Do you work?

[deleted862527]

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I'm a full-time student and I don't work, but I saw that there is a psychiatric facility near me that are hiring for 'mental health specialists', only need a high school diploma to apply. I find this a rewarding and interesting endeavor to pursue; however, I fear that working 30 hours per week while remaining as a full-time student may negatively impact my grades and performance. Thoughts? I really want to do it, but not at the expense of my GPA that I have worked very hard for up to this point.

 

[rosegold21]

30 hours per week is far too much. Trust me I've done it. If you'd like to make money, look for part-time positions. You may not be a 'specialist' but you can prob still gain valuable experience. If you want to work keep it between 10-16 hours/week.

 

[getdown]

30 hours a week is quite a commitment and you shouldn't jump into it unless you are extremely good at time management. My advice would be to start slowly maybe 10 hours a week and ramp up to where you're comfortable.

 

[Toutie]

Any chance maybe you could work through the summer and then see about cutting down your hours once school starts?

 

[Watson & Sick]

I worked an average of 30 hours per week with a full time course load all through undergrad and came out alright. But I've also been doing it since I was legally able to... so acclamation is probably a big factor.
Ease into it and see how you feel.

D.O. Class of 2022

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

I’ve done 30 hours a week for a couple semesters. Don’t do it. I was able to keep the grades but no time for extracurriculars. Keep it to 20 hours max.

 

[Latteandaprayer]

I work 20 hours (with 12 hours of research on top of that) a week, and it’s a lot. 30 I imagine would be a lot too if you want to maintain ECs.

You’re probably gonna get 100 answers that say they worked 40 hours a week and still had time for ECs and they got into top tiers. Good for them. You don’t need to do that.

 

[FlavivirusProtease]

I agree with everyone else, 30 does sound like a lot.

I worked about 20 hours per week throughout undergraduate, and I felt like I didn't really have much time for anything else. I think I've gone into more detail on it in the past, but during my senior year in college, I was working 20 hours and spending about 20 more hours in my undergraduate research lab on top of taking 12 additional units. Every day I would leave my apartment at around 9AM and I would never get home before 9PM.

If you want to put 30, it'll really depend on your ability to make a logical schedule and stick to it. You'll need to be good at using your down time in between activities to study, eat, etc.

There are 168 hours per week, I would recommend you write down your weekly schedule and see how many hours you have left over. Make sure to overestimate the time you'll use, so that you aren't short. There are a lot of things like travel time that people tend not to take into account. You'll also want to get close to 56 hours of sleep per week, and probably at least 50. (Cutting your sleep too much will make you less productive during the day, so it really isn't worth it)

Make sure to factor in relaxation time, as you'll want to avoid burnout as much as possible. I always reserved Sunday for myself to relax or do housework, unless I had an upcoming exam.

Another thing to make sure is that you'll be able to decrease involvement if you need to, without any major problems. If it ends up being too much you don't want to burn bridges with the company you're working with, but you'll have to prioritize your GPA.

Good luck. If you want more information, I can offer anything about my own experiences.

 

[Potentia Virtus]

Totally subjective and personal- some people will be able to, some won't. For most of my undergrad I worked a minimum of 48 (usually 60+) hours a week while married with a kid, but that's only because I HAD to. So if you need the money, yeah it's doable. But if you have other means to support yourself, you should probably do that and do as well in your classes as you can (and enjoy life while you're young!).

 

[lull]

I fear that working 30 hours per week while remaining as a full-time student may negatively impact my grades and performance.

trust your gut

 

[PlantedKnowledge]

Last semester I worked a full time job, a part time job, and was enrolled full time.
It was hell at best and I wouldn't recommend it, but it is possible. Good luck!

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

I worked two part time jobs during the school year - both of which took up about 10 hrs a week each (so like 20 hrs total) and I was booked every second of every day. 30 hours seems like way too much especially with extracurriculars and being a full-time student - but you know what you can handle better than strangers on the internet 😉 If you already struggle to find time for yourself, I would advise against it because you will have absolutely no free time or time to just relax which is super important to avoid burnout

 

[Wahed]

30 hours is too much (at least for me it would have been), but maybe see if they'd be open to letting you work two shifts a week? IME entry level health care loves pre-meds because we're generally very responsible, and most of us are pretty smart and good at following instructions. They might bend the job requirements a little for the right candidate. No harm in trying, right?

 

[deleted862527]

30 hours is too much (at least for me it would have been), but maybe see if they'd be open to letting you work two shifts a week? IME entry level health care loves pre-meds because we're generally very responsible, and most of us are pretty smart and good at following instructions. They might bend the job requirements a little for the right candidate. No harm in trying, right?

That's true! I would absolutely love to take this position. I feel it would provide me with an invaluable experience towards serving others in need. I have also wondered if becoming a medical scribe may provide a more prominent learning experience. Nevertheless, both positions are rather individually unique and provide different benefits especially to pre-medical students such as ourselves.

 

[deleted862527]

I worked two part time jobs during the school year - both of which took up about 10 hrs a week each (so like 20 hrs total) and I was booked every second of every day. 30 hours seems like way too much especially with extracurriculars and being a full-time student - but you know what you can handle better than strangers on the internet 😉 If you already struggle to find time for yourself, I would advise against it because you will have absolutely no free time or time to just relax which is super important to avoid burnout

Thank you for your kind words. 🙂. I hope you were still able to excel in your academic studies while pursuing such a challenging, demanding schedule. Regardless, I am sure you'll be an excellent candidate for medical school. Good luck! 🙂

 

[deleted862527]

Last semester I worked a full time job, a part time job, and was enrolled full time.
It was hell at best and I wouldn't recommend it, but it is possible. Good luck!

Thank you. Sounds quite a risk you took continuing on that path; however, presumably you managed it and persevered and that is what it is all about. Good luck to your and your future endeavors, and I wish you nothing but the absolute best.

 

[jd989898]

I worked in college, and would recommend any other premed do the same who can balance it. Remember, grades are your first priority. Employment experience does look good on med school apps, however, as it demonstrates the applicant has "real world" experience outside of academics.

 

[FutureSurgical]

I worked 20 hours/week as a lifeguard while:

• taking 18 hours (2 hours from lab courses)
• taking care of a needy (now-ex-) girlfriend
• Working out 5 days/week
• Spending time with close friends

I think it's doable if you have time-management down to a tee. This was during my junior and senior year and I made a 3.7+ GPA while juggling it all. PM me if you want more info.

 

[teenyfish]

I think it depends on the work. I worked a few jobs in college. 20 hours as a library assistant? Easy. I could study when I didn't have any work to do. But, 30 hours working in a psychiatric facility may be very different. Do not underestimate the physical & emotional toll it might take on you. I have worked with individuals with psychiatric/developmental disabilities and it is difficult work, extremely rewarding, but I found myself more burnt out working there 25 hours a week than I do now at my 9-5. Just food for thought! But, where there is a will there's a way, if you have great time management skills you could hack it!

 

[Incursio]

30 hours is a lot, but you have to consider things like:

-number of credit hrs you are taking/planning to take
-other commitments
-type of job (in this case its a job at a psychiatric facility where although highly rewarding, has a high likelihood of making you burn out, trust me i was a psychiatric technician at an inpatient psych hospital working full-time While taking 12 credit hrs)

if you think you can handle it go for it. Its very rewarding like i said, but not for everyone.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I worked an average of 80 hours per week the last two years of my undergrad. It definitely made it significantly harder to maintain my gpa (and I was majoring in something difficult). My graduation gpa was decent but not great (3.6). The first couple years of school, I worked about 20-30 hours per week as an OR tech. That was much easier on the schedule and good experience to boot.

If you don’t need to work and have good clinical experience already, don’t bother. Keep your gpa up.

 

[DrYuke]

30 hours is doable for some people, but I definitely wouldn't jump straight into working that much + school without having eased into it.