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[Pinkfluffybunny]

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[KnightDoc]

Are you a current applicant? From your post history, it looks like no. If that's the case, you need to do whatever is in your best interest to build the best possible application, and that means moving on.

Depending on how much power your PI has, and how spiteful they might be, it could hurt you at you dream school. But the alternative is being miserable and not having as much to talk about when you eventually apply.

This is a no-brainer to me, even if it hurts you at one school. It won't hurt you anywhere else, because no one needs to know about a 2 month gig as an administrative assistant.

 

[shotgunlagoon]

I think you should apply to the other position and actually get the offer first. Plus, it's better to leave a new job sooner before they've invested a lot in training you, rather than after you are all set up.

 

[candbgirl]

Just remember what you are promised by the recruiter may not be what you are assigned, hospitals are small, did you promise the PI you’d be there for a year and which one pays more?

 

[KnightDoc]

@candbgirl is one of the very sharpest people on SDN, so I'd pay very close attention to her. Given everything you just said, I'd follow up on the new opportunity and, if you get it, nail down exactly what it is, since you've now already been burned once in this hospital system.

If everything works out the way you want, I'd then go to the PI and try to get her blessing. You want to be doing something exciting and productive during your gap year, because that will provide a significant boost to your application, not only in ECs, but also in your essays and hopefully your LORs as well. OTOH, pissing off your PI, or the adcom you are recruiting patients for, could definitely come back to bite you, at least at this one school.

Bottom line -- tread carefully, but put your interests first. Everyone else in this process does. Good luck!!!

 

[Moko]

Doesn't seem like you've had much interaction with your PI. How big is this research group? Unless it's a small lab, there's a good chance they won't even realize you're gone.

Regardless, be honest yet diplomatic and graceful with your manager. Minimize the negative impact of your leaving by giving them sufficient notice to find a replacement. The standard minimum is two weeks, but depending on your role and irreplaceability, you might want to offer a couple weeks more. Offer to train your replacement if one is found within this period, and continue to carry out your duties to the best of your abilities during this time frame. In the 'real world', jobs don't work out for many reasons. Having hours that interfere with your other responsibilities and wanting to play a more active role in the research process are all common reasons to part ways.

Upon receiving notice of your resignation, your manager may offer changes to your schedule/responsibilities in a bid to keep you. If you plan on leaving regardless of their actions, phrase your letter accordingly to avoid leading them on. They may also terminate you before your offered date of resignation, so make sure you are not dependent on the pay during these few weeks. Unless you ghost them and/or act unprofessionally during this time period, this is unlikely to hurt you. Worst case scenario, your manager throws a fit, but that's really a reflection on her rather than you if you have acted gracefully. If you experience this negative outcome, this would likely occur regardless of how long you stay and how you decide to leave, so you would only be delaying the inevitable by staying and being unhappy. Just my thoughts.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

The likelihood of getting into any one medical school is so low that it is definitely not worth torturing yourself by staying in a job that you hate.

 

[candbgirl]

The likelihood of getting into any one medical school is so low that it is definitely not worth torturing yourself by staying in a job that you hate.

This.
And don’t focus on getting into one particular school. Focus on getting into a med school. Any med school.

 

[Detailsmatter]

since youre working at a large academic center as a full time employee keep in mind that sometimes HR has policies in place that prevent you from doing internal transfers within a certain time of starting. At my institution it was 6 months for full-time salaried employees before they could go to another department

 

[ethereal_fae]

As the previous poster mentioned, I'd check with your institution's policies to see if you can even do an internal transfer that soon. Additionally at my institution, managers are contacted by the new position's supervisor to ensure that they are on board with their employee transferring, so I'd check to see if that is also the case to make sure your PI is aware and okay with the situation.

 

[jhmmd]

I'm not a current applicant! I don't think my PI works on admissions but i've literally talked to her once... my entire job is just consenting patients for research and making schedules/calls for the day Without giving too much info the hospital is a super large one in NYC so I'm not too worried about people talking, but one of the doctors I recruit patients for is on the admissions committee but my actual PI is not. Both jobs pay the exact same thankfully and I was planning on applying to others that also pay roughly the same! I was hoping to do an internal transfer within the hospital because I have 0 way of explaining what I do because i was really hoping to make this a most meaningful. I didn't promise the PI I would stay or anything, she didn't even interview me, but I told my interviewers I would leave once I got into a med school or after a year!

Is it worth risking the dream school?? Or would anyone really be that spiteful to hurt my app if I left? I even offered to volunteer my spare time to help out with research if I couldn't do it during the job and they keep making empty promises :/

When do you plan on applying? And what does the rest of your app look like? Need MCAT score/GPA to give you a better idea
Hope things work out ok <3

 

[Hugh_Janus_MD]

Hi!

I needed money asap so I applied for a bunch of clinical research coordinator positions and chose the first one that accepted me. The lab is a neurosurgery lab at my dream med school, and my title is clinical research coordinator but I'm basically an administrative assistant. It has been 2 months and I am very unhappy with the job, but recently, one of the jobs I had applied to prior to receiving the offer for this job contacted me about a new opening. It is in the same hospital, however I'd be a research assistant able to actually help with the research instead of just collecting data according to the recruiter.

While the people at my current job are nice, I was promised different responsibilities and hours during the interview and so far that hasn't been held up. I was also promised a research project to work on and I haven't received that either. I understand that I made a commitment to work here, so I guess I don't mind staying at the job, but I'm just really unhappy with my day to day situation. I had a to of cool research opportunities in undergrad and I feel as though I'm doing way less now.

Would it look bad to move jobs in 2 months? I have some weird neurotic fear of my PI getting mad that I'm leaving in such a short amount of time and potentially hurting my app. I really don't want to jeopardize my chances at this med school.

I tried talking to my manager about how I wanted to do more work but she has been very vague about my role.

What should I do??

Thanks for any insights

I was in a similar predicament to yours.

I had stayed at the previous job a little over a year at the point at which I left. The decision to leave was the result of a toxic work culture. I was never offered an interview at the institution I departed from but it's hard to say whether staying would've helped my chances. I am however 99% confident that the interview I was offered at the institution I subsequently joined was due to being an employee. Does that mean it will be the same for you? Absolutely not. It might, but you shouldn't make the switch only based on this.

The job I left offered incredible opportunities and I loved it but my mental and physical health did not. The new job was a lot more boring and clerical (an admin assistant role like you describe) with significantly less research opportunities but the flexibility was unmatched--I actually enjoyed my time outside of work rather than get home and lay in the darkness from the exhaustion of the day.

From my experiences, the responsibilities and hours are often massively different than advertised. I chalk it up to stupidity, maleficence, or a bit of both. You're seen as easily exploitable because you have a lot to gain (even if they can't necessarily offer you what you need). Don't expect that the grass will be much greener on the other side, you may be trading an easy-going position for a toxic lab culture and many hours of basic science grunt work, or you may get an incredible experience at this new gig. Don't overestimate the amount of pull a particular MD or PI has to get you into a school. Anyone who promises you easy admission anywhere is flat out lying (this is not the case, but something to keep in mind).

If you decide to leave, I promise you that your PI won't care--truly. You are replaceable and they have other things to worry about. Just be nice about it, give them ample heads-up and offer to train the next person. Your manager might be a bit annoyed but they'll get over it, especially if you give them time to find someone else and assist in training them.

If I was in your shoes I would stick it out:

- don't underestimate the peace of mind that having a reasonable manager brings. Sure, you might not be doing what you signed up for but you're getting paid to do work that is easier (and probably faster) than the work you expected to do. As long as you complete your work the rest of the time is yours. Go to the gym. Pick up a new hobby. Find a research project with your PI or another Dr. in the hospital that interests you...which brings me to my second point:

- Out of the ~70 people I've met in research roles, all or almost all were promised research project. Only 3 were actually given said project. That's about 4%. This is the norm in clinical research--you won't be handed anything, you have to go and find it yourself. Ask your PI if they have anything for you to do. If they don't, ask if you can follow them around and think of something. Ask the residents, fellows, and other medical students if you can help them out.

- This MD you work with sitting on the admissions committee could be a relationship to explore. Try reaching out to them to see if you can do more 1-on-1 work. Helping them out in ways outside your job description may end up paying dividends later on. It might also be a massive waste of time.

- You've been at your job for 2 months. 2 months into any of my positions I also couldn't tell you what the kucf I was doing. I didn't even know whether I liked it or not. Give yourself more time to explore the position and for others to warm up to you and start offering you opportunities. Seriously, all those things come with time and being nice. Be patient, kind and helpful, and it'll work out in your favor. It did for me and it will for you, too.

 

[JAK2-STAT3]

I have some weird neurotic fear of my PI getting mad that I'm leaving

My former PI was NOT happy when I left the lab after 2+ years. While everyone here is correct that you have sound reasons to leave, I get that on an emotional level this can feel "wrong." In my particular situation, my PI and I had had a close relationship, and while I knew rationally that I was within my right to leave, the decision came with mixed feelings. I was afraid that they would react badly, which would then cause me to become emotional. As silly as it sounds, I avoided this by practicing what I was going to say ("I really appreciate what you've done for me, this isn't personal, my reasons are XYZ, etc.") and letting myself feel those emotions in a less pressured setting. By the time I came to my PI's office to break the news, I was able to stay calm and collected while they got all spun out and offered me various of bribes to stay.

You can't please everyone. Do what is best for you, and act professionally and maturely while doing it. You are not doing them any favors by staying and having them waste resources on training you. This will all work out in the end. Best of luck!