Earning $$$$ while studying

[Bankai]

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How does everyone make money whilst they are studying medicine?

Do you work PT?

Is the internship paid in .au ? ( any idea how much ? )

What is 'residency' ? I understand that after a 1 year internship you can apply for residency but what does it actually mean? Is this a permanent job or another step on the ladder?

 

[johnnyb255]

The year after you graduate is PGY1 (post-graduate year), called Intern year. You have conditional registration, you usually have to do three core-rotations of medicine, surgery and emergency, plus whatever else your hospital gets you to do. It is a paid year (approx AU$50k), you are a doctor.

Technically Interns are residents as well, but the term RMO (Resident Medical Officer or HMO in Victoria) is more common for PGY2 and PGY3, while you are still in the hospital system doing rotations but not in an official training program yet.

Once you start in a specialty training program, you are a registrar. You'll be a reg for around 4-6 years till you do your fellowship exams for a college (ie. Royal Australian College of Surgery) and become a consultant- ie. a boss.

When you can enter a training program depends on what you want to do, for surg you can apply in PGY2 to start in PGY3, for medicine/psych/O&G it depends.

Now, work in med school. Lots of people do it- a lot of my mates to phlebotomy for path. collection companies since we're certified for that. Hospitality (waiters etc) or retail (shops) as well. If you're an international student remember you'll have to check work and study visas and the like.

 

[JCYL]

Making money online is the way to go. As an int'l student in Australia, I believe you can only work for 15 hours max per week during the semester.

 

[willcandude]

Making money online is the way to go. As an int'l student in Australia, I believe you can only work for 15 hours max per week during the semester.

i remember quite a while back, there was an explosion of surf-for-money programs/websites and eventually most of them go bankrupt... i remember my friends telling me that they never got paid.... it's interesting to see these pay-to-surf sites are coming back


but anyway, what kind of jobs can internationals get? and how much time do med students have for part-time a week? are there any part-time research jobs?

thanks

 

[santa_claus]

Hey guys,
it's easy enough to find a job in Australia if you're looking for one, and you can definitely fit it in your schedule with some wise time management.
You can work up to 20 hrs/yr on a student's visa. You have to apply for a permit through the University student Centre, but it's fairly straightforward -- it only took me 1 week, I think, to get it.
I'm now in my 2nd year at UQ. Last year I worked as a waitress at the local watering hole. You get around $19/hr as a waitress but no tips -- which is good, b/c you don't have to kiss customers' a** and still can make decent money. My shifts were fairly short (4-5 hrs/night), unlike in my jobs in Canadian bars, and I was able to get time off before the exams. This year, I have two PT jobs, one as an Anatomy tutor and one as a research assistant, both are pretty flexible in terms of time and good in terms of money. My friends work in path. labs, phlebotomists and in retail. In short, yeah, you can get a job and do well in school. Good luck.

 

[PEN15]

Working while going to school is more doable in Australia than let's say the US or Canada. I think over half of my classmates have a part-time job. It's not so bad once you learn how to manage your time properly. I too find that I have quite a bit of free time here and there.

 

[willcandude]

Working while going to school is more doable in Australia than let's say the US or Canada. I think over half of my classmates have a part-time job. It's not so bad once you learn how to manage your time properly. I too find that I have quite a bit of free time here and there.

hmm so why is that the case - i.e. more free time than american/canadian counterparts?

 

[PEN15]

hmm so why is that the case - i.e. more free time than american/canadian counterparts?

If you're the type of person who can get away with not going to class all the time then yeah it's not so bad. My schedule is pretty routine - 9 - 5 every day, but only the CBL, case presentations, and practicals are mandatory...well not really mandatory but it's good to go to... I think you have to go to a certain number of them the whole year in order to get a pass. Plus they tend to post the lecture notes anyway so you don't really miss anything.

 

[santa_claus]

Exams in my school are only twice a year (at the end of each semester), so you don't have to cram for bunch of smaller tests in between, like you do in Canada/US. Australians are also a bit more laid back, and that rubs off on you. I always feel more stressed back in Toronto. What else? More PT jobs available with flexible hours. However, the complexity and amount of material that needs to be covered is the same no matter which medical school you go to.

 

[Bankai]

I am doing FT Programming at the moment and wanted to at least continue doing this part time and was wondering where it would fit in a schedule.

I have looked at the timetable of UQ medicine and it looks like a full time job ( almost 9-5 everyday ). So i guess most people just work on weekends and late nights?

 

[Bankai]

Something that really kinda grates me about australian medicine ( perhaps specifically QLD ). Our politicians are always complaining about our lack of medical care but they still make us jump through hoops and pay through the nose to get into medicine.

Why is medicine not cheaper?
Why is it so damn difficult to get into ?
Why do we have to live on noodles and bread for 4 years so we can do what we like and give a service to the community.?!?!

A little support would be appreciated!

</vent>

 

[JCYL]

I think it's not a good idea to work and study at the same time, unless you absolutely depend on the $ to pay for rent or food, or you enjoy the P/T work a lot. Those few hours are better spent studying and doing revisions (you can never ever finish studying in med), or enjoying life before you practise as a doctor. There's no rush in making money.

 

[Bankai]

I wouldn't work unless i had to :S

 

[santa_claus]

I think it's not a good idea to work and study at the same time, unless you absolutely depend on the $ to pay for rent or food, or you enjoy the P/T work a lot. Those few hours are better spent studying and doing revisions (you can never ever finish studying in med), or enjoying life before you practise as a doctor. There's no rush in making money.

Working while at school is a personal choice. For example, there is only so much revision and so much studying in the day I can do without going numb and feeling burnt out, so having a PT job is a good way to take a break and make some money in the process. True, there is no rush in making money (especially with >$100,000 loan 😉), but if you find a job that you like and with hours that suit you, why not?

 

[johnnyb255]

I didn't work during the semester, some of my mates did. Working at the university (in the library, sports centre) during pre-clin years was convenient, especially for those living on campus, plus you'll have your timetable weeks in advance with some mornings/afternoons off to plan work etc.

During clinical years the weekends were really the only available time to do part time work, after a day at the hospital which is pretty much unpaid work anyway the only thing you want to do is hang out and sleep. Holidays would be the way to go, full-time- go hard, earn your cash then. Again, visa and max. hours dependant.

Apparently med students on rural rotations used to work in the hospitals as PCAs but I doubt that happens any more.

 

[JCYL]

During the holidays, there's no restriction on the # of hours you can work as an international student.👍

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Minimum wages in Australia are much higher than in North America so it is doable. The only thing is if you are an International student you are limited to 20 hours a week during the semester. Don't expect on PT work to finance your education though.

 

[willcandude]

are the part-time university work (library, research lab) in Queensland univ open to international students?

 

[johnnyb255]

Something that really kinda grates me about australian medicine ( perhaps specifically QLD ). Our politicians are always complaining about our lack of medical care but they still make us jump through hoops and pay through the nose to get into medicine.

Why is medicine not cheaper?
Why is it so damn difficult to get into ?
Why do we have to live on noodles and bread for 4 years so we can do what we like and give a service to the community.?!?!

A little support would be appreciated!

</vent>

I agree with you about expensive, I don't believe in domestic full-fee paying medicine mainly because of the entrance exams. UMAT and Interview are pure exclusion, but still standardised, techniques, but to have a second option based on money is simple class discrimination all over again.

As for difficulties getting into, well it has to be pretty tough (like the prestigious law schools and Year 12 marks), but I don't believe in the UMAT. Picking out shapes in a picture does not predict how good a doctor I'm going to be, I don't care what the research says. It's total crap. And I've seen excellent potential doctors going off to do other, and more lucrative fields, and absolute idiots end up in med school.

Graduate system looks better, the GAMSAT is intense but at least has some science component.

And Queensland, you guys are poaching all our consultants, so I've got nothing good to say about you 😛.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

The GAMSAT is actually easy compared to the MCAT exam which Canadians and Americans take for medical school entrance.

 

[johnnyb255]

The GAMSAT is actually easy compared to the MCAT exam which Canadians and Americans take for medical school entrance.

But isn't everything harder in the US medical system (entry, med school, getting into specialities etc).

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Every aspect of life in the US and Canada is more intense and difficult than Australia, they don't call Oz the Land of No Worries for nothing. I have a classmate that complains about Aussie racism, but could not give me any concrete incident where he experienced it like a bashing or verbal abuse. This same fellow wants to go to the US, Texas of all places, because he thinks the US is less racist. Fyi, he is a Muslim male, I really doubt given the current circumstances in the US, that he would be welcome.

 

[willcandude]

if i intend to study for the USMLE during the year along with the school curriculum, would working part-time still be realistic?