Glide Year Job Decisions

[ababs]

I'm applying for fall '16 entry, and have been applying for any job under the sun that is remotely related to medicine. Now I'm in a tough place with multiple job offers.. Does anyone have any advice on how to decide? My family is willing to let me live rent free for the next year, so it comes down to taking a job closer to medicine for less pay or a boring job, not really related, for excellent pay. Everyone is advising to take the money, but I'm afraid it will do nothing for my overall application and leave NO time for anything to make up for it.

Undergrad-International Relations, 3.3GPA
PostBac-3.0 GPA (upward curve with Orgo I murdering my GPA)
2 years research, non medical
Excellent LORs
Two long term clinical internships
No publications/awards/presentations
MCAT pending, but tests have been scoring around a 30

Jobs-
Scribe for an oncology practice I'm very familiar with, $20k for 40hr/wk
Data Entry (basically) for clinical trial database company, $40k+ for 50+hr/wk
Lung Transplant Researcher (top 10 school, authorship, intensive, hands on clinical experience)-$10K for 40+hr/wk

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[medstar11]

Honestly I would take the scribe as that is going to give you your only actual medical experience and see how the healthcare system really works. It will also bring a reality to you as to whether or not you want to be a physician when you see what they do on a daily basis....

 

[ababs]

To clarify, I've worked for two years at an inpatient medical facility, and both of my long internships were in hospitals working directly with physicians. So I've worked and lived the life-hasn't scared me away yet!!

 

[medstar11]

Ok then I would probably go with the highest paying so you can save some money but just make sure the job is flexible for when it is time for interviews!

 

[Long Way to Go]

10k for more than 40 hours a week? That's probably illegal. Even if it somehow isn't, if they're not willing to pay you as a professional, they don't really value what you're doing. Even if the school is well-renowned and the PI is some hotshot, I wouldn't take it.

You're applying widely to both MD and DO programs, right? You're close enough to the borderline stats-wise that I would also be thinking about backup careers.

 

[ababs]

10k for more than 40 hours a week? That's probably illegal. Even if it somehow isn't, if they're not willing to pay you as a professional, they don't really value what you're doing. Even if the school is well-renowned and the PI is some hotshot, I wouldn't take it.

You're applying widely to both MD and DO programs, right? You're close enough to the borderline stats-wise that I would also be thinking about backup careers.

I'm hoping my postbacc GPA will tick up a bit this semester, but you're right, I know I'm borderline at best! MD/DO applications will be as broad as possible-I know I have a better shot at DO, and I'm not picky about where I end up.
Since I'm so borderline, I'm acutely aware that everything in my application counts, which makes this decision so difficult.
The research position is legit, I'd be a grad student researcher, which is how they get away with paying so little