Time to work part time....

[link2swim06]

I know there is similar threads but wanted your guys opinion.

I am accepted to a med school next year and was just offered a extremely lucrative part-time job (I work as a webmaster).

From your experience is it possible to work 10-15 hours per week in med school? For me this would the difference between going into debt verse saving alot of money.

Let me know if you guys have any experiences working part-time. Thanks!

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[sylvanthus]

I guess it would totally depend on your situation and future plans. If you intend to go into a competitive speciality down the road you'd be better off using that time to study and boost your class rank, etc. If you want to go into a less competitive specialty and this job can save 200k of debt, and you can still pass your classes, then by all means do it.

That probably didn't help, but need more info to decide if the cost is worth the benefit.

 

[thepoopologist]

Try it out, and if you find yourself sinking in class, ditch the job. If not, then by all means, go for it.

 

[RegularNihilist]

Entering med school, you are up against the most motivated, result-oriented and intelligent in the US (it is the US, rite?) Do you:
a) think that you are smart enough to ace all exams, blow the competition outta the water whilst working on web servers? Go ahead.
b) think that you won't be as great compared to your new peers, and look for an excuse to underperform in advance?
c) got flattered by a great offer, and found it hard to reject the great money and great hours?

Here's how I see it. In med school, you gotta be in tip-top shape by day 1. Medschool students push their by-heart learning skills to the maximum. You cannot succede, unless you maximize your chances. To get the edge, students get prescriptions for ritalin and other boosters. They download all necessary books in advance, and skip holidays to study. They spend xmas eve studying, and thanksgiving. And at the end of the day, 30% still don't manage to go anywhere but IM, FP, Psych.

Unless you are a) a genius or b) know already what you want, you might be xtremely disappointed when you realize that you don't have any lucrative options in medicine.

If you are not sure if you're gonna like medicine (after all, I suppose there are many superintelligent among the low-scorers, who just aren't interested enough to put in the required amount of work), then keeping your job as a webmaster is a GOOD thing, because it will minimize your depth, and make it easier to walk away.

May I ask; if you have computer skillz - why u wanna aim at medicine and not google, or some other great company anyway? Have u read the 300k medicine thread??

 

[azntxn]

i know people in my class that work but they are the nontraditional students who have families, so I guess if they can do it, why wouldnt you be.

 

[link2swim06]

Entering med school, you are up against the most motivated, result-oriented and intelligent in the US (it is the US, rite?) Do you:
a) think that you are smart enough to ace all exams, blow the competition outta the water whilst working on web servers? Go ahead.
b) think that you won't be as great compared to your new peers, and look for an excuse to underperform in advance?
c) got flattered by a great offer, and found it hard to reject the great money and great hours?

Here's how I see it. In med school, you gotta be in tip-top shape by day 1. Medschool students push their by-heart learning skills to the maximum. You cannot succede, unless you maximize your chances. To get the edge, students get prescriptions for ritalin and other boosters. They download all necessary books in advance, and skip holidays to study. They spend xmas eve studying, and thanksgiving. And at the end of the day, 30% still don't manage to go anywhere but IM, FP, Psych.

Unless you are a) a genius or b) know already what you want, you might be xtremely disappointed when you realize that you don't have any lucrative options in medicine.

If you are not sure if you're gonna like medicine (after all, I suppose there are many superintelligent among the low-scorers, who just aren't interested enough to put in the required amount of work), then keeping your job as a webmaster is a GOOD thing, because it will minimize your depth, and make it easier to walk away.

May I ask; if you have computer skillz - why u wanna aim at medicine and not google, or some other great company anyway? Have u read the 300k medicine thread??

Thanks for all the info (yes it is a US med school). I am going into medicine because I can't imagine staring at a computer screen the rest of my career. Furthermore, I want a dependable profession where I have little risk of being unemployed. I am not a genius but was just trying to gauge how much free time the typical med student has and if is reasonable to work during this time. What is the 300K thread you are referring to? Finally money is obvious a concern for everyone but I want to try to weight all factors appropriately in my career choice.

 

[J ROD]

Try it out, and if you find yourself sinking in class, ditch the job. If not, then by all means, go for it.

this is my plan! I plan to try and work 10hr/wk as a pharmacist. I will adjust as necessary.

I need to cut the debt somehow and I also like to work as a break from school.

 

[deleted128562]

I'm working part-time as a med student (with a family) and doing great in school. IMO, You WILL have the time to work the first two years - but in my experience it comes at the expense of some or a lot of your free time. So while my classmates are out drinking, playing football, etc on the weekend or after a test, I'm at work. I still have time for my family too (I don't need a lot of sleep thankfully).

Basically you can work part time without compromising your grades as long as you're willing to give up leisure time. But this is just my experience. Everyone is different.

 

[WellWornLad]

If I may co-opt and rephrase an old engineering joke:

Fun, good grades, or research/paid work. Pick any 2.

 

[Pianoman32]

If I may co-opt and rephrase an old engineering joke:

Fun, good grades, or research/paid work. Pick any 2.

I like that

 

[clinicallabguy]

Here's how I see it. In med school, you gotta be in tip-top shape by day 1. Medschool students push their by-heart learning skills to the maximum. You cannot succede, unless you maximize your chances. To get the edge, students get prescriptions for ritalin and other boosters. They download all necessary books in advance, and skip holidays to study. They spend xmas eve studying, and thanksgiving. And at the end of the day, 30% still don't manage to go anywhere but IM, FP, Psych.

Unless you are a) a genius or b) know already what you want, you might be xtremely disappointed when you realize that you don't have any lucrative options in medicine.

Wow!! If this is your experience then I'm sorry that your school is so cutthroat. This has not been my experience. Some of the more competetive students at my school seem to study all their free time away (not really holidays, though), and I may be naive and just not aware of people using boosters but it has never come to my attention.

I'm working part-time as a med student (with a family) and doing great in school. IMO, You WILL have the time to work the first two years - but in my experience it comes at the expense of some or a lot of your free time. So while my classmates are out drinking, playing football, etc on the weekend or after a test, I'm at work. I still have time for my family too (I don't need a lot of sleep thankfully).

Basically you can work part time without compromising your grades as long as you're willing to give up leisure time. But this is just my experience. Everyone is different.

I'm an MS1 and I was reading threads like this and even started one last year. I'm a non-traditional student who is married with kids, and my spouse does not work. I was seriously considering a part time job working one graveyard a week on a friday or saturday night. I decided against it, because it would rob me of spending time with my kids and my wife and I figured out how to manage the finances. If loan money runs short, I will probably get a part time job.

I agree with the post above. The thing that will suffer first when you work will be your leisure time, and secondly your study. Most people on SDN exaggerate about this scenario and seem to imply that if you work at all you will start failing classes. I doubt it. You're smart enough to know when you're slipping and when keeping your part time employment is compromising your future.

I am confident that it is possible for you to have a part time job and still get into your specialty of choice, but it will rob you of other rewarding pursuits you may want to pursue during school. You will have no life, essentially.

Nothing wrong with giving it a try. You can always quit your job. However, you may want to get equilibrated with the pace of medical school for a few months before you start. If that's not possible, then see how it works.

If you get a pass in the first two courses that you may have been able to get honors in because you have a part time job, then your chances of getting a good residency are not shot. At that point you can quit your job, and focus on your future. Or, it may work out, and you may be okay. Most neigh sayers never even tried it.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[J ROD]

If I may co-opt and rephrase an old engineering joke:

Fun, good grades, or research/paid work. Pick any 2.

I have one of those saying myself...

School, work, or social life....I can handle 2.

I am going to try 0.5 work and 0.5 social life and 1 school to get that 2!!

 

[Perrotfish]

I would say don't do it first semester. Some medical students will need every minute of every day just to pass, others seem to be able to get in the top quartile without every working on a weekend or getting up before noon. The problem is that you won't know which one you are until you've spend a full semester in school. Try med school out, then decide if you have 10-15 hours/week to spare.

Just to be clear, if your decision to work forces you into a less lucrative field of medicien than you wanted (which it probably will if you fail a course) that extremely small amount of money will cost you millions or even tens of millions over the course of your career.

BTW, my personal experience is that while I normally would have had more than enough time to do the part time job you're looking at, the blocks where I didn't have that much spare time sneak up on me with no warning at all. I've had one class in particular where I needed to study every hour of every day just to pass (Microbiology, it was a 5 week course, one question away from failing). There was no warning that it was going to be crazy hard: I had a good amount of spare time before and a lot of spare time in later classes. For that 5 week block, though, I was barely keeping my head above water. If I had been comitted to doing other things, I would have been sunk.

 

[Music MD]

I'd recommend doing exactly what you want to do with your free time as a medical student, including 8 hours of sleep and exercise is a plus. Do you enjoy doing web design? Or is this more about the money? Because doing it soley for the money probably isn't worth it in the long run, both career-wise and for your overall health.

I just think it's important to try to minimize your stress levels as a med student. There's enough of it around as is and life's too short. But if web design is your thing then I say by all means. I probably spend 40 hours a week playing music or something related to making music.

If you think about it.. 168 hours in a week - 60 for sleep and getting ready each day - 60 related to school (class, studying, commute) - 7 for chores'n such = 45 hours in a week for anything your heart desires. That's almost 7 hours of free time per day, everyday.

 

[Music MD]

Repost

 

[MSSM2013]

I'd recommend doing exactly what you want to do with your free time as a medical student, including 8 hours of sleep and exercise is a plus. Do you enjoy doing web design? Or is this more about the money? Because doing it soley for the money probably isn't worth it in the long run, both career-wise and for your overall health.

I just think it's important to try to minimize your stress levels as a med student. There's enough of it around as is and life's too short. But if web design is your thing then I say by all means. I probably spend 40 hours a week playing music or something related to making music.

If you think about it.. 168 hours in a week - 60 for sleep and getting ready each day - 60 related to school (class, studying, commute) - 7 for chores'n such = 45 hours in a week for anything your heart desires. That's almost 7 hours of free time per day, everyday.

I spent about 40 hours a week playing video games. no problem for me so far.