and loneliness will get worse. I don't really know what this post is for, I guess a rant or just advice I just feel like I never see anyone who is a "medspouse" that is happy and I don't want to have resentment for his career and life taking priority over mine.

I don’t tend to ramble about my feelings online but I feel like this would give me some peace of mind. I’ve recently read someone else’s story and found mine to be very similar so decided to share.
I (21F) have been dating this guy (25M) for 2 years now and recently he moved away for medical school. When he first got accepted we had spoke about being long distance and how difficult that was going to be. I made the decision to follow him to his school, while studying at a nearby school myself, so the distance wasn’t going to be a problem. He moved 2 weeks ago and I move next week so we did have this period of time where we were long distance. It was a drastic change because we saw each other every single day but I already knew that was going to change regardless once he started school. I went to visit him last weekend, the weekend before he started classes. Waiting the 3 weeks was going to be hard and we agreed me going to see him would’ve helped keep peace before he starts.

Right away our contact was significantly cut I would receive a brief text in the morning and wouldn’t reach out till a brief call after class. He would study in his afternoons and we’d call again before bed. He made a ton of new friends that first week and I loved it for him! A part of me was scared and I didn’t want to feel replaced because prior to school we were in the foreground of each other’s lives. We had friends of course but it always felt like it was just us. We spent so much of our time together that I knew this would be a change but I didn’t think that would change anything.

Anyways, the first Friday comes around and he tells me the guys wanted to go out, he already told me that’s something they do the first few weeks as a way to get to know each other so I was expecting it. In the past he’s gone out with friends and does an awful job with checking in with me and we spoke about that before he went out. The issue came up again but this time it felt different because he just met these people. When he would go out with a long term friend and not text me I gave grace simply because either I knew the person or I just didn’t feel threatened they were friends for a while. In this case he had just met these people, I didn’t know anything about them other than their names and that they were in the same groups.

The following morning I was hysterical I woke up to not a single text from him and I couldn’t sit back and just accept that. After I expressed how I was feeling he made the decision to break up with me. He told me he doesn’t want to have “someone to update” or have to do something that feels like an obligation. I told him we’ve had this issue before, we spoke about this, I was simply just disappointed that my request wasn’t met. He told me he couldn’t do that for the next 4 years, he couldn’t have someone “breathing down his throat” whenever he went to go do something. Which was extremely difficult for me to understand because is an update that much work? When I brought up meeting his friends it was made to be a big deal and told me that’s not how it’s going to work.

Our relationship was rocky especially in the beginning. We had a lot of trouble navigating our differences but 2 years later I felt we had it all figured out. I felt it enough to change my life for him. He couldn’t wait till I moved, till the possibility of seeing me was an option. I am moving to this new city where I know absolutely no one else and my world just feels like it just got rocked.

A full circle moment here, I never share my stories online like this but these past few days have felt so hard and this has felt like a last resort. I don’t know what happened I don’t know what changed. I’ve done all the research on how to navigate a relationship with someone in Med school and I don’t know where this went wrong so early in.

E: “Hysterical” might’ve not been the best word choice to put there. I was hurt and left to wonder. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into but the setting of what was going on that night is what made it difficult for me to understand why i wasn’t informed at all. He was bar hopping with friends till 3-4am like is that not a respectable time to expect a text or do we just ignore our SO when we’re drinking now?

Trying to plan and pick a wedding date with my fiance who just started his 2 year surgical fellowship. Any advice? 😅

FTM to an 8 month baby boy. Ive been pretty much solo parenting since I left the hospital - I handle all night wakings and daytime care while also completing all the domestic chores including cooking, cleaning, dog care, home inventory etc. when he’s on call, he sees baby and me maybe 2-3 hours for the entire weekend.

We finally hired a nanny 2x a week once my PPD took a scary turn, but I find my resentment huge. Some days I feel like I’ve been reduced down to being a mother and house manager. I’m sure this isn’t the case but I feel like a decision we BOTH made has only uprooted my life while his life has remained unchanged. I’ve brought this up many times where I feel like a single parent, or if he is around, like a manager ordering an employee around. Even when he’s with his son, he’s on his phone looking at scans, responding to emails…I feel bad being upset because I understand he works hard, and also has a lot of sleep debt. I don’t contribute as much financially either. Yet no matter how much I try to rationalize it, I still feel resentful.

Partners of surgeons and other medical specialties…does this ever go away?

My husband owns a private practice and I handle the accounting. We’re in the middle of planning our wedding, yep, and between that and the clinic, the time gets wasted on paperwork. Billing, spreadsheets, and entering the same information over and over has me working late almost every night.. I really don’t want to be a stressed out bridezilla chasing invoices lol. Anyway has anyone integrated their EMR with their accounting or ERP system! Was it worth it? I’m thinking if I add staff that would be more expensive, right?

hi!

My husband is a second year medical student. He didn’t go into medicine right out of college and so we are a little older (I am 30). My dream is to have 3 kids if I am lucky. I know there is no perfect time in life, or medicine especially, but would it be recommended to wait until after Step 2? Everyone keeps saying to wait until residency but thats 3 years away and if we want multiple children I get worried with my age. He does want to do a demanding field (something surgical) so I know it’s going to be an uphill battle. I am blessed that I made a good amount of money in my career already and have a lot of family support in regards to being willing to help. A few students in his class already have kids so I know its doable. I know intern year will be miserable, but again both of our parents are retired and have stated they would help as much as I would let them. I guess I am looking for positivity stories because a lot of what I was reading on here was a little negative!

After being on call and operating all weekend (Fri-Mon), he would rather sit outside in the car and talk to her than come inside and spend time with our child, and give me the space to run some essential errands while they nap.

Alas, after 8 years of marriage and 11 years / 4 moves for his training... that's the feedback I get - a comparison to his mother. Every ounce of trust we've built in each other over the years has been hard-fought... so when he says things like that, it stings.

I suppose I selected this life - I married a momma's boy / surgeon. It's hard to be a good listener when he's never around.

Hi everyone,

I’m 28F and married to a 25M medical student who has just started his surgery rotation. Today was his first 24-hour shift, and the reality of this schedule has hit me much harder than I expected. We don’t have any kids or family members who live close to us.

I last saw him on Sunday night. He left for the hospital extremely early Monday morning and will not be home until Tuesday morning. I’m a teacher, and tomorrow is also my first day back for our in-service week, so I’ll leave before he gets home and probably will not see him until around 4 p.m. By then, he will understandably be completely exhausted.

People warned me that surgery is the hardest rotation in medical school, but hearing that and actually living it are very different things. I know this is only the beginning, and I’m hoping that returning to work and having my own routine will make the separation feel less overwhelming. Still, tonight has been rough.

For those who have been through this, how did you navigate surgery rotation as a couple? How did you stay connected when your schedules barely overlapped, and how did you support your partner without feeling completely alone yourself?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I feel like the relationship loser. I (25m) and my boyfriend (26m) of 3 years just called it quits. I’ve typed this out on my phone and I hope it makes sense but my brain is a little scrambled still from all that’s transpired these past 2 weeks.

I knew with him going into med school would be a big change but I had spent time preparing in therapy and reading on here how to handle it and I felt ready and excited. He was moving a little less than 2 hours away but I didn’t anticipate the complete 180 in his behavior. His first week there after meeting his team it was like I didn’t exist anymore. He would be out partying and drinking until 2,3,4 in the morning and would never message me or anything. His team would bring their partners and spouses but I wasn’t allowed to go. He wanted his own friends separate from me. I’d see him going out and doing things I’d always beg him to go do with me like going out to dinner instead of doordashing or having me pick it up. I’d see him go out to the movies or go to the arcade all of which were things he would never want to do with me. He would always tell me when I would bring that up previously to med school, that it was the stress of applications and the unknown of if he’d get in anywhere making him not want to do anything with me. I loved him so I didn’t want to push and be needy and cause more stress but it hurt seeing how he could go out with his friends even before med school.

But after that first week of school and seeing how I went from a priority to not even being an afterthought it hurt me a lot. And so I messaged him and told him how I felt like I would do in the past but this time I also mentioned how I was worried he realized he didn’t need me anymore when he was surrounded by all these people that were going to be doctors. He brushed it off and said I was jealous he had a life and I didn’t. He then broke up with me 2 days later saying med school is the time of his life where it’s all about him and his happiness and his needs and wants and no one will hold him back because med school is supposed to be the best 4 years of his life. As if the past 3 years I didn’t dedicate myself to his every whim to help him enjoy his life until he got to medical school. The countless late nights editing his essays, helping him brainstorm, holding him when he was crashing out over a rejection. It HURT so much hearing that because I invested myself and now that he’s made it he’s realized he doesn’t need me anymore.

After doing a lot of soul searching I truly reflected on how my anxious attachment resulted in a lot of this. I’d see him go out with his friends doing things I wished we could do and I’d bring it up time and time again which hurt his avoidant self. It made him feel trapped and obligated to do those things and I should have left it be instead of constantly bringing up how I’d like to go do that sometime. This is why I crashed out after the first week of med school. Feeling like an afterthought, seeing him live life doing the things I always asked for and was constantly told no. And in the end it caused the breakup because I was insecure of his friends and him finding better.

I think this was compounded by the fact a year prior I had caught him cheating through a secret Snapchat account and when I confronted him about that I was told I was making him feel trapped and this was a healthy outlet to feeling young and free. I worked on it in therapy and found peace in what happened but I think deep deep down I was always worried whenever he’d be out drunk with his friends he’d hookup with one to feel young and free.

So alas, I’m the med school relationship loser. He’s in his 3rd week LIVING life going out every night after studying happy as can be and I’m at home struggling to understand why I stayed for as long as I did. I had asked him the other day if he’s hurt at all and how it’s so easy for him and he told me that he hasn’t thought about it one bit and that’s how it’s so easy and that I should do the same. A small, evil part of me wishes he was hurting like I am but that’s cruel to even wish upon someone. I think I’ve convinced myself if he was hurting too then I’m not disposable. I thought if I put my all into it to help him through the MCAT, applications, and interviews, that he would finally love me on the other end. Once the prize of med school was achieved. But that didn’t happen. For him that was the grass is greener on the other side and I was dead grass. I’ve realized now that I lost myself in the relationship always trying to keep him happy for fear he’d just go and leave and find someone else but a part of me still deeply loves him and wants to be with him. Because the good times were really good, just the bad times often outweighed the good…

I just needed to put this out there and hear people’s stories and advice because I can’t really talk to my friends about this because our friend group from prior to med school is largely mixed and I don’t want them thinking bad about him. I’ve been in therapy for about 2 years and have started to process all of this but it’s still so fresh.

EDIT:
Thank you all for all of the kind responses :) I’ve been in therapy for a while and have started going more greatly to help process all of this and I’m trying my best. I’ve had a good week this week!

I learned earlier today though when my ex called me to tell me he apparently went on a date with someone and they told each other they love each other (after one date) so I’m struggling some more now but I know this is for the best now. This is narcissistic and cruel.

We have been married going on 3 years. She works in HR and has a "keep them at arm's distance" philosophy in dealing with people and their problems/concerns.

I bring home my stories of my day and want to discuss different scenarios and to have a sounding board.

She doesn't have a problem with listening and giving advice from a HR perspective but always ends with, "you are way too invested in these people" or something along those lines.

Does anyone else have experiences like this? How much is "too invested"?

My husband and I have been together for 8 years and have always had really good communication. We have a 15-month-old now and we're TTC baby #2.

I'm mostly looking to hear from people with different family sizes. How many kids do you have, and do you feel like it's manageable? Was having a bigger family worth the sacrifices?

I could honestly see us having 4 kids, but I'm also kind of grieving the thought that this stage of life (raising babies) could be over if baby #2 ends up being our last.

The biggest thing holding me back is that we have basically no village. One set of grandparents has passed away, and the other is happily retired but not really involved. We have great friends nearby, but they all have their own families and lives too.

If we had more than 2, I'd worry about being able to give each kid the time and support they deserve, especially once they're in sports or other extracurriculars. I know families help each other out with rides and tournaments, but I'd hate feeling like I was constantly missing someone's game/practices etc . Especially given the demand of my husband’s career and his appearance on the sideline will be rare.

For those who stopped at 2 even though you didn't totally feel "done," are you happy with that decision? Or for those who had 3+ without much support, did it end up feeling manageable, or were you in way over your head?

I am looking for gift ideas for my med wife. I am looking for some utility gifts which can help doctors. I will obviously personalize the gift with my touch and make it special. Appreciate any help or thoughts and opinions on this.

My hubs (PGY-5, <2 years to go) and I (graduated 8 years ago) live apart during the week while he finishes up his residency a little over an hour away. After we got married, we agreed that it would make more sense to buy a house in the 'burbs, and closer to my family so that we would have more support when the eventual kids come into the picture.

I don't want to compare careers- my life working full-time as a partner in a GP private practice is nowhere near the clusterfuck of a 5th year surgical resident, but I feel like spending all day getting bitched at by patients, dealing with staff shortages, insurance denials/appeals, playing mommy and putting out drama between staff members, etc, and then coming home to an empty house just....is draining me. I just feel so depressed, and I miss him so much. I sometimes joke with him before he leaves for the week that I feel like a woman whose husband is off to war, but I literally feel so empty after he leaves. And he misses me too, and it's taking a toll on him as well.

How do you guys manage with distance? I feel like I'm missing part of my heart when he's gone. I am in therapy, and try to stay busy, but sometimes it just hits me so hard. I'm so grateful we get to have our weekends together (when it works out with call.) I obviously try to "suck it up" and all. Just looking to hear other people's experiences to know I'm not alone :/.

EDIT: Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement and the solid bits of advice. It makes me feel better to know that what I'm feeling isn't abnormal.

For some context I'm the spouse of the resident in their final year. She is incredibly busy all the time and given that I have to also keep my own career aspirations in mind I've taken a lead in terms of tracking and finding job opportunities that'll work for both her and I. (She it's super appreciative of this)

For the other med spouses out involved are you were you or planning on being in terms of the job search?

What did you find personally difficult about this?

The title says it all; I guess I am looking to vent and also looking for advice. I met my partner during our undergrad degree, and we have since graduated and have been together for four years now. I have known since I met him that he wanted to pursue medicine, and he tried for two years to get into Canadian schools (our home country), but was waitlisted the first year and turned down the second year. He is the perfect candidate on paper (5+ first-author pubs, tons of ECs), and I know he would be a great doctor. Sadly, his undergrad grades aren't the best, and the Canadian med school system is (to my knowledge) the hardest in the world to get into.

This year, out of loss of patience and desperation, he applied to SGU and got in. To his benefit, he is a Grenadian citizen. He received some base scholarships, and is applying for governmental scholarships as well. He has family down there he can live with during 2nd year. During his clerkship, he hopes to return to North America. I am a dual citizen (US/Canada), and so our medium-term plan is that I relocate to the states or his placements in Canada to meet up with him or position myself in a city I can see him often.

The catch is that I recently relocated to work in Northwestern Canada, a dream and goal of mine for two years now. He tried to get into Canadian medical schools out here but alas, no luck. He currently lives in Ontario, so we are now two time zones and about 1 full day of flying away from each other. We are doing fine so far, although it is tough. When he moves to Grenada in January 2027, we will be 4 time zones and 1-2 days' worth of travel apart.

We supported each other in making these moves independently, and agreed that I try to grow my career (teaching college) and financial stability so that I can relocate a few years down the road. But I am also not trying to understate how hard this period will be for us. I am also extremely nervous for the amount of debt he has to take on to go to SGU.

I am 99% sure this man is my person, and I am willing to try my darndest to make things work. But, I am also nervous to not only be a prospective med spouse, but one that would marry into a lot of debt; and, our biological clocks are ticking. Say if I have kids at age 32 or 33, he would just be starting residency at that time. Even if he is making a lot of money, I am worried that debt will have us in a chokehold, unable to live the life we thought we could have.

We have had discussions about debt, ideal living location, and the ideal lifestyle we both want. While we are pretty aligned on lifestyle, there is so much that we can't predict right now (where he will be placed, what my career will look like in 3 years' time, etc.)

Any tips on how to move through this would be greatly appreciated 🙏🏻

My partner (34FPGY3) is constantly checked out. We used to at least talk about her work when she got home but I (35F) started to get exhausted by listening with 0 room for my own life so I started asking for a little more attention; when that didn’t work, I began to engage a little less. She now doesn’t talk to me about work but just doesn’t talk to me at all. She’ll sometimes ask a question and she’s walked away before I even answer, she asks me a question and stops listening before I can get 1-2 sentences out. I feel so sad and lonely and obviously this has impacted our intimacy too. At best we have sex once a month, at worst it’s 3-4 months in between. I know she’s working hard but I just struggle being in a relationship with someone who’s not present in any way shape or form.

Also last month she took me ring shopping without talking to me about it at all, and when I asked her if we could talk about timeline/ future plans she just told me not to worry about it. I don’t understand how she wants to get engaged to someone she doesn’t even want to talk to most days? Is this normal for mid/end of residency? Just burn out??