Jana Pittman: ‘I pay more for childcare than I get paid as a [trainee] doctor'
Wow. I think it's one of those things where you have to roll with the punches. It certainly made me a lot more resilient, but it was a tough chapter to go through.
Politics are about personal values. What are yours? My strong values are around equality for all: male, female, transgender. I'm in the middle of trying to create my foundation that will support people who are trying to push boundaries but who don't have the financial ability to do so.
What do you think Australia gets right? Multiculturalism.
What does it need to do better? Funding rural communities to have better access to healthcare.
MONEY
What's more lucrative, the track or medicine? [ Laughs ] Oh, good god. I lose money going to work – I pay more for childcare than I get paid as a [trainee] doctor. And when that little baby passed away, I thought, 'This is the worst possible thing to have happened, and I get paid $40 an hour to be here.' Obviously, that's before tax. But I'm in the very lucky position of having a job outside medicine, my public-speaking and media career. I couldn't do it without that.
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What's the poorest you've ever been? At one stage, I had $18 in my bank account.
Ugh, that's scary. Don't get me wrong: I owned my house, but the problem was, I couldn't access the equity in the property. It was entirely my fault: I've never been good with money. When I had my girls, Emily and Jemima, it was as a solo mom using a sperm donor [Pittman gave birth to these, her second and third children, in 2015 and 2016. She also has a son, 18, from her first marriage, and had another son in 2020, and twins, a boy and a girl, in 2022]. I started medical school and got an interest-free mortgage for five years. But medical school takes five years. What I didn't calculate is that when I took a year off to have my girls, my mortgage would double overnight. I was incredibly lucky that I was able to approach my father, who basically bailed me out.
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The Age
14-06-2025
- The Age
Jana Pittman on being a trainee obstetrician and raising six children on her own
A lot of the media coverage that focused on you was tough and, arguably, unfair. Was there an element of sexism at play? I wouldn't have thought there was an element of sexism, although someone did say to me once that if I'd had blonde hair, I probably would've been liked more. After I did [reality TV show] SAS Australia a couple of years ago, several journalists who'd given me a hard time through my career contacted me. One of them made me cry. They said to me, 'I just want to apologise: I recognise that some of the things I did and wrote about you were so wrong, and I understand now the impact that it probably would've had on your career.' Wow. I think it's one of those things where you have to roll with the punches. It certainly made me a lot more resilient, but it was a tough chapter to go through. Politics are about personal values. What are yours? My strong values are around equality for all: male, female, transgender. I'm in the middle of trying to create my foundation that will support people who are trying to push boundaries but who don't have the financial ability to do so. What do you think Australia gets right? Multiculturalism. What does it need to do better? Funding rural communities to have better access to healthcare. MONEY What's more lucrative, the track or medicine? [ Laughs ] Oh, good god. I lose money going to work – I pay more for childcare than I get paid as a [trainee] doctor. And when that little baby passed away, I thought, 'This is the worst possible thing to have happened, and I get paid $40 an hour to be here.' Obviously, that's before tax. But I'm in the very lucky position of having a job outside medicine, my public-speaking and media career. I couldn't do it without that. Loading What's the poorest you've ever been? At one stage, I had $18 in my bank account. Ugh, that's scary. Don't get me wrong: I owned my house, but the problem was, I couldn't access the equity in the property. It was entirely my fault: I've never been good with money. When I had my girls, Emily and Jemima, it was as a solo mom using a sperm donor [Pittman gave birth to these, her second and third children, in 2015 and 2016. She also has a son, 18, from her first marriage, and had another son in 2020, and twins, a boy and a girl, in 2022]. I started medical school and got an interest-free mortgage for five years. But medical school takes five years. What I didn't calculate is that when I took a year off to have my girls, my mortgage would double overnight. I was incredibly lucky that I was able to approach my father, who basically bailed me out.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Jana Pittman on being a trainee obstetrician and raising six children on her own
A lot of the media coverage that focused on you was tough and, arguably, unfair. Was there an element of sexism at play? I wouldn't have thought there was an element of sexism, although someone did say to me once that if I'd had blonde hair, I probably would've been liked more. After I did [reality TV show] SAS Australia a couple of years ago, several journalists who'd given me a hard time through my career contacted me. One of them made me cry. They said to me, 'I just want to apologise: I recognise that some of the things I did and wrote about you were so wrong, and I understand now the impact that it probably would've had on your career.' Wow. I think it's one of those things where you have to roll with the punches. It certainly made me a lot more resilient, but it was a tough chapter to go through. Politics are about personal values. What are yours? My strong values are around equality for all: male, female, transgender. I'm in the middle of trying to create my foundation that will support people who are trying to push boundaries but who don't have the financial ability to do so. What do you think Australia gets right? Multiculturalism. What does it need to do better? Funding rural communities to have better access to healthcare. MONEY What's more lucrative, the track or medicine? [ Laughs ] Oh, good god. I lose money going to work – I pay more for childcare than I get paid as a [trainee] doctor. And when that little baby passed away, I thought, 'This is the worst possible thing to have happened, and I get paid $40 an hour to be here.' Obviously, that's before tax. But I'm in the very lucky position of having a job outside medicine, my public-speaking and media career. I couldn't do it without that. Loading What's the poorest you've ever been? At one stage, I had $18 in my bank account. Ugh, that's scary. Don't get me wrong: I owned my house, but the problem was, I couldn't access the equity in the property. It was entirely my fault: I've never been good with money. When I had my girls, Emily and Jemima, it was as a solo mom using a sperm donor [Pittman gave birth to these, her second and third children, in 2015 and 2016. She also has a son, 18, from her first marriage, and had another son in 2020, and twins, a boy and a girl, in 2022]. I started medical school and got an interest-free mortgage for five years. But medical school takes five years. What I didn't calculate is that when I took a year off to have my girls, my mortgage would double overnight. I was incredibly lucky that I was able to approach my father, who basically bailed me out.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Jana Pittman: ‘I pay more for childcare than I get paid as a [trainee] doctor'
A lot of the media coverage that focused on you was tough and, arguably, unfair. Was there an element of sexism at play? I wouldn't have thought there was an element of sexism, although someone did say to me once that if I'd had blonde hair, I probably would've been liked more. After I did [reality TV show] SAS Australia a couple of years ago, several journalists who'd given me a hard time through my career contacted me. One of them made me cry. They said to me, 'I just want to apologise: I recognise that some of the things I did and wrote about you were so wrong, and I understand now the impact that it probably would've had on your career.' Wow. I think it's one of those things where you have to roll with the punches. It certainly made me a lot more resilient, but it was a tough chapter to go through. Politics are about personal values. What are yours? My strong values are around equality for all: male, female, transgender. I'm in the middle of trying to create my foundation that will support people who are trying to push boundaries but who don't have the financial ability to do so. What do you think Australia gets right? Multiculturalism. What does it need to do better? Funding rural communities to have better access to healthcare. MONEY What's more lucrative, the track or medicine? [ Laughs ] Oh, good god. I lose money going to work – I pay more for childcare than I get paid as a [trainee] doctor. And when that little baby passed away, I thought, 'This is the worst possible thing to have happened, and I get paid $40 an hour to be here.' Obviously, that's before tax. But I'm in the very lucky position of having a job outside medicine, my public-speaking and media career. I couldn't do it without that. Loading What's the poorest you've ever been? At one stage, I had $18 in my bank account. Ugh, that's scary. Don't get me wrong: I owned my house, but the problem was, I couldn't access the equity in the property. It was entirely my fault: I've never been good with money. When I had my girls, Emily and Jemima, it was as a solo mom using a sperm donor [Pittman gave birth to these, her second and third children, in 2015 and 2016. She also has a son, 18, from her first marriage, and had another son in 2020, and twins, a boy and a girl, in 2022]. I started medical school and got an interest-free mortgage for five years. But medical school takes five years. What I didn't calculate is that when I took a year off to have my girls, my mortgage would double overnight. I was incredibly lucky that I was able to approach my father, who basically bailed me out.
