Studying and being a parent

Clara Sörvåg is in her third term of the medical programme while being a mother to Nova, 5 years old, and Sune, 3 years old. Thanks to meeting inspiring doctors in healthcare, studying at Komvux (municipal adult education), and taking the university entrance exam, she discovered the programme and got accepted when her daughter was still a baby.

– I had to run out and breastfeed her during the breaks of högskoleprovet (the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test), she says.

It worked out. She was accepted into her first choice at KI.

Additional exam sessions and study techniques help 

Clara has never studied at KI without being a parent. Perhaps that is why her eldest daughter also wants to become a doctor.

– My children are very interested in “doctor school” and want to know everything about all the lessons and exams. But it is naturally also challenging. When I started studying, I still lived with the children’s father, which meant I could get support if there was an exam on a day when the children needed to be home. Now I have the children every other week. This means I can study much more one week, but if one of my children is sick on an exam day, I just have to accept it and prepare for the retake. But it is always worth it. Especially when my daughter says she will never give up because she wants to be like her mum. That makes me feel like I am doing something right.

Additionally, Clara has a study technique that helps her study as efficiently as possible. At the beginning of each course, she breaks down what she needs to learn. She also tries to identify which parts of the course will be easier to learn, and which will require more work. Based on her findings, she then makes up a plan for how she will study for the course.

– Since I have to drop off and pick up at preschool every other week, I sometimes miss non-mandatory lectures. But then I can read books or watch recorded lectures instead. The most important thing for me is to make sure I know what is happening when in the course, so I can anticipate if I might miss something. I never know when the next sick day will be, or how long it will last.

Support is available both at and outside KI

So what does a typical day look like? On a weekday when Clara has the children, they usually wake up at 6:00 am, have breakfast, get dressed, and go to preschool. After dropping off the kids, it is time for studies until pick-up.

– If I study from home, I try to pick up the children quite early, around 15:30. Then we usually go to the gym together. There is a children’s training room there that they love. If I am at school during the day, pick-up is at 17:00 followed by dinner directly after. Then the children have an hour of free playtime where they get to decide what we do. Often they want to play “doctor school”. We sit with an anatomy book and they choose a body part that I have to name. But sometimes we just build with Lego.

To make life as a studying parent a bit easier, there are some central financial supports available. These include additional grants from CSN and housing allowances from Försäkringskassan, as well as the possibility to take a break from studies and keep the student aid when you need to be home to care for children under 12 years of age. Clara also mentions that she has received help internally at KI.

– I would not have managed without our study and career counsellor. It has helped so much to get assistance with what applies for me, especially when I transitioned from the old medical programme to the new one. I recommend those in the same situation to send their questions early as the correspondence can sometimes take time, but I also think the course coordinators have been very helpful when I have asked for tips and advice.

Tips for other students with children

If you have a dream, go for it! Clara shares this advice with other students in the same situation or parents who want to start studying.

– Problems will arise, but you will find a way to solve them. For my part, I have learned that I need to have balance. It is so easy to get stuck trying to do everything at once and then feel like I am not doing enough in any area. Therefore, when I am with the children, I try to be fully present without distractions, and when I study, I devote myself fully to that. Another tip is not to compare yourself with others. Trust that you can do this, but also take life one week at a time, especially during the preschool years. My final tip is to see a retake exam not as the end of the world, but as extra repetition.