For those who worked be4 med school - do u keep doing some gigs on the side?

I cannot conceive of trying to balance my previous work while doing med school stuff. Be prepared to drop whatever you had been doing until you actually get a grip on what to expect of yourself in school. If you are not prepared to fill your days with studying, take some time off until you feel ready.

...

I worked as an NP before medschool and continued to work as an NP once school started.

Casual work pays pretty well. I work one half day in my old office seeing my regular patients and one full 12 hour shift in the ER on saturdays.

Tricky, but it works out OK and I was able to keep my grades up fine.

(We are currently on summer break and I am seeing patients at my old practice three days a week and doing research the other two.)

I did software engineering before medical school. I was able to do a little side work during the school year. I definitely worked less than I thought I would be able to handle, though. I also was involved in some research projects and class leadership. It's doable, but tricky at times. The only way I pulled it off was completely owning my schedule. If school was ramping up for an exam I just didn't work and the nature of what I was doing allowed me that flexibility.

Yes, I'm planning on keeping in close touch with my PI and continue some work on the side on the project I'm currently on, which I'm going to get authorship on, so I'll want to help with the manuscript preparation.

I doubt I'll have any time for research when med school starts, but it'll be good in touch to keep with the research I've done over the past year.

Btw, my research is in health policy too, my PI is an MD/PhD in policy

j-med said:

If you had worked before, do you stay in touch and keep doing some projects on the side?

Do you find yourself have time to do so while in med school?

Please share your tips, advice, or experiences!

Click to expand...

I was an engineer and researcher "on the outside," and as a med student, I participated in my school's research track.

First best step is to make sure you can handle the workload associated with med school. Once you have an idea of how much time you need to spend studying to get the grades you want, it's mostly an issue of time management. I was able to get away with not attending class and studying on my own. That left open more time - usually an hour here or there, sometimes a full weekend - to pursue my project. Your ability to do a side gig will depend on how much time you need to devote to school.

j-med said:

..Personal note: I am in health tech/ policy, would I have any chance to integrate some of that experience into med school?...

Click to expand...

Health policy has excellent applications in medicine, and you can find many people who would be willing to take on your skills (e.g. state health agencies, CDC, state tox service, etc.). However, from what you posted, I don't see any advantage to waiting a year. If you've got an app ready to go, then apply, and see what happens. If you get in, and you can't find the time to do the projects you want, there are other training options down the line - MD/MPH programs, year-off programs, fellowships in public health and health policy, and so on.

Was a photographer and still work as one, even got into glamour photography through a friend recently
Also working on a research (a couple hours a week)
Yes, I am proud to introduce myself as a professional exotic photographer / MS2 student

working is definately doable during the first 2 years. I still try and maintain my place on payroll be working 12 to 24 hours a month which believe it or not is actually doable during third year.
Besides the $$$$$, it also helps you feel like you're still an adult, which is something medical school seems to discourage.

j-med said:

Thanks for your input. I definitely hear what you are saying. But as an older applicant, I really hope I can build upon my prior work experiences if I do wait another year.

And I am not talking about full time job, but perhaps a health policy research project about 8-10 hours per week, might that be doable?

Any additional thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.

Click to expand...

No.

The biggest problem with working in med school is that you can't make a commitment every week. How much free time I have is very dependent on our test schedule, so some weeks I might have 8 or 10 hours free. But on a test week, I have a hard enough time making time to make dinner much less work. I do some volunteer work outside of med school, but everyone knows that if I have a test I'm just not available. I don't think committing yourself to work 10 hours a week before classes even start is a good idea. Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear.