Do I quit?

[GuyMontag]

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So, at the end of last summer a general surgeon I was shadowing offered me a paid clinical research position working on a project of his. I started work at the beginning of this summer, having been promised $10/hr. My job was to create a form in some epidemiology software for data entry, then to identify patients who met our inclusion criteria and abstract data from their charts. The project is being run in cooperation with a nearby university (which I coincidentally attend), where some professors are providing funding and minimal input in exchange for their names on a publication. They have power of the purse, and about 3 weeks into the project, they contacted me with an offer of a stipend in exchange for my work. However, the pay they have offered me works out to about $5/hr, and I would be spending about half of that on gas, as I spend over 2 hours a day commuting. On top of that, I have done around 80% of the study design, and will have done 100% of the data collection, but I doubt I'll get authorship on anything that comes out of this. Maybe, maybe some kind of honorable mention b.s., which is worthless. Still, I was hoping to get a good letter of rec/connect with the profs at my university. But I hate the job and the pay would be awful. What to do?

 

[Goro]

Absolutely quit and work for the surgeon. But don't quit until the ink is dry on the contract! You can get research experience somewhere else.

So, at the end of last summer a general surgeon I was shadowing offered me a paid clinical research position working on a project of his. I started work at the beginning of this summer, having been promised $10/hr. My job was to create a form in some epidemiology software for data entry, then to identify patients who met our inclusion criteria and abstract data from their charts. The project is being run in cooperation with a nearby university (which I coincidentally attend), where some professors are providing funding and minimal input in exchange for their names on a publication. They have power of the purse, and about 3 weeks into the project, they contacted me with an offer of a stipend in exchange for my work. However, the pay they have offered me works out to about $5/hr, and I would be spending about half of that on gas, as I spend over 2 hours a day commuting. On top of that, I have done around 80% of the study design, and will have done 100% of the data collection, but I doubt I'll get authorship on anything that comes out of this. Maybe, maybe some kind of honorable mention b.s., which is worthless. Still, I was hoping to get a good letter of rec/connect with the profs at my university. But I hate the job and the pay would be awful. What to do?

 

[GuyMontag]

Absolutely quit and work for the surgeon. But don't quit until the ink is dry on the contract! You can get research experience somewhere else.

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. The surgeon offered me $10/hr initially, but the profs, who have the final word on the financials, offered me $5/hr. So, I am working for the study, which is sort of co-led by the surgeon and the profs.

 

[Goro]

Quit.

EDIT:
First tell the guys that you simply can't afford to work at that level of pay. See what they have to say.

If not to your liking, then quit. You'll always find something else, and other LOR writers.

 

[Affiche]

Explain the situation and ask them to match what you were promised. See what they offer. If it's still ****, quit.

 

[heebeejeebies]

Yeah, I'd definitely explain to them that though you enjoy working on the project, at the wage they are offering you will need to find work elsewhere to finance your education. Thank them for the opportunity and see what they say. If they don't up your rate just walk.

 

[GuyMontag]

Do any of you think it would be worthwhile if I managed to get authorship?

 

[PreciousHamburgers]

Do what's best for you. Quit.

 

[Goro]

Only you can answer this.

Do any of you think it would be worthwhile if I managed to get authorship?

 

[Bones 2020]

I worked for the same pay (3 months full time for a TAXED $2,000 stipend). I was supposed to be a co-author on a collaboration project. Like most research, it never panned out.

Unless you are really going to get some cool experiences, or learn something really valuable for your next job, I wouldn't work for that little of pay.

 

[Holmwood]

5 bucks an hour shouldn't be legal!

 

[Petrichor1]

So, at the end of last summer a general surgeon I was shadowing offered me a paid clinical research position working on a project of his. I started work at the beginning of this summer, having been promised $10/hr. My job was to create a form in some epidemiology software for data entry, then to identify patients who met our inclusion criteria and abstract data from their charts. The project is being run in cooperation with a nearby university (which I coincidentally attend), where some professors are providing funding and minimal input in exchange for their names on a publication. They have power of the purse, and about 3 weeks into the project, they contacted me with an offer of a stipend in exchange for my work. However, the pay they have offered me works out to about $5/hr, and I would be spending about half of that on gas, as I spend over 2 hours a day commuting. On top of that, I have done around 80% of the study design, and will have done 100% of the data collection, but I doubt I'll get authorship on anything that comes out of this. Maybe, maybe some kind of honorable mention b.s., which is worthless. Still, I was hoping to get a good letter of rec/connect with the profs at my university. But I hate the job and the pay would be awful. What to do?

ouch man, seems like they are trying to get you removed before they finish with the project on their own.

 

[doc05]

tell them to stop being so cheap!! $5 is less than minimum wage, and any good professor should be an advocate for students, which means paying a decent wage (which at $10 an hour isn't much anyways).

 

[wegotthis14]

It might be worth it if you get an authorship indicative of the amount if work you put into it. However, is that likely?