Becoming Both

Becoming Both
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Biweekly

Stories at the intersection of medical training, parenthood, and everything in between—especially what often gets left out.

  1. 6d ago

    Shouldering the Burden: From Trainee to Trusted Adult

    In this episode the host, Amanda Quijano, talks with Missy, a family medicine doctor, mom of two, and associate program director, about family planning during medical training, extending training timelines, breastfeeding while working clinically, and her evolving perspective as she’s transitioned from the roll of trainee to mentor and leader. Missy describes intentionally having her first baby in fourth year of medical school after taking a leave from school in Israel to live with her partner in Peru, then timing her second pregnancy near residency graduation and using accrued unpaid leave to maintain health insurance during a high-risk pregnancy. She recounts major barriers to pumping as a student and intern—lack of space, time, safety, and agency—contrasted with a more supportive attending experience with blocked time and collegial support. The discussion emphasizes Missy’s new role as one of the “trusted adults” - a program leader now advocating from the top-down to buffer vulnerable trainees, using her own experiences to fuel how she approaches her role as an educator and advocate for a new generation of pregnant, parenting and breastfeeding residents.

  2. Sep 29

    Making Room for Milk: Breastfeeding, Residency, and Pumping in Between

    In this episode the host, Amanda Quijano, sits down with Margot - a family medicine physician and inpatient palliative care doctor who is expecting her third child. The two talk about Margot’s experience having children during medical training, focusing on her journey navigating breastfeeding in residency. Margot describes choosing residency programs based on their level of support of parenting residents and families, feeling tension between bonding with co-residents and getting home for her baby, and making tradeoffs that increased efficiency but changed opportunities. Much of the discussion focuses on the logistics and stigma of pumping—finding space, time burdens, and sometimes pumping while working—along with supportive and uncomfortable reactions. Fueled by her own frustrations, Margot helped her program apply for an AAP/AAFP lactation-support collaboration grant - the results of which can be found published here. The two also talk about the emotional burden, balance, and protectiveness that having a family during such a challenging time such as residency can create, including referencing Margot’s published essay in JAMA (“Mother’s Gold”) that reflects on how parenthood and doctoring - while sometimes can seemingly make each role harder - ultimately felt like then ended up supporting each other throughout her journey.

  3. Sep 22 ·  Bonus

    BONUS: Between Being Both: When a Full-Time Doctor Becomes a Full-Time Mom

    In this BONUS bonus episode, the host, Amanda Quijano, revisits an additional portion of last week’s conversation with Breanna, a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow, focusing on what it felt like to take a year off medical training to move with her husband, be pregnant, and spend nine months as a full-time mom. The two discuss the cultural pressure in medicine to justify time off for family, anxiety about not having an “academic purpose,” and the leap of faith of parenting full-time without prior experience. Breanna shares how she built support in a new city, how unexpectedly hard full-time parenting was, and how returning to work simultaneously evoked both guilt and relief. The conversation focuses on identity shifts, marriage dynamics, and how post-training flexibility makes choices about part-time work both possible and paralyzing.

  4. Sep 15

    The Two-Body Problem: Marriage, Matching, and Making another Way

    In this episode, the Host, Amanda Quijano, chats with Breanna, a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow and author of the Academic Psychiatry article “Fast Tracking Slowly.” They discuss Breanna’s deciding to take a gap year between adult psychiatry residency and child fellowship to start a family amid the two-body problem with her MD-PhD husband who was also in the process of matching. She describes years of long-distance marriage, turning 30 and confronting fertility uncertainty, and trying to figure out alternative options for her own fellowship while her husband was applying to residency. With support from mentors, program directors, and contacts at other institutions, she explored transfers, deferral, and alternative pathways beyond the traditional training track, ultimately deciding to defer fellowship for a year to spend time with her newborn. The conversation touches on cultural pressure, stigma, logistical challenges, parental leave, and the financial realities of taking time off.

  5. Sep 8 ·  Bonus

    Like Riding a Bike? Recovery, Rustiness, and Returning to Work

    In this BONUS episode, the host, Amanda Quijano, and returning guest Kristen discuss her experience returning to emergency medicine after maternity leave. Kristen describes fears about returning after nearly four months off, including physical recovery, sleep deprivation, clinical rust, “mom brain,” pumping logistics, and the emotional difficulty of leaving her son. She explores how the transition back was smoother than expected, helped by supportive ED culture, communicating with attendings, doing study questions, and the support of her family. She also reflects on identity integration, feeling like she now has “doctor brain” and “mom brain,” and how parenthood has deepened her empathy and advocacy work.

  6. Sep 1

    Permission to Pause: Pregnancy, Leave, and Rethinking Your Timeline

    In this episode, the host, Amanda Quijano, sits down with Kristin, a fourth-year emergency medicine resident and new mom. The two discuss Kristin’s experience having her first baby during residency and how the physical stress of pregnancy forced her to change her original plans for leave and graduating on time. They explore the inherent feelings of guilt associated with acknowledging the physical limitations of being pregnant and how this is antithetical to current ideal of what it takes to succeed in medicine. They also discuss how, despite the fear of being perceived as being behind and the potential optics of delaying graduation, her program’s supportive culture, proactive communication about leave, and a standard policy eliminating third-trimester overnights helpe to reduced that stigma and guilt, even as ACGME/ABEM rules constrained potential accommodations.

  7. Aug 25 ·  Bonus

    BONUS: Pregnancy Exposures and Loss

    In this bonus episode, the host, Amanda Quijano, and Christine discussing her late miscarriage during her first pregnancy and the fear and guilt she felt about workplace exposures in the emergency department. The host frames Christine’s story with data showing that the rate of pregnancy loss in medical trainees may be as high as 2-4x the national average, alongside limited systemic protections from toxins, radiation, infectious risks, and hazard hours such as long shifts and nights. Christine describes the aftermath of her miscarriage, including unplanned time off due to hospitalization, lack of a clear policy or protected leave, and workplace “normalization” of working through pregnancy loss, prompting a call for systemic support and written protections.

  8. Aug 18

    Choosing Wisely: Fertility, Risks and The Decision to Become a Physician Parent

    Host Amanda Quijano interviews Christine, a third-year fellow and new mom. The conversation explores how she decided when to start a family during training and how her decision-making process was partially shaped by her experiences as a medical student, her identity as a Black woman physician and her awareness of higher maternal morbidity and mortality risks. She talks about her journey freezing embryos during residency, navigating early-morning appointments, schedule swaps, and trying to time her procedures and recovery with her schedule. She talks about how she ultimately began trying to conceive in fellowship, and experienced a late second-trimester miscarriage. She highlight how her program provided flexibility near delivery (including a virtual rotation and no third-trimester overnights) and then how she had to navigate advocating for herself and her baby around her delivery and post-delivery complications - as well as the systems she had put in place ahead of time to make sure this could happen.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Stories at the intersection of medical training, parenthood, and everything in between—especially what often gets left out.

Information

  • Creator
    Becoming Both
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Becoming Both
  • Show Website
    Becoming Both

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