Can medical doctors teach courses at a community college as an adjunct?

[Rooks]

I really love teaching and tutoring. It's a lot of fun to me, and all of my life, people have told me I should be a teacher, because I'm patient and good at explaining complicated things in simple ways. But I also love medicine and due to the stability and general awesomeness of being a doctor, I decided a long time ago to stick to this path!

I've had a wonderful experience at the community college I attended, and I want to give back when I'm a doctor and help community college students and give them the same experience I had. My community college professors were the GOAT. Caring, smart, amazing teachers, tiny class sizes, individualized attention.

So can medical doctors teach a course at a local community college? I wouldn't do it for the money, I just think it would be a fun hobby and way to serve the community as well.

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[Princeton Medical Student]

Only if they are interested in making less in a semester then they would in an hour in the OR, sure!

 

[deleted1079620]

Yes, I took Anatomy & Physiology as a pre-med at community college, and one of my professors was a retired ER doctor teaching for fun, and the other was an international doctor trying to get licensed in the US who taught in the meantime.

 

[Catalystik]

I really love teaching and tutoring. It's a lot of fun to me, and all of my life, people have told me I should be a teacher, because I'm patient and good at explaining complicated things in simple ways. But I also love medicine and due to the stability and general awesomeness of being a doctor, I decided a long time ago to stick to this path!

I've had a wonderful experience at the community college I attended, and I want to give back when I'm a doctor and help community college students and give them the same experience I had. My community college professors were the GOAT. Caring, smart, amazing teachers, tiny class sizes, individualized attention.

So can medical doctors teach a course at a local community college? I wouldn't do it for the money, I just think it would be a fun hobby and way to serve the community as well.

Yes. I have a physician colleague who does so.

 

[candbgirl]

Actually my nephew took A&P at his high school and the teacher was a semi retired doc who showed ups everyday at 7:15am for the class. The teacher loved it and none of the students missed a class.

 

[Rooks]

Yes, I took Anatomy & Physiology as a pre-med at community college, and one of my professors was a retired ER doctor teaching for fun, and the other was an international doctor trying to get licensed in the US who taught in the meantime.

Yes. I have a physician colleague who does so.

Actually my nephew took A&P at his high school and the teacher was a semi retired doc who showed ups everyday at 7:15am for the class. The teacher loved it and none of the students missed a class.

Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I love that this career has so much flexibility. 🙂

 

[Rooks]

Only if they are interested in making less in a semester then they would in an hour in the OR, sure!

It's outrageous how little they pay adjuncts! I know some professors have to commute to three different colleges just to make ends meet. Sadly, that's why I ruled it out as a full-time career choice.

 

[Proudfather94]

It's outrageous how little they pay adjuncts! I know some professors have to commute to three different colleges just to make ends meet. Sadly, that's why I ruled it out as a full-time career choice.

Yeah I did too when I was struggling to get into medical school and looking for a plan b. For alot of grad school programs they want 5 years instead of 4 and expect 60 to 80 hours a week or more. Unless you can get a job in industry you probably have to get a post doc done and hope to get a tenure position. It's potentially a decade or more of work for a chance at being successful. Doing all of that to beg for funding was also not appealing.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

One of the most beloved professors at my school was a practicing physician who didn’t do any research. I’m pretty sure he still had tenure, despite his medical practice not being affliiated with the school in any way. So it’s definitely possible. I always thought that a college/medical school campus would be an ideal place to work. I could spend 12 hours a day at my alma mater’s library.

 

[jstwannagraduaaate!!!]

I have a couple of friends and family members that are teachers. They all want me to go to their class and give a talk/lecture over anatomy (keep in mind I am only an M2 lol). I agreed to give a basic anatomy lecture of the thorax to a bio high school class of seniors for a buddy of mine who teaches it and the kids loved it. It was a pretty fun experience, and it was good review for me haha.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

I really love teaching and tutoring. It's a lot of fun to me, and all of my life, people have told me I should be a teacher, because I'm patient and good at explaining complicated things in simple ways. But I also love medicine and due to the stability and general awesomeness of being a doctor, I decided a long time ago to stick to this path!

I've had a wonderful experience at the community college I attended, and I want to give back when I'm a doctor and help community college students and give them the same experience I had. My community college professors were the GOAT. Caring, smart, amazing teachers, tiny class sizes, individualized attention.

So can medical doctors teach a course at a local community college? I wouldn't do it for the money, I just think it would be a fun hobby and way to serve the community as well.

I really love teaching and tutoring. It's a lot of fun to me, and all of my life, people have told me I should be a teacher, because I'm patient and good at explaining complicated things in simple ways. But I also love medicine and due to the stability and general awesomeness of being a doctor, I decided a long time ago to stick to this path!

I've had a wonderful experience at the community college I attended, and I want to give back when I'm a doctor and help community college students and give them the same experience I had. My community college professors were the GOAT. Caring, smart, amazing teachers, tiny class sizes, individualized attention.

So can medical doctors teach a course at a local community college? I wouldn't do it for the money, I just think it would be a fun hobby and way to serve the community as well.

Yes; at the last CC that I taught at, there were several unmatched IMGs who taught adjunct in our life sciences dept. The dept. chair was an MBBS holder from Nigeria and a couple of those adjuncts eventually promoted into a full time, tenure track (9 month contract, 88k) role. When I was an undergrad student, there were a couple of US MDs who had retired from medicine and were teaching; one was at the Clinical Associate Professor level (full time 12 month year-to-year contract, no research responsibilities) and the other was a tenured Professor of Research; he ran a lab, had grant funding and taught 1 or 2 classes per term and oversaw graduate and undergraduate researchers.

 

[never-too-late]

Usually all that is required to adjunct at a community college is a masters degree in the field. the pay relative to the work, however, is atrocious. I have a friend who is an adjunct and she carries 7 classes across 3 schools and I’m pretty sure she still lives below the poverty line. What you’re suggesting is basically volunteering, with a lot of hassle built in. You can totally do it, but you might need to wait until you’re established enough you can donate the time!

 

[Rooks]

Usually all that is required to adjunct at a community college is a masters degree in the field. the pay relative to the work, however, is atrocious. I have a friend who is an adjunct and she carries 7 classes across 3 schools and I’m pretty sure she still lives below the poverty line. What you’re suggesting is basically volunteering, with a lot of hassle built in. You can totally do it, but you might need to wait until you’re established enough you can donate the time!

Yeah! I was chatting with my professor and he basically commuted for a few years to like four different local colleges before he got his full-tine position! It's crazy!