Work/School balancing

[nycpremed]

Right now I'm preparing for my next semester of courses and beginning the process of completing med school prerequisites after switching majors and deciding to go into medicine. I just began working at a full time job in a health clinic and decided to continue working at this job throughout the school year and attend school in the evening full time. Quitting the job is not an option for me because of the amount of financial problems that myself and my family are experiencing and luckily I don't have certain obligations such as children or a mortgage to worry about. However, my concern is participation in activities like volunteering, community service, research, etc as well as maintaining good grades with such a busy schedule and full course load. Do you suggest that I attend classes part time instead of full time and what is the best advice you can give for someone who wants to ace their classes but may not have too much time for studying because of their busy schedule? Has anyone else been in my particular situation and if so how were you able to make the best of it and how were your time management skills? Sorry for the long post, I just want to make sure that I make the right decision beforehand and keep myself from making a decision I may regret. Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Solfeggio]

I recall from somewhere that if you want to do well in your courses (A's with good comprehension) that you should not work more than 23ish hours a week if you are in school full time. So if you reverse the rolls, if you must be at work full time, I wouldn't take more than half time status for your course work. I'm currently taking prerequisite courses full time and I work on average 25 hours a week and it comes out just right for me. I'm also currently doing research, but only one day a week (that will change come fall semester). Volunteering/Shadowing will mostly come between semesters for me.
IMHO: (if there is no other choice but for you to work 40 hours a week) take this next semester half/part time and see how it goes. If it becomes too much to handle, drop a course. If you want to maximize your chances of getting in to Med School, GPA and MCAT scores are of most importance. Bite off more than you can chew for a semester, then you are left playing catchup (a position that no premed wants to be in). Stress levels will surely increase beyond where you want them at, and uncertainty will settle in all the way to the end.

 

[cabinbuilder]

However, my concern is participation in activities like volunteering, community service, research, etc as well as maintaining good grades with such a busy schedule and full course load.

Why are you concerned about this?? You work in a health clinic so you are exposed to medicine. That's the whole point of volunteering, etc if you are the standard college student who have never worked. However, that does not pertain to you so don't stress about it. You only need research if you are planning on going into a research based field and/or are applying to a medical school that has a large research dept and they request you to have research experience.

My personal experience:
Volunteering - 0 hours
Community service - played in the city band
Research - 0 hours

How did I get into medical school with this? Worked in the hospital for 7 years full time because I had bills and a family. Use your clinic job as the window into a physician's life and portray this in your personal statement. That's what I did and I never was asked about the other in the interview.

 

[BWSTW]

Ever since I started school I've had to work 40 hours. there are some semesters where I went part time and others where I went full time. For me it depended on when I could fit my classes in my work schedule. If you need to go full time, balance your classes out so you are not taking all science classes if you can. If you are unsure how you will do, start off part time then go full time. It all comes down to what you are capable of doing. There is no need to rush the process.

As far as gaining experience, if you are not getting any while you work, take a day off here and there to gain the experience you need. That's what I've had to do, and yes it sucks to use vacation days up, but it is worth it in the end.

 

[nycpremed]

Thanks to everyone for the useful advice, especially cabinbuilder and bwstw. Right now I think I might go part time and register for only two classes this semester. I haven't started my science courses yet but I'm preparing for them early and reading up on some of my moms old A&P and biochemistry books in the meantime before the summer ends. As far as clinical experience is concerned, I work in the health information department at my clinic and most of the time I'm doing correspondence and faxing documents so I'm not really interacting with the patients or doctors all too much.