full time job while in med school?

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You have to be trolling. 40 hrs a week of job, and maybe another 25 hours a week for lecture, and maybe another 15 hour for study. Then 50 hours on sleep. 38 hours left over... (Eat? Commuting? Etc)

So probably not.

Also 3rd year - you have no control of your schedule. Some weeks I am there 7-7 4 days a week, and other days I have these 20+ hour shifts that have no clear endings times.



Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Just take out loans, it ain't worth killing yourself.

Also some schools don't allow it and virtually all frown on it.

I couldn't imagine working 40 hours on top of an MS1 load and it only gets worse from there.

Full disclosure, I do work very minimal hours in med school and that's only because I own a buisness from before med school. If it wasn't for that odd situation I wouldn't work at all
 
:troll:

some schools have rules prohibiting you from holding a job while attending

someone else told me this wasn't legal, I dunno. Plenty of institutions make rules that are against the rules all the time. Jus sayin
 
You can work 1/2 time. For example, Stanford actively encourages it with a very generous research assistantship program (salary + tuition support): https://med.stanford.edu/md/mdhandb...earch-assistant-salary-tuition-allowance.html I also believe Harvard offers something similar.

However, the only times I would consider a job are:
1) High paying (per diem statistician / software engineer / private tutor that can charge $50+ / hour)
2) Research (if you want to match into a competitive residency, it is essentially mandatory, so might as well get paid doing it)

Even still, you don't want to compromise your grades and board scores, so I would limit it to the first year.
 
No. As a teaching moment, each semester of med school is the equivalent of 3-5x the course load of a typical UG school. A number of schools have mandatory classes and/or labs, BTW.


kennyram401 said:
Is it possible to have a full time job while in Med School?
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moisne said:
You have to be trolling. 40 hrs a week of job, and maybe another 25 hours a week for lecture, and maybe another 15 hour for study. Then 50 hours on sleep. 38 hours left over... (Eat? Commuting? Etc)

So probably not.

Also 3rd year - you have no control of your schedule. Some weeks I am there 7-7 4 days a week, and other days I have these 20+ hour shifts that have no clear endings times.



Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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I am not trolling it just is a valid question. When do students start getting paid for clinical work. I.e. third year fourth year or after they graduate.
 
I am going to just live off of the loan money. Thank you all for your imput, you did a great job.
 
kennyram401 said:
Thank you all for your imput, you did a great job.
Click to expand...

I wish I could say the same of you though.

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JustaDO said:
Said one who actually remembers specifically what a particular SDN poster does, if you don't like it:

View attachment 207365
View attachment 207366

That being said, who are you?
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Calm down, not everything is a personal attack. If hunting down MCAT discrepancies is your thing, more power to you. I'm just curious why people posting practice scores or hypothetical situations rattles you so much.
 
Pusheen said:
Calm down, not everything is a personal attack. If hunting down MCAT discrepancies is your thing, more power to you. I'm just curious why people posting practice scores or hypothetical situations rattles you so much.
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People spend a lot of time and effort on this site helping others and don't want it being for nothing. No one likes having their time wasted bc someone decided to come up with a hypothetical scenario (of which there are endless possibilities) and portray it as real
 
vernhart said:
People spend a lot of time and effort on this site helping others and don't want it being for nothing. No one likes having their time wasted bc someone decided to come up with a hypothetical scenario (of which there are endless possibilities) and portray it as real
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Fair enough, but I feel like that's just a limitation of a free anonymous forum. People who contribute here understand that the scenario may well be made up or modified, but the whole point is that they are increasing the pool of knowledge for future people looking up threads. Going through ancient post histories to find discrepancies in scores in order to call someone a liar on a completely unrelated thread is hardly helpful and adds to the hostility and neuroticism of preall0. :shrug:
 
Hey guys, I hope everything is going well for all of you. I would just like some advice because I have just graduated from a NJ state university with a BS in Bio, and have about a 3.0-3.1 Science GPA. I was originally on a presidential scholarship, and kept doing progressively worse during my undergraduate career. I eventually became pretty depressed because I had no idea why my performance was so bad. However, towards the end of my senior year I was hospitalized a few times, and they suggested something might be wrong with my brain. It turns out I had epileptic seizures throughout the whole of my undergraduate career, and nor the ER or my PCP was able to determine it. Until a student caught me seizing and took me to a neurologist, they located my issue to a growing brain tumor which I am currently in the process of removing. To better support my case, I finished my last semester of college with a 3.6 because I was properly being treated for my seizures. Reflecting back on my story, its a bit embarrassing as I sat through finals seizing and crapping my pants without even realizing it. Throughout my undergraduate career, I have worked in a research lab, as I have been there for almost 8 years now. I have put out many papers while also working as an EMT for two years. I am looking at a 517 MCAT score. Is it realistic for me to get into an MD school? Is my condition something that medical schools will understand?
 
The people I went after were not posting hypothetical situations or practice scores, they were literally making a effort to troll the forum. One person had > 15 accounts. Why should help be wasted on those who don't need it?

Reported it, and SDN hasn't done anything. SDN was a great resource for me, and to see people abuse it, well, two can play that game they will see.
 
turnaround12324 said:
Hey guys, I hope everything is going well for all of you. I would just like some advice because I have just graduated from a NJ state university with a BS in Bio, and have about a 3.0-3.1 Science GPA. I was originally on a presidential scholarship, and kept doing progressively worse during my undergraduate career. I eventually became pretty depressed because I had no idea why my performance was so bad. However, towards the end of my senior year I was hospitalized a few times, and they suggested something might be wrong with my brain. It turns out I had epileptic seizures throughout the whole of my undergraduate career, and nor the ER or my PCP was able to determine it. Until a student caught me seizing and took me to a neurologist, they located my issue to a growing brain tumor which I am currently in the process of removing. To better support my case, I finished my last semester of college with a 3.6 because I was properly being treated for my seizures. Reflecting back on my story, its a bit embarrassing as I sat through finals seizing and crapping my pants without even realizing it. Throughout my undergraduate career, I have worked in a research lab, as I have been there for almost 8 years now. I have put out many papers while also working as an EMT for two years. I am looking at a 517 MCAT score. Is it realistic for me to get into an MD school? Is my condition something that medical schools will understand?
Click to expand...

Like I said to the person above, who are you?
 
Pusheen said:
. Going through ancient post histories to find discrepancies in scores in order to call someone a liar on a completely unrelated thread is hardly helpful and adds to the hostility and neuroticism of preall0. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Stating you took a MCAT and made a 37, when one didn't even take it = Discrepancy

You got a bright political future ahead of you.
 
JustaDO said:
The people I went after were not posting hypothetical situations or practice scores, they were literally making a effort to troll the forum. One person had > 15 accounts. Why should help be wasted on those who don't need it?

Reported it, and SDN hasn't done anything. SDN was a great resource for me, and to see people abuse it, well, two can play that game they will see.
Click to expand...
JustaDO said:
Stating you took a MCAT and made a 37, when one didn't even take it = Discrepancy

You got a bright political future ahead of you.
Click to expand...
People are who needlessly rude and inflammatory to other members abuse the forum just as much as the possible trolls. Your response to my completely non-threatening comments is telling, given your mission to make SDN a better place.
 
Pusheen said:
People are who needlessly rude and inflammatory to other members abuse the forum just as much as the possible trolls. Your response to my completely non-threatening comments is telling, given your mission to make SDN a better place.
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Try not to get so worked up here, you asked a question, you received a response.

If you have a problem, do this in order:

upload_2016-8-2_17-18-58.png


If you look at this posters history, and think he is for one second legitimate, good luck in life.
 
JustaDO said:
Try not to get so worked up here, you asked a question, you received a response.
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Lol, I'm worked up? Because I'm definitely the one who resorted to personal insults and snotty comments right off the bat.

Best of luck in your quest to make this forum a better place
 
Pusheen said:
Lol, I'm worked up? Because I'm definitely the one who resorted to personal insults and snotty comments right off the bat.
Click to expand...

🤣 = Clearly a emoji used to signify respect tone in a conversation.

Summary:
1. Seeks out answers.
2. Receives answers.
3. Turns out to be sensitive but still special snowflake, and gets worked up over it.
 
JustaDO said:
Just pointing out the irony of "personal insults and snotty comments right off the bat." :claps:
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Sorry that you felt a laughing emoji was an insult. This conversation is cancer, so I'll stop. What happened to the dude back there who posted his life story mid-thread?
 
kennyram401 said:
Is it possible to have a full time job while in Med School?
Click to expand...
I know a PGY-7 neurosurgery resident who worked full time through med school. That is the ONLY case of full time working I have heard.

Personally, I work 10-16 hours/week. Thats enough for me to scratch the itch of getting a paycheck and being frugal. You definitely don't HAVE to work, but if you can swing it, try calculating how much that $1,000 you made on the side will save you in the long run vs borrowing $1,000. Food for thought. Banking on someone else (loan forgiveness programs) to pay YOUR DEBT is not a good idea. Its worked for a lot of people, and it just recently failed a bunch of people. Life rule: take ownership of your own crap.

Last thought for now- decreasing expenses in med school can be much easier than increasing income and is just as effective for your financial situation.
 
Mr Medschool Money said:
I know a PGY-7 neurosurgery resident who worked full time through med school. That is the ONLY case of full time working I have heard.

Personally, I work 10-16 hours/week. Thats enough for me to scratch the itch of getting a paycheck and being frugal. You definitely don't HAVE to work, but if you can swing it, try calculating how much that $1,000 you made on the side will save you in the long run vs borrowing $1,000. Food for thought. Banking on someone else (loan forgiveness programs) to pay YOUR DEBT is not a good idea. Its worked for a lot of people, and it just recently failed a bunch of people. Life rule: take ownership of your own crap.

Last thought for now- decreasing expenses in med school can be much easier than increasing income and is just as effective for your financial situation.
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the PSLF? How did it end up not working for some people anymore?
 
FootballFoot said:
Are you talking about the PSLF? How did it end up not working for some people anymore?
Click to expand...
I was talking with my chief res. a few months ago on Gen Surg. He's PGY-7 and has been paying the minimum because hes going on to a CT fellowship and will quite easily hit 10 years working for a public institution (the 10 year public institution loan forgiveness plan). So he just had to pay the minimum until he hit 10 yrs, then the rest would be forgiven. Sounds like you're familiar with that.
Pres. Obama just amended that back this summer so it caps your loan forgiveness at 80,000. So anything above 80,000 you're still responsible for. So this guy has been paying the minimum on who knows how much money, letting some MAD interest accrue for 7 years to find out that only 80,000 will be forgiven. he would have been better off trying to pay it off aggressively himself from the beginning.
 
Mr Medschool Money said:
I was talking with my chief res. a few months ago on Gen Surg. He's PGY-7 and has been paying the minimum because hes going on to a CT fellowship and will quite easily hit 10 years working for a public institution (the 10 year public institution loan forgiveness plan). So he just had to pay the minimum until he hit 10 yrs, then the rest would be forgiven. Sounds like you're familiar with that.
Pres. Obama just amended that back this summer so it caps your loan forgiveness at 80,000. So anything above 80,000 you're still responsible for. So this guy has been paying the minimum on who knows how much money, letting some MAD interest accrue for 7 years to find out that only 80,000 will be forgiven. he would have been better off trying to pay it off aggressively himself from the beginning.
Click to expand...
Can you please Link where the IBR loan forgiveness for working at a non profit was amended to cap at 80k. Also what sort of job did the neurosurgeon do during medical school? IIRC the cap was dropped to pass the budget. Also , wouldn't a new cap be against the contractual agreement of the initial loans?

Another thing that is completely missing in this conversation is the fact that working in medical school may lead to reduced performance in medical school inhibiting your ability to obtain competitive residencies. The 20k in interest you will save over the span of 7 years will be completely shadowed by reduced earning potential of not landing a high Paying specialty. There are income differentials in excess of 100k per year for certain specialties.
 
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Pagan FutureDoc said:
Just take out loans, it ain't worth killing yourself.

Also some schools don't allow it and virtually all frown on it.

I couldn't imagine working 40 hours on top of an MS1 load and it only gets worse from there.

Full disclosure, I do work very minimal hours in med school and that's only because I own a buisness from before med school. If it wasn't for that odd situation I wouldn't work at all
Click to expand...
What sort of business do you own ?
 
Mr Medschool Money said:
I was talking with my chief res. a few months ago on Gen Surg. He's PGY-7 and has been paying the minimum because hes going on to a CT fellowship and will quite easily hit 10 years working for a public institution (the 10 year public institution loan forgiveness plan). So he just had to pay the minimum until he hit 10 yrs, then the rest would be forgiven. Sounds like you're familiar with that.
Pres. Obama just amended that back this summer so it caps your loan forgiveness at 80,000. So anything above 80,000 you're still responsible for. So this guy has been paying the minimum on who knows how much money, letting some MAD interest accrue for 7 years to find out that only 80,000 will be forgiven. he would have been better off trying to pay it off aggressively himself from the beginning.
Click to expand...

A lot of misinformation here. That was never passed, and the proposed cap was more like 57,000. It was completely dropped from the budget proposal. Also it would not have applied to current borrowers, just to new borrowers.

The first cohort of people to have their loans forgiven under PSLF will do so in October 2017. Nobody has been "failed" yet.
 
kennyram401 said:
Is it possible to have a full time job while in Med School?
Click to expand...
There's a guy in my class who works a full time job and rocks med school. He's also a freak of nature, and I highly recommend against working a full time job.
 
redferrari said:
There's a guy in my class who works a full time job and rocks med school. He's also a freak of nature, and I highly recommend against working a full time job.
Click to expand...
What job does he do?
 
redferrari said:
There's a guy in my class who works a full time job and rocks med school. He's also a freak of nature, and I highly recommend against working a full time job.
Click to expand...
Some people are insane. I know a friend of a friend who is at a top 5 med school, getting scores in the top 10 percent of the class, and has, as he puts it, "a ridiculous amount of free time". He also got a 4.0 in UG while coasting along and studying while drunk. Some people are just not human. Who made him? And why did they skip me?
 
libertyyne said:
What job does he do?
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I'm really not at liberty to discuss. Let's just say that it's a pretty kickass job and med school is essentially a hobby for him. He makes me feel like an idiot for being completely average in our class.
GotIronKnee said:
Some people are insane. I know a friend of a friend who is at a top 5 med school, getting scores in the top 10 percent of the class, and has, as he puts it, "a ridiculous amount of free time". He also got a 4.0 in UG while coasting along and studying while drunk. Some people are just not human. Who made him? And why did they skip me?
Click to expand...
I did that in undergrad. However, if I did that now, I would fail miserably. To most of us, med school is like eating a large pizza every day. Yes, it's a lot, but most people could reasonably eat a whole large pizza every day. But if you skip a day or two, there is no way you can eat two or three large pizzas in a day.
 
Ismet said:
A lot of misinformation here. That was never passed, and the proposed cap was more like 57,000. It was completely dropped from the budget proposal. Also it would not have applied to current borrowers, just to new borrowers.

The first cohort of people to have their loans forgiven under PSLF will do so in October 2017. Nobody has been "failed" yet.
Click to expand...
My apologies I was passing along what he told me. Regardless, betting your future on the government is not as safe as it appears at first blush.
 
libertyyne said:
Can you please Link where the IBR loan forgiveness for working at a non profit was amended to cap at 80k. Also what sort of job did the neurosurgeon do during medical school? IIRC the cap was dropped to pass the budget. Also , wouldn't a new cap be against the contractual agreement of the initial loans?

Another thing that is completely missing in this conversation is the fact that working in medical school may lead to reduced performance in medical school inhibiting your ability to obtain competitive residencies. The 20k in interest you will save over the span of 7 years will be completely shadowed by reduced earning potential of not landing a high Paying specialty. There are income differentials in excess of 100k per year for certain specialties.
Click to expand...
For sure you should put your schooling first and whatever you want to do can be tailored to the demand of your desired specialty. I don't know what year you are in med school, but I'm in clinical years now and there's tons of time to do other things if you have your eyes open and don't waste time.
You can absolutely work in school, just find the right job for you- you're going to have to search for it. The right job that allows you to study while getting paid won't just fall in your lap.
I'm sorry if the cap was not passed, that was the information the resident told me this past summer. I should have fact checked that.
I do not know the job that the neurosurgeon had.
 
Mr Medschool Money said:
My apologies I was passing along what he told me. Regardless, betting your future on the government is not as safe as it appears at first blush.
Click to expand...

There's not just PSLF though. I'm pretty skeptical about the existence of PSLF by the time I'm eligible, so if it's still around I'll be pleasantly surprised. However with IBR, your loans are forgiven after 20 or 25 years of payments. Obviously that's another decade of payments beyond what PSLF stipulates, and that's a taxable loan forgiveness so you'll take a massive hit on taxes that year, but if you're responsibly paying your minimum required payment each month, it will get forgiven after 20 or 25 years depending on what plan you pick.

With interest rates and a resident salary, I'm going to be ending residency with a lot more debt than I started with, since I can't afford payments large enough to make any kind of dent on the debt. Before IBR was applied, my estimated monthly repayment was going to be almost $4000, and I take home $3000 per month after taxes. And I'm in one of the lower paid specialties, so while I'll be able to make larger payments as an attending, I'm still going to have a massive debt load after two decades of paying. I'm relying on loan forgiveness because I will most likely have to, and because the forgiveness with IBR is not going to disappear as an option. Perhaps for future borrowers, but not for current.
 
Ismet said:
There's not just PSLF though. I'm pretty skeptical about the existence of PSLF by the time I'm eligible, so if it's still around I'll be pleasantly surprised. However with IBR, your loans are forgiven after 20 or 25 years of payments. Obviously that's another decade of payments beyond what PSLF stipulates, and that's a taxable loan forgiveness so you'll take a massive hit on taxes that year, but if you're responsibly paying your minimum required payment each month, it will get forgiven after 20 or 25 years depending on what plan you pick.

With interest rates and a resident salary, I'm going to be ending residency with a lot more debt than I started with, since I can't afford payments large enough to make any kind of dent on the debt. Before IBR was applied, my estimated monthly repayment was going to be almost $4000, and I take home $3000 per month after taxes. And I'm in one of the lower paid specialties, so while I'll be able to make larger payments as an attending, I'm still going to have a massive debt load after two decades of paying. I'm relying on loan forgiveness because I will most likely have to, and because the forgiveness with IBR is not going to disappear as an option. Perhaps for future borrowers, but not for current.
Click to expand...
IBR can't go away, people would just default on their loans.
A cap would be devastating for pslf. It's a difficult subject. I can see the upcoming administration axe these programs, on the flip side you may get a tax break as an attending to pay off these loans.

I have always wondered why are Texas schools so cheap compared to the rest of the nation?

Do you moonlight at all? white coat investor had an interview with a moonlighting resident who had payed a good chunk of his loans off.

I will refrain from offering financial advice as I am not qualified, however you may want to calculate your total loan balance at time of forgiveness and the tax burden you might be responsible for at 20years. It is possible that it might be better to live like a resident on an attendings salary for a few years to pay off the loans compared to 20year forgiveness.
 
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Mr Medschool Money said:
For sure you should put your schooling first and whatever you want to do can be tailored to the demand of your desired specialty. I don't know what year you are in med school, but I'm in clinical years now and there's tons of time to do other things if you have your eyes open and don't waste time.
You can absolutely work in school, just find the right job for you- you're going to have to search for it. The right job that allows you to study while getting paid won't just fall in your lap.
I'm sorry if the cap was not passed, that was the information the resident told me this past summer. I should have fact checked that.
I do not know the job that the neurosurgeon had.
Click to expand...
What sort of jobs are these ? How do they not detract from studying for shelf exams ? What do you get paid an hour ?
 
libertyyne said:
What sort of jobs are these ? How do they not detract from studying for shelf exams ? What do you get paid an hour ?
Click to expand...
To clarify for you, I do not work full-time and I am not encouraging others to work full-time. Unless you can swing it, like a select few can.
Separately from that, working in med school has been one of the most rewarding ways I spend my time. I started a job during my general surgery rotation on the weekend sitting at a gym. For sure, I make close to minimum wage for this particular job. But, I sit at the gym and get paid to study. I've been working there for 6 months now on the weekends, and I have been able to mold my schedule to accommodate both my job and my rotations. I wish I would have started this job in year 1. Depending on your interests, this might not be the best job for you. I like the gym atmosphere and I do very little actual "work" there- maybe 30 min a day. There are other companies that pay people to sit places. I have more ideas and experiments on my website.
 
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