Best Pre-Medical Job thread

[tideleonheart]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I started searching SDN for a detailed job thread explaining different clinical jobs. There was no well-formatted job thread that I could find, so I thought this would be useful. This is for ANY job that will give valuable clinical experience (example: CNA, EMT-B, X-Ray Tech).

Please follow this format:

Title:
Hourly Wage:
Part/Full-time:
Hospital/Private:
Certification Required:
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training?
Describe duties & patient contact:

 

[dmozer]

Keep in mind this is all local information re prices and wages. I have worked two jobs related to the medical field, I will list both.

Title: Phlebotomist
Hourly Wage: 8.50
Part/Full-time: Part-time
Hospital/Private: Private (Plasma clinic)
Certification Required: N/A
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training?
Describe duties & patient contact: Set-up a machine for donor, and perform phlebotomy. This is a pretty straightforward description, not too exciting, but not a bad job overall--placing IVs will be much easier for me now 🙂 . However, there is no real "patient contact" since all the people that I've dealt with came voluntarily and had no major health issues (aside from some major psychological issues 😛 ).

Title: CNA
Hourly Wage: 10.50
Part/Full-time: Part-time
Hospital/Private: Hospital
Certification Required: CNA license
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? I paid $500 for the class, and it took 6 weeks (3 nights avg/week)
Describe duties & patient contact: Take vital signs, bathe patients, assist with comfort measures, feed patients as needed, read charts, chart information, assist drs. and nurses with anything they don't want to do. This is the better of the two jobs I've listed according to my pre-med advisor b/c of the direct patient contact

 

[emttim]

Title: EMT
Hourly Wage: 9.50/hour
Part/Full-time: Variable, PT right now but FT available
Hospital/Private: Private
Certification Required: EMT-B, BCLS
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? 1 semester, 110 hours non-paid training
Describe duties & patient contact: Respond to BLS (Basic Life Support) calls from SNFs, transport patient to ER at appropriate hospital, continuous medical management of patient during transport. Required to maintain proficiency on a variety of equipment including spinal immobilization, splinting, bleeding control, oxygen administration, etc.

 

[brianmartin]

Title: ED Scribe
Hourly Wage: $8.50
Part/Full-time: either
Hospital/Private: Hospital
Certification Required: must be serious pre-med student
Describe duties & patient contact: complete all charting for ED physicians, record everything that happens with their patients, act as their personal assistant.
Downside: must be in Texas or Portland, OR (i'm in pdx)

Title: ER tech
Hourly Wage: up to $15/hour
Part/Full-time: either
Hospital/Private: hospital
Certification Required: many hospitals require their ER techs to also be EMT certified or med assistant trained.
Describe duties & patient contact: busy work in the ED

 

[ImNotBritish]

You beat me to it, I was going to list ER Scribe also. But it's not just located in TX or Portland. I work for the program here in Reno, NV, and there's also one in Phoenix. Those are the only ones that I know of, but maybe there are more too, since I didn't know about the one in Portland...

 

[MirrorTodd]

Title:Army health care specialist A.K.A. medic
Hourly Wage: depends on what you join (reserves or active) pretty much below minimum wage
Part/Full-time: reserve=part time $200 bucks for a weekend $800 for 2 week annual training. I made 45k for a year and a half in Iraq. However I was working 60-70 hours a week.
Hospital/Private: could be both. depends on the unit.
Certification Required: EMT-b plus some extra stuff
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? training took 6 months. You get paid a regular active duty salary
Describe duties & patient contact: Again depends on where you work. Hospital can range from answering phones to wiping asses to helping in the OR. Infantry is whenever someone gets hurt or sick, you pretty much control their treatment. If it's bad enough you send um to a doctor.

 

[trichomoniasis]

Laboratory Assistant
~$10.00/hr
part time
your undergrad or local research institution
some basic science courses and some common sense
lab grunt work, eventually work up to doing actual experiments, eventually get your own project, participate in publishing and/or grant writing process, participate in floor wide beer fests, make dry ice bombs, skirt radioactivity and hazmat protocols, abuse student discounts and lab printing priveleges
downside: you might have to work at a few labs before you find one where you don't work for idiots (luckily I never had this problem, but I'm a straight shooter)

 

[flyfella023]

Title: X-ray Tech
Hourly Wage: $16/hr
Part/Full-time: Part-time
Hospital/Private: Hospital
Certification Required: ARRT (boards)
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? 2 years, no pay for training except "tech aide" job
Describe duties & patient contact: perform x-ray procedures and high level of interaction....... this job has led me to hate the majority of nurses (at least at my hospital) and makes me work harder to accomplish my goal of entering med school

 

[osumc2014]

Title: Sitter/Nursing Assistant
Hourly Wage: 9.50-11.50
Part/Full-time: Part Time
Hospital/Private: Hospital
Certification Required: Basic test but not really a certification. CPR/BLS certified
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training?
Describe duties & patient contact: Sit and watch a patient for 8 hour shifts. Make sure that they do not get out of bed/pull on IVs/do anything dangerous. Very rewarding job, not required to do any dirty deeds that PCAs do.

 

[KD1655]

Title: EMT
Hourly Wage: 14.37/ hr
Part/Full-time: Part Time but can work full time hours, just no benefits
Hospital/Private: Municipal (Police Dept.)
Certification Required: EMT, PHTLS, PEPP, ICS Stuff
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? Didn't get paid to do training but training was paid for
Describe duties & patient contact:
Provide BLS care when someone calls 911. We transport both ALS and BLS patients since all ALS units are non-transport

 

[DianaUT06]

Where could I find job openings for ER scribes? I'm in the Houston area and have been googling but can't find anything. Any tips?? 🙂

 

[Depakote]

Title: Clinical Research Coordinator
Salary: 30K+ w/ Benefits
Part/Full-time: Full Time
Hospital/Private: Hospital/Medical School (also available private)
Certification Required: Undergraduate Degree + on the job training
Describe duties & patient contact:
You manage clinical trials. This includes the patients on the trials from start to finish. You are involved in the consenting process, collection and shipping of study samples and data collection. If you're lucky and play your cards right, you might even get your name on some publications.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Title: Respiratory Therapist
Hourly Wage:
-most places as regular staff: $18-25 per hour + shift and weekend differential ($1-3/hr extra for nights and weekends)
-per diem working directly for the hospital: $18-35 per hr + shift and weekend differential
-agency work: $22-50 an hour depending on where, what unit, length of assignment and how desperate the hospital is
Part/Full-time: P/T, F/T or per diem
Hospital/Private: Hospital or home health
Certification Required: National Board for Respiratory Care credentials (CRT or RRT with or without NPS (Neonatal Pediatric Specialist)
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? I was trained by Air Force, so I was paid, but it broke down to about $2/hr LOL; civilian training takes 2 years;
Describe duties & patient contact: ventilator management, intubation, administration of respiratory medications, etc.

Title: Echocardiographer
Hourly Wage: Not sure what it , but I can shoot echos for local cardiologists here for $100-200 a pop after hours, or $50-100 during regular hours; each study takes between 30 minutes and an hour depending on how difficult it is to get the necessary shots, etc
Part/Full-time: Mostly full time, but if you get lucky you can find per diem work.
Hospital/Private: Mostly hospital, but there is some clinic work available
Certification Required: Registered Diagnostic Cardiac Sonographer or Registered Cardiac Sonographer
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? Trained by Air Force; I've honestly never looked into how long the training is in the civilian world....probably an associates degree
Describe duties & patient contact: Cardiac ultrasound diagnostic studies

 

[Terna]

Title: EMT
Hourly Wage: 14.37/ hr
Part/Full-time: Part Time but can work full time hours, just no benefits
Hospital/Private: Municipal (Police Dept.)
Certification Required: EMT, PHTLS, PEPP, ICS Stuff
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? Didn't get paid to do training but training was paid for
Describe duties & patient contact:
Provide BLS care when someone calls 911. We transport both ALS and BLS patients since all ALS units are non-transport

Holy cow! Where on earth do they pay 14.37/hr?! I'm going to start somewhere relatively soon and they're saying numbers like 7, maybe 8 dollars an hour. *depressed*

 

[pmdc222]

Holy cow! Where on earth do they pay 14.37/hr?! I'm going to start somewhere relatively soon and they're saying numbers like 7, maybe 8 dollars an hour. *depressed*

my private company in MA starts basic EMTs with no experience at $13/hr.

 

[musashi]

I know a couple of ER techs here in San Antonio who were hired with an EMT-B and no experience at $12 per hour. There was another recent thread where this was discussed but I'll say that a number of docs and other people in the know have said that an ER tech is one of the best premed jobs out there. You definitely get to smell patients (not always pleasant) and depending upon your ability and desire to learn you can learn a ton. Of course others may disagree but this has been my plan from the beginning. Moreover, for those that are pursuing full time prereqs the scheduling couldn't be better. I volunteered at a local ER with the intention of letting everyone see who I am and networking a bit with the charge nurses and have a couple of offers waiting for me once I finish my EMT-B course (2 weeks and counting). I plan on doing 15 hours this Fall and will work the night shift 7pm-7am on Fri/Sat and make decent $$. If I pick up one more shift during the week (see how school goes first) then I will be full time at 36hours and only working 3 days a week. Of course I want to work in emergency medicine so this is the beginning of a long road.......

 

[TexMED]

Admissions (I work bedside in the ER for HCA)
$10-$15/hr (I get 11.67 because I'm prn) evening/night/weekend hourly increases
FT/PT/PRN (meaning 'as needed', minimum two shifts/mo and up to full time)
Hospital and Private...essentially everywhere
No certification, just a few weeks of training, yes you get paid
Register patients and assess insurance

 

[patrickd223]

Physical Therapy Aide
$8 an hour
training: on the job.
description: help patients follow exercise programs in outpatient PT mostly dealing with orthopedic sports injuries. Most of time is spent talking to patients as they exercise or are between exercise. Setting up equipment, correcting form while exercising, recording weights, answering phones, appointments, verifying insurance, billing, etc etc

 

[devlyyn]

CNA at local hospital
$10/hr
Training: took a 5 wk class, about 4 hours a day for $500
Description: take vital signs, blood sugars, bathe patients, change linens, assist nurses with whatever, walk patients

note: I float to different departments alot so I get to see many different kinds of patients. Also, in the ED the CNA's take blood (I'm not allowed to do that yet) and do ECG's alot (quick on the job training).

 

[SigurRos]

Title: Emergency Department Technician
Hourly Wage: 9.35
Part/Full-time: Full time, no benefits
Hospital/Private: University Hospital
Certification Required: EMT-Basic or equivalent
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training? 110 Hours paid by my ambulance corps
Describe duties & patient contact: You see the patients more than all of the docs and nurses combined. I get their labs, help them poop, feed them, pretty much everything!

 

[BritishTang]

Title: Medical Assistant
Hourly Wage: Varies, $10-17/hour (depends on the state)
Part/Full-time: Either
Hospital/Private: Depends, some hospitals let you be an ER Tech with a MA certification.
Certification Required: Medical Assisting.
It took me about 6 months to complete training in MA, M-F, 3 hours a day in class and several hours at home.
Describe duties & patient contact: You get to do all of the awesome stuff, IV placement, Phlebotomy, Injections, EKG, Triage, staining, minor office surgery assisting, wound cleaning/culturing and spirometry.
Patient exposure is great, because you are the first one's that they will see, you tend get an ear full. You take their vitals and their CC, and then after the doctor has seen them you perform all of the necessary procedures ordered by the Doctor.
The only downside is that it can take awhile to get certified.

 

[jfd253]

Title: Client Attendent (basically a sitter)
Hourly Wage: 13.50 (14.50 nights)
Part/Full-time: Casual
Hospital/Private: Hospital
Certification Required: None
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training?
Describe duties & patient contact: Whenever the psych ward had a patient in restraints, they required someone to observe the patient 24 h/day and record patient's activity level, mood, etc. This was the perfect pre-med job--got to see and learn alot, studied/read alot (patients are very often sedated/sleeping). In fact, I found myself taking shifts so that I could go to work and study--less distractions than at home.

 

[sillydoc2230]

from my own experience:

Title: Medical Assistant
Hourly Wage: $20/hour
Part/Full-time: f/t
Hospital/Private: private practice
Certification Required: I didn't need to get any, but it depends on the state. My state allows you to get "on the job" training that you can get certified for after a year.
Describe duties & patient contact: Totally awesome! You get to take histories, assist in surgeries and other procedures, bandage, clean wounds, take pictures, set up for the doctor and play with all the fun stuff, and you really get first-hand experience with all the doctor-ish duties. I especially like it because I work in a diverse place so we see all sorts of unique conditions and do really awesome surgeries and the pay is awesome in a private practice. It is really something to look into, especially if your state allows the on the job training and you can find a doc to work for.

 

[beauregard]

Admissions (I work bedside in the ER for HCA)
$10-$15/hr (I get 11.67 because I'm prn) evening/night/weekend hourly increases
FT/PT/PRN (meaning 'as needed', minimum two shifts/mo and up to full time)
Hospital and Private...essentially everywhere
No certification, just a few weeks of training, yes you get paid
Register patients and assess insurance

You consider this clinical? I do this too, but have always been told that because it was clerical work, it really wouldn't be considered clinical work. ?? I'm hoping it is though!

 

[ssquared]

You consider this clinical? I do this too, but have always been told that because it was clerical work, it really wouldn't be considered clinical work. ?? I'm hoping it is though!

As LizzyM says, if you can smell patients, it's clinical experience!

 

[KD1655]

Holy cow! Where on earth do they pay 14.37/hr?! I'm going to start somewhere relatively soon and they're saying numbers like 7, maybe 8 dollars an hour. *depressed*

I work for a municipal police department in NJ. We work 0530-1830 so its a long day but we make full time hours working three days a week.

 

[beauregard]

As LizzyM says, if you can smell patients, it's clinical experience!

You know, that's a very very very good policy!

 

[muireinin]

Title: x-ray tech aide
Hourly Wage: $12
Part/Full-time: full-time 2nd or 3rd shifts
Hospital/Private: hospital
Certification Required: none
If so, how long did it take and did you get paid for training?
Describe duties & patient contact: basically transport patients (outpatients, house, ER etc), run films, help the techs in any way really. best part is doing portables in the ER.

 

[ejike]

Title: Nurse
Hourly Wage: $21-24/hour depending on what shift
Part/Full-time: Partime during semester and fulltime when during breaks
Hospital/Private: Hospital
Certification Required: NCLEX-PN Licensue exam
How long did it take and did you get paid for training? 1-1.5yrs of nursing school
Describe duties & patient contact: I am a medical/surgical nurse and i work on a peri-operative unit at my hospital. I take care patients before and after surgery. I recieve orders from physicians and i'm responsible for the patients medications, treatment and overall care. Usually work 12-16hour shifts with about 5-6 patients under my care. I also delegate and suppervise the nurse aides.Basically what nurses do. lol