A different "working through med school" question

[kpod]

If this has already been said I apologise...I didn't have the patience to read the entire thread.

If you ace your first year, at most schools this puts you in the running for scholarships that frequently do a lot to offset the price of med school. So, if you think you can be at the top, you should think about shooting for that with the goal of getting one of those.

Also, if all you're interested in is Primary care, during your residency scope out jobs in underpriviledged/underserved areas because they'll often pay off your debt in return for 3-5 years of work. And, as far as I udnerstand it, they still pay you a normal salary.

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[GreenShirt]

Working during medical school depends upon the person. I need all my waking hours to study just to do decently on exams. My roommate, on the other hand is "bored" in med school because of all the free time she has. She will be starting a part time research job with NIH next year to fill her time. That being said, you should wait to see how you handled medical school first before committing to a long term job. You may turn out to be an individual like my roommate, but you might also turn out to be like me.

As for money, your federal loan limit will be around $30K (mid-west cost of living). A good chunk of my class has children and manage to get by on this sum, although they tend to live on PB&J sandwiches toward the end of the semester. After that you would have to take out private loans to cover further costs.

If you're a very organized individual you may be able to swing all three: family, job, school. However, you do run the risk of having to marginalize your family in order to work enough hours to bring in the kind of money you're talking about (work-study won't cut it) and also enough to not get kicked out of medical school (or have to repeat a year and add to your debt).

You can always give the job a try and if things get rocky you always have the option of quitting. If it's any consolation, my educational debt will be over $300k, so $100k looks like a drop in the bucket by comparison. Good luck!