Welcome to the Life of a Dr Wife

In today’s episode, I’m sharing my story. How my husband and I met right after high school, navigated long distance through college, and eventually finding ourselves building a life around medicine. 

From weekend visits and FaceTime calls to medical school, residency, and now life in Lynchburg, VA as a wife and mom. This episode is a real, honest look at what it’s like to grow up alongside someone chasing a career in medicine.

We’re talking about:
• What no one tells you about being in a relationship with someone in medicine
• The shift from “normal life” to the unpredictability of med school + residency
• Learning to build your own identity while supporting your partner
• The emotional, funny, and very real moments behind the scenes

This podcast was created to give a voice to the people behind the doctors — the spouses, partners, and families living this life every day.

If you’ve ever felt proud, overwhelmed, lonely, or just confused by this lifestyle… you’re not alone. And you’re in the right place.

I’m so glad you’re here 🫶🏻

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Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hi friends, and welcome to the very first episode of Life of a Doctor's Wife. I'm your host, Morgan, an ice coffee lover, wife to a doctor, full-time mom, and someone learning to navigate this beautiful, chaotic, emotional world that comes with being married to medicine. I am so excited you're here. This podcast has been on my heart for a long time, and today we're starting from the beginning with my story, my why, and what you can expect.

Our Story

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Along this journey, I've realized one thing. There are so many conversations happening about becoming a doctor, but not enough conversations about the people behind the doctor. I will never forget the moment when David was accepted into medical school. I remember searching social media for the life of a doctor's wife, and nothing turned up. Everything was about the med student, the resident, or even the doctor. I was looking for the partners, the spouses, the ones next to them. I wanted to hear about the long shifts, night calls, exam seasons, and endless schedules. I vividly remember thinking, why is no one talking about this? Why does it feel like you're just supposed to figure it out all

The Chaos

SPEAKER_00 1:22

alone? So let's get to the chaos. When my husband and I first met, he had just graduated high school. We started working together at a local town pool. And somewhere along the way, we kept getting paired up together. And that was the summer we fell in love. Soon after that summer, David left for Bowdoin College to study pre-med while I still had one more year of high school to finish. I spent many weekends taking the train to visit him or watch his football games. We always made it a point to FaceTime almost every night. After I graduated, I headed to the University of New Hampshire and we continued our routine of weekend visits by train. Then COVID hit. And like so many others, we both moved back home with our parents. Both of our parents were also working in healthcare and on the front line. But somehow, this guy still chose emergency medicine after all. Throughout COVID, FaceTime became our lifeline, filling countless hours as we navigated an uncertain time together but apart. At this point, I had accumulated more credits and quickly realized that college during COVID was no longer what I had envisioned. I made the decision to graduate early from the University of New Hampshire and began applying to MBA programs. I was accepted into a nine-month full-time master's in business administration program in Beverly, Massachusetts. We moved in together, and while I focused on school, David worked as a PCA at a nearby hospital. That year was incredibly stressful. David was deep in the medical school application process, and to be honest, it was one of the hardest years for us. When he was deferred from a program in New Jersey, it felt like our world was caving in. I remember sitting in the stairwell of our apartment complex, crying to my mom, convinced we were facing another gap year. But just a few months later, everything changed. We got engaged on a family vacation, and by what truly felt like the grace of God, David was offered a seat at Lucom. He moved to Virginia ahead of me, living in an Airbnb while I searched for a place for us and prepared to move our life there. At the same time, I was deep in wedding planning, trying to secure a venue before relocating. Many venue tours were done with David on FaceTime or by showing him videos later when he was out of class. Eventually, I joined him in Virginia, secured our wedding venue, and we settled into this new chapter. The first year of medical school came with its challenges, finding a sense of community, balancing everything, and honestly just surviving. In July of 2025, we got married and rolled right into second year. I decided to go back to school and get my cosmetology license. Thankfully, second year felt a little bit more manageable and we had already found our routine. I ended up graduating cosmetology school and accepting a PRN position at a nearby doctor's office. Then came third year, which changed everything. David's schedule became more demanding with longer hours and overnight shifts during rotations. In October, we welcomed our sweet baby girl Mia five weeks early. And to top it off, he only got two days off. And yes, the first day starts the moment you're in labor. David was expected to be back before I was even discharged from the hospital, but we'll share that story more in future episodes. By fourth year, life felt like it was moving at lightning speed. It flew by, yet somehow he was rarely home. We spent months apart at a time, which was still incredibly difficult. I was then blessed with the opportunity to work remote and manage my own hours to best fit our life and our wild toddler. Now as we look ahead to residency, we know it won't be easy, but we're so grateful that we won't have to spend any more months apart. And here we are today, packing up our small apartment in Lynchburg, Virginia, saying goodbye to some sweet friends and preparing to move into a brand new home in South Carolina. I would be lying if I said I was not worried about building a community where we are headed next. I was extremely fortunate enough to have a spouse at a very family-friendly medical school. Finding a community in this season is my largest piece of advice. No matter how much you share with your mom, sister, or best friend, they just don't get it. Having that person walking through the exact same season as you is so incredibly important. For those weekends when they are studying, having that person to grab coffee with, go apple picking, or walk them all to vent to will mean so much. At LUCOM, there are many groups and clubs for spouses. I recommend that you reach out to your school to ask about a side-by-side or a student advocates association. I was fortunate enough to be president for three years of the SAA at LUCOM. This is an organization that fundraises to support the medical students with events and exam snacks. We offer free babysitting at all of our monthly meetings. We have meetups, potlucks, host meal trains for families welcoming a new baby or going through a tough season. Even if the medical school does not have these resources, I highly recommend you start one. Because why not? I promise you there is a spouse in the same season as you wishing they had someone who gets it. If you need help starting something like this, please reach out. I'm more than happy to help or guide you to the right people that can help. Building a community and a support system in this season is everything, truly. Because here's the reality no one really prepares you for. When you're married to someone in medicine, there are going to be moments when you are very, very much on your own. And somehow, can we all agree everything goes wrong when they leave town like every single time? It's almost impressive. During David's

Building a Village

SPEAKER_00 8:23

third year rotations, he had to go to a medical conference out west for a few days. And of course, this was right after we had just found out I was pregnant. And what would soon become a very long, very sick pregnancy was just the beginning. It was a Friday night. I had just gotten home from school, picked up dinner, and was settling in for what I thought would be a normal night. And then out of nowhere, I got really, really sick. The kind of sick where your mind immediately jumps to worst case scenario. I genuinely thought I was miscarrying. David was across the country, my mom was hundreds of miles away, and in that moment I realized I needed help. So I picked up my phone and called my best friends, and I'm not exaggerating when I say they didn't hesitate for even a second. No questions, no let me see, no give me a minute, they dropped everything. They left their husbands, their kids, their normal Friday night routines, and came straight to me. They sat with me in the emergency room until 2 a.m. And in a moment that felt really scary and really lonely, I wasn't alone at all. And that's what I mean when I say community matters. That's what I mean when I talk about building your people and your village. Because in seasons like this, especially being married to someone in medicine, your support system becomes your lifeline. I will forever be grateful for the village we built in Lynchburg and for friends who showed up like family when I needed the most.

The Reality

SPEAKER_00 10:08

When my husband started medical school, I had no idea what I was signing up for. I thought I was dating a normal man, and then suddenly he was studying 12 hours a day and talking about diseases that I couldn't even pronounce. Or we'd be sitting down at the dinner table and I'd ask him how his day was, and he'd say something like, Pretty good, I sawed the leg off of a cadaver today. Like, okay, babe, should I be concerned or impressed? Or it would be a Friday night, and instead of cuddled up on the couch watching a movie, we would be sitting on the couch and I would be quizzing him on male and female anatomy while he stressed over his upcoming exam. And then came the practicals, the days I would need to be his fake patient, where halfway through the visit, he would tell me I magically have a new symptom that I need to tell him about. And then fourth year wave rotations came, the chapter of life where you basically live alone, pay for your husband to go to work, and somehow pay two rents at the exact same time. And if you're anything like my husband, your rotations will be in hot spots during the worst times of the year. Somehow I think we managed to spend over $10,000 on away rotations this past year. And I have realized in this season that medicine may be his career, but it impacts the whole family. So

A Space for YOU

SPEAKER_00 11:44

I wanted to create the space I needed years ago. A space where anyone supporting someone in medicine could feel seen, supported, and reminded that they aren't crazy for feeling overwhelmed, alone, proud, or frustrated. A space to say out loud, this lifestyle is beautiful, but it's also so, so hard. Because honestly, all of that can be true at the exact same time. My hope is that by sharing my story and the stories of so many other spouses and partners, we build a community that feels a little softer, a little more understood, and a little more together.

What to Expect

SPEAKER_00 12:28

So here's what you can expect from the life of a doctor's wife: honest conversations about relationships during medical school and residency, motherhood in the middle of unpredictable schedules, how to stay connected when time is limited, the emotional and mental load behind the scenes, the lonely the lonely moments, the funny ones, and the unexpected ones. And also interviews with other spouses, partners, friends, and yes, sometimes even my husband. This isn't a highlight reel podcast. It's gonna be a real life podcast. I know that many schools and residency programs are not family friendly. So my goal is for you to leave each episode feeling less alone and more empowered. So thank

Closing Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 13:29

you for being here as I open this new chapter. I can't wait to share more, to hear your stories, and to grow this community together. That's a wrap on our first episode. If this made you feel seen, understood, or just a little less alone in this life of being married to medicine. I would love for you to share it with another medical spouse or a friend who needs it. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and follow along so you never miss an episode. It helps this little community grow in the best way. You can find me on social media at Life of a DR Wife. Until next time, take a breath, pour yourself that iced coffee, and be kind to yourself. I'll see you all in the next one.