It looks like you've got a pretty good gig going. It's not like you are working in construction 10 hours a week. Your side job seems very relevant to science and medicine; it could only help you. Especially as you seem to be making some pretty high level contacts. I think a lot of us spend 10 hours a week doing things that will never help our careers (video games, bars, Netflix, etc.). If I were in your shoes, I'd keep at it, unless it really got in the way of school.
Thanks. I will maybe try and see how things work out during the first quarter. I'm a little scared about the whole drinking from a fire-hose analogy so I'm really trying to figure out if it's worth sticking with this work.
I came here to say the words "no" but once I saw 80k I hesitated. I'd say try to stick to it lol.
If they let me keep my base it would be double, but there is no way they would if I'm working part time. I care much more about making sure I do well in medical school so I don't want to do anything to risk ruining that. That's why I'm willing to forgo the money.
Since I have received so many PMs I'll provide the general details that I provided to everyone who messaged me
-I work for a small biotech company that acts somewhat like a CRO
-I'm a research consultant/Business Development person. This is basically sales if you want to generalize, except I can sell things that don't exist yet. I'm not selling a product, but project design and the resources to execute anything from development, pre-clinical, translation, early development and post development (Phase 4 study0
-I get about 5-7% of each project and projects range from 40k - 4 million. Smaller projects close much faster and have less hold up and regulation
-Most of my time is spent emailing clients, calling them, taking them out to lunch/dinner, or presenting in person.
- I have enough connections to get a steady flow of projects, hence why I can work 10 hours a week and still pocket 80k. If I had to start from scratch it would take much more time
-Most of my clients are medical directors, and director level people. Some are VPs, but those are only for really big projects. My clients are primarily top 20 pharma/biotech.
-If you want to do a job like mine, it's probably easiest to work for a large CRO, they pay even more than I get, but they tend to be more rigid.
-I have several years of experience in translaional/clinical research and start-up experience in the tech sector.
-The skills required to do my job are pretty simple. Be good at sales, be likable, look good, and be good at time management. You need to understand how research works and the barriers to completing projects, but most people can learn this stuff quickly. Pedigree, believe it or not, really matters. I have closed deals because I went to a very well connected prestigious undergrad. However, it only matters for getting your foot in the door.
That pretty much sums it up. I appreciate all the feedback. It seems like most people think I should try and stick with it, so I might. If anyone has any examples of them doing work during med school and still doing well, I would appreciate your insight. I know I want to do something competitive (Ortho, maybe ENT) and so I want to focus on doing the best I can. It's P/F but I still want to make sure I maximize my learning to do well on step 1.
