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Saturday, March 10, 2007
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Balancing act Parenting in a doctors' world New Media Reporter It's not uncommon to see 5-year-old Alexis and her 4-year-old brother, Anthony Menghini, watching cartoons in a waiting room at St. Joseph's Medical Center while their mom checks on patients.
It's one of the many compromises Drs. Vanessa and Fred Menghini make while balancing work and their young family.
Vanessa Menghini is a part-time internal medicine physician at St. Joseph's and Brainerd Medical Center while Fred Menghini is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the hospital and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates in Brainerd.
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Drs. Vanessa and Fred Menghini have two young children while managing busy medical careers. Vanessa is an internal medicine doctor and Fred is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Brainerd Dispatch/Heidi Lake
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They struggle with finding baby-sitters when schedules change unexpectedly, whether it's because preschool gets canceled or Fred Menghini gets called in to perform emergency surgery on a trauma patient.
"It's tough to be good at your profession, a good husband and a good father," he said. "You have to make priorities."
Sometimes for doctors, patients must come before family.
Drs. David and Monica Goodwin know the feeling. As staff physicians at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center and Central Lakes Medical Clinic in Crosby, much of their practices are consumed by moms and new babies.
David Goodwin works three-quarter time while Monica Goodwin works half time to care for their growing family. The Goodwins are expecting their fifth child to arrive in April.
The Goodwins try to schedule their time so one parent is home with the children at all times. They try to eat dinner together every night and rely on teamwork when it comes to homeschooling their children and keeping up on household duties.
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Drs. Vanessa and Fred Menghini have two young children while managing busy medical careers. Vanessa is an internal medicine doctor and Fred is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
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"I'm fortunate to have a practice where I can carve out time to be with these guys," David Goodwin said of his family.
They also work together while on call at the hospital so when Monica Goodwin is playing piano for the church children's choir, for example, David Goodwin can make emergency runs to the hospital, if needed.
"Not everyone has the luxury of teaming up at work," said Monica Goodwin. "If you both chip in, everybody wins."
Both the Goodwins and Menghini's keep detailed daily planners to keep everyone's schedules straight. Every night the Menghinis coordinate their schedules to make sure one of them is able to take care of their children before and after work hours.
"Without schedules I'd definitely be in disarray," said Fred Menghini, who says he has something scheduled every half hour each day.
With two young children and practicing out of town twice a week - he's usually up at 6 a.m. and home by 6 p.m. when he travels - the Menghinis found it to be a necessity for Vanessa to cut back her work schedule to part time.
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Drs. Vanessa and Fred Menghini have two young children while managing busy medical careers. Vanessa is an internal medicine doctor and Fred is an oral and maxillofacial surgeon.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
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"I don't think that we would be able to manage the responsibilities and hours of two full-time physician careers and children without sacrificing something," said Vanessa Menghini.
"I was willing to sacrifice my job," she said. "You have to be willing. I find it hard not to take more patients. I could be doing more good for more patients."
The Goodwins shared the same struggles before Monica went part time.
"No matter what your profession, you know when enough is enough," she said.
Two years ago Monica Goodwin found herself overwhelmed by her full-time responsibilities at work and home and re-evaluated her life. She now works two days a week.
"It made a huge difference in my family," she said. "It gave a huge peace to our home. The tricky part has been the balance and it's taken a few years to get that into place."
HEIDI LAKE may be reached at heidi.lake@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5879.
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