MD jobs without doing residency

[LouisianaDoctor]

Hey guys,

I graduate med school in a few months, and due to a rather monumental screw-up on my part, I may have to sit out for the next 16 months or so until the 2010 match.

I was wondering what kinds of jobs are out there for an US MD who has not completed a residency yet. I'm thinking of anything, from finding a job as a research assistant, somehow working at drug companies, teaching, working on a cruise ship as a doctor (I hear they just bring nurses along sometimes?), moving to a small island in Fiji and being a doctor, etc.

I would appreciate any ideas or input you have.

Thank you
LADoc

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[78222]

What did you do?>

 

[LouisianaDoctor]

Didn't schedule my CS in time, and I'm having trouble getting a test date before the end of December, which means it wont be turned in in time for the match

 

[LouisianaDoctor]

But to be completely honest, sometimes I wonder about non-traditional jobs for MDs. I wonder what else is out there.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

Shoot for trying to find a (hopefully paid) research position, preferably in the field you're interested in.

You're going to have to account for the time you spent between greduation and starting residency now and forever so hopefully make it something worthwhile.

Also, you don't HAVE to take CS prior to the match, a lot of places just want it prior to you starting in July.

 

[themudphud]

Yeah--I would double check about the CS issue. Unless it is specific to what you want to apply in, I have never heard of anyone having to take CS before the match.

But, if you do have to take time off, there are two approaches right off the top of my head to take:
1) academic, easy going, make it to all of your interviews no sweat: This would mean that you would essentially have to take a job as a research assistant or postdoc. Yes, you can be a post-doc. You will have a doctoral degree, right? Try, if you can, to take a job as a postdoc because it will probably mean more money--but you can explore that more at your institution. Also for postdocs there are a number of funding opportunities that are still out there (I've been posting them on my blog on the "funding opportunities" page when I find them).
2) make some money money money: go to consulting. While industry jobs are reluctant to hire people that will be leaving shortly (because they put a lot of training up front into you), the consulting industry is known for the high turnover--it is expected that you will shortly be leaving. You will great dough as an M.D. but your hours will suck. Let me know if you are interested in consulting and I can point you to some companies (or feel free to contact me if you have other questions) .

 

[WellWornLad]

A postdoc position may be hard to land for just one year, especially if you don't have a few papers under your belt, but doing some research will look much better if/when you apply next year than, say, cruise ship doctor. Just something to consider.

Speaking of career-killers, there's probably some snake oil purveyors looking for a quack to endorse their penis enlarging/youth restoring super pills. All you have to do is keep a straight face while saying "I wholeheartedly endorse this scientifically proven wonder drug."

 

[meister]

So you're not only talking about no residency, you're also talking about no internship and thus no license? You're not going to find a job anywhere because you'd be utterly unqualified to do anything involving the care of patients. Maybe you could work for a newspaper's health section or something? I don't think there's much of anything really. You can't be a "doctor" anywhere without a license. The M.D. degree itself doesn't really do much of anything.

Get a $10/hour job and chalk another notch on the "I definitely won't do anything like that again" tally I guess.

 

[Trail Boss]

So you're not only talking about no residency, you're also talking about no internship and thus no license? You're not going to find a job anywhere because you'd be utterly unqualified to do anything involving the care of patients. Maybe you could work for a newspaper's health section or something? I don't think there's much of anything really. You can't be a "doctor" anywhere without a license. The M.D. degree itself doesn't really do much of anything.

Get a $10/hour job and kill yourself for being stupid I guess.

Dude, get a handle on your anger.

 

[meister]

I'm not angry, just honest. Was anything I said incorrect? I'm not going to blow smoke up his ass.

 

[Taliesinrk]

I'm not angry, just honest. Was anything I said incorrect? I'm not going to blow smoke up his ass.

Must be nice to have all the answers. What a ****ing jackass: you told him to kill himself. Perhaps you can give all the members here permission to post once we've lived up to your standards.

Further, you don't need to blow smoke up his ass... but feel free to blow it out yours.

 

[meister]

Must be nice to have all the answers. What a ****ing jackass: you told him to kill himself. Perhaps you can give all the members here permission to post once we've lived up to your standards.

Further, you don't need to blow smoke up his ass... but feel free to blow it out yours.

Oh please like it's so difficult to see that I was using it as a figure of speech. But if it offends you so much I'll edit it out.

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

I love when alpha males argue on the internet. It turns me on.

 

[mjl1717]

I'm not angry, just honest. Was anything I said incorrect? I'm not going to blow smoke up his ass.

I agree I dont think there is anything the guy can do.. I think the only ones who could possibly over rule this are the Feds or the Armed Services..

 

[WellWornLad]

I'm not angry, just honest. Was anything I said incorrect? I'm not going to blow smoke up his ass.

I think you're wrong in assuming the only two options are residency and a $10/hour (presumably meaningless) job. OP didn't say he wanted to necessarily practice clinical medicine or be a "doctor," so perhaps you were a tad dismissive.

That said, I don't think it's a big deal if you want to be dismissive.

 

[Aaja]

I agree about the question regarding the MD status of the OP. It changes things completely. I haven't started my internship and even if I finished it, I can't call myself a doctor under mexican law because the bar exams are done after you finish internship and you must complete a 1 year social service to get the degree. You can only legally practise medicine under the wings of a liscensed doctor who supervises you if you don't have the MD degree yet.

If the OP has the MD degree, then things can be different. I don't know about US jobs an MD can do, but in Mexico you can do 1st level consultations. However, the working hours are long and the pay is poor. Chances are the only places near big cities that will hire you are hospitals run by family members.

However, what about things like doctors without borders? I believe some of those programs even accept med students. You travel to other parts of the world gaining work experience and they do pay you, if not it's probably not a very good pay, I don't know.

 

[MrBurns10]

Wait, OP, are you absolutely positive you need CS before the match? As far as I understand, you just need to have passed it before your internship starts.

Check into it before you start worrying about contingency plans.

 

[Macgyver1]

In order to match u need to be ecfmg certified. This requires passing and reported scores for step 1 and 2 cs + ck or u cant submit your rank order list. The last day to register for match is end of Feb, which makes dec last month to take cs.

Take a pre match and u get till april to retake it to be ready for june score.

 

[MrBurns10]

In order to match u need to be ecfmg certified. This requires passing and reported scores for step 1 and 2 cs + ck or u cant submit your rank order list. The last day to register for match is end of Feb, which makes dec last month to take cs.

Take a pre match and u get till april to retake it to be ready for june score.

Hmm, interesting. So is this for everyone or just FMGs?

 

[mules05]

Hmm, interesting. So is this for everyone or just FMGs?

Just FMGs... US grads don't need to be ECFMG certified. Just make sure you've passed CS before June, otherwise there may be problems starting residency. For CK, on the other hand, I've heard that many residencies like to see a passing score before ranking you.

 

[Dr. McDreamy]

Just FMGs... US grads don't need to be ECFMG certified. Just make sure you've passed CS before June, otherwise there may be problems starting residency. For CK, on the other hand, I've heard that many residencies like to see a passing score before ranking you.

whew...you people freaked me out until i read this was only for FMG's. I'm not taking it till January.

Also, you can sign up for email alerts from NMBE....it will email you when a spot opens up.

 

[alwaysaangel]

As others have said - you won't be able to treat patients because you're not a doctor until you finish your internship. So that cuts out the cruiseship doctor (which I'm told is actually fairly competitive and a big side job for a lot of EM doctors) and pharm consulting.

But teaching might work - see if you have a Princeton Review around or a Kaplan - being a MD will give you major cred and they'll probably give you as many hours as you want. If you're willing to move go to LA or NY or something where there are tons of schools around and hours and hours of classes to teach - you could probably survive pretty well with just the one job that way.