Gimme ideas!!!

[MedWonk]

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So, I've just finished all my prereqs and just took the MCAT. I'm done with heavy duty studying until I (hopefully) get into med school. Which means I need a job. I've been looking at medical scribe jobs, but there doesn't seem to be too many opportunities around here (Boston), and one company said they have no spots at the moment.

So, I've thought of taking a 15 week course to get certification for CNA/phlebotomy/EMT-B, but I'd like to avoid throwing down $1000 to get certified for something I'll only use for a year. Anyone got any ideas? Bartend? Flip burgers? Retail? Temp agency?

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

I don't know what the economy in your area is like, but you may not have too many options. Ever since the housing crash there have been lots of highly qualified people scrambling to get into any job they can find.

If you have a car, delivering pizzas isn't bad. Get a GPS to save yourself some headaches. Temp agencies are hit and miss. I've gotten one good job and three or four bad ones from them. The good thing about them is that their standards are low. If you show up for work every day on time and not drunk or hung over, you'll be the best employee they've ever had.

 

[ErrantWhatever]

First, congrats on being done with the MCAT! Second, I can definitely relate to your story--was in a very similar situation last May. I had spent 5 months trying to find a research position in 4 states and continued the search while taking summer courses. I finally moved back home and took a golf course job while still figuring stuff out--not ideal. Finally something came through on the research end, and I am eternally grateful.

I drew the same conclusion about the CNA training--I just didn't want to invest the time and money for 12 months and a job I didn't even know was going to be out there. Had the research gig not come up, I had prepared to do a pharm tech job or wait tables. Not ideal, but you can do anything for a year. If you end up with a non-medical job, maybe you could help out a PI for free on a PT basis. Either way, make sure you're still volunteering and/or shadowing.

Good luck!

 

[spacetomatoes]

It may not seem super glamorous, but I'm working as a caregiver during my gap year. In addition to loving the woman I work with, I get to go with her to all her physician appointments which I look at like having a lot of "mini" shadowing opportunities. I've also mentioned it in all my interviews, and people have responded positively to it.

I found my job privately, but there are lots of agencies for this all over that might be hiring. Worth a look!

(I also supplement with private event bartending. Good, easy money!)

 

[katiemaude]

This is really going to depend on what state you live in and what employment opportunities are available in your area. I'm just giving advice based on what I know in my area... Are you qualified to do anything (have you worked full-time before)? Since this is a non-trad board, this is a reasonable question. If you can go back to what you were doing and make decent money, I'd say do it. Save up while you can. If you can't or you haven't worked before, or you want experience that will help you get into medical school, you have several options.

Research - if you have experience from undergrad. If you can find something at a university, you might even get to take an upper level science course for free.
Nursing assistant - not all hospitals require a CNA license. The hospitals in my area have their own training programs and you get paid while you do their three-month course. Check out hospital websites and look for job titles like "patient care assistant" or "med-surg tech" or "OR tech." TREMENDOUS amounts of patient contact and was an incredible learning experience for me. OR tech is what gave me more contact with surgeons; I had contact mostly with nurses on med/surg. ER techs also tend to have more exposure to physicians.
Patient transporter - doesn't require training, gets you in the hospital environment with minimal gross out factor, maybe only $9-11 an hour but bennies like health insurance and tuition reimbursement. Pretty laid back and chill and you get time to study and learn how to drive a stretcher. WEEEEEE!
CNA/Phlebotomist - $1,000 course like you said but you also get some useful skills and if you can get a job, it's great experience (see nursing assistant above).
Scribe - not every hospital system uses these but check out some agencies to see if your local ones do. Have heard it's a great experience in terms of working with and getting to know doctors. Not sure about pay.

Personally? If I had medical experience already and enough research and didn't have responsibilities, I'd get my butt to Alaska and do something crazy like lead kayaking tours in the summer or work on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for six months. I'd want to do anything non-medical that would give me a very different experience than the one I'll be getting in medical school.

 

[MedWonk]

This is really going to depend on what state you live in and what employment opportunities are available in your area. I'm just giving advice based on what I know in my area... Are you qualified to do anything (have you worked full-time before)? Since this is a non-trad board, this is a reasonable question. If you can go back to what you were doing and make decent money, I'd say do it. Save up while you can. If you can't or you haven't worked before, or you want experience that will help you get into medical school, you have several options.

Research - if you have experience from undergrad. If you can find something at a university, you might even get to take an upper level science course for free.
Nursing assistant - not all hospitals require a CNA license. The hospitals in my area have their own training programs and you get paid while you do their three-month course. Check out hospital websites and look for job titles like "patient care assistant" or "med-surg tech" or "OR tech." TREMENDOUS amounts of patient contact and was an incredible learning experience for me. OR tech is what gave me more contact with surgeons; I had contact mostly with nurses on med/surg. ER techs also tend to have more exposure to physicians.
Patient transporter - doesn't require training, gets you in the hospital environment with minimal gross out factor, maybe only $9-11 an hour but bennies like health insurance and tuition reimbursement. Pretty laid back and chill and you get time to study and learn how to drive a stretcher. WEEEEEE!
CNA/Phlebotomist - $1,000 course like you said but you also get some useful skills and if you can get a job, it's great experience (see nursing assistant above).
Scribe - not every hospital system uses these but check out some agencies to see if your local ones do. Have heard it's a great experience in terms of working with and getting to know doctors. Not sure about pay.

Personally? If I had medical experience already and enough research and didn't have responsibilities, I'd get my butt to Alaska and do something crazy like lead kayaking tours in the summer or work on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for six months. I'd want to do anything non-medical that would give me a very different experience than the one I'll be getting in medical school.

Thanks for the responses.

If I go back to what I did before, the only avenue I have is to be a substitute teacher or TF. Licensing is too long and too involved a process to do at this point. I would need a master's degree, and there's no certification for teaching Japanese around here. I'd dig being a TF, but I'll have to sit on that idea until the summer when the prof takes applications for the fall. I'd be cool with being a sub, but I worry that I won't get enough days. It is nice amount of money for 8hrs of babysitting, though ($100 to $120/day around here). I've tried getting tutoring on the side, but it's hard to attract people and actually break even amidst a sea of Harvard/MIT grads.

I'd love to get CNA/phleb certification, but classes around here only start in the summer. On the plus side, it's 8 hours/day for a month through the Red Cross with CPR/EKG training included, so I might consider it down the road. A simple search comes up with tons of jobs for CNA/phleb around here.

Patient transporter gigs are surprisingly tough to find. I think the only way I'll get one is if I make nice with the transport dept. at the hospital I volunteer at. So, worth a shot.

Research: I've been chasing that unicorn for months, now. It's tough to get a paid position with no experience and no science background. Every bio/chem/premed undergrad and grad student in Boston is gunning for entry-level RA positions. I could easily volunteer, but the problem comes down to being able to afford commuting to the lab a few times/week and doing/learning experiments 25ish hours/week.

All the retail/grocery places have rejected me for being "overqualified" or "not being a good fit". It looks like subbing/TF/CNA/phleb are the better options. And probably bartending.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I would focus all energy on research. The other stuff is nice, but once you're a doctor, that experience means zero for residency, whereas a couple of publications will be something you can count on even after med school.

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[MedWonk]

I would focus all energy on research. The other stuff is nice, but once you're a doctor, that experience means zero for residency, whereas a couple of publications will be something you can count on even after med school.

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I assume you mean getting paid gig. Doing it for free means I don't eat. Not eating is no bueno. What are the chances you can pump out two publications in eighteen months?

 

[take the shot]

I would focus all energy on research. The other stuff is nice, but once you're a doctor, that experience means zero for residency, whereas a couple of publications will be something you can count on even after med school.

Sent from my SCH-R910 using SDN Mobile

Although a research position is ideal, the OP states they are hard to find. Getting a CNA/phlebotomy position sounds like it is the most obtainable and is good experience for pre-meds and residents. It is actually really helpful for residents to know how to draw blood....with that training you may be the only one who can get blood from a pt when everyone else misses. Being a CNA also gives you a chance to work with patients...this is great for both your personal summary and interviews. It shows you have worked with patients and like it. I have lost count of the number of classmates that were rejected the first time they applied to med school and were told they didn't have enough medical experience: despite having good grades and scores.

Sounds like doing CNA/phlebotomy will give you a paycheck and that frees you to be a research volunteer which is also really important for your application.

 

[Dzerzhinsky]

If you have volunteer fire and rescue in your area (I don't know what area of MA you're in), you can probably get your EMT training done free. These people might be able to help you get an idea of the commitment required and where to start. That doesn't help the need for paying employment in the short term, but it does get you going in the right direction.

All of my training is free in my jurisdiction, and it's an amazing program, especially once you get up to the advanced life support level. No "paper medics" because everyone has to have a certain amount of experience before entering, and no fiscal incentive for them to bend the standards because it's free.

 

[Loptometriste]

Try ophthalmology departments. They hire assistants without certification and then help you with study materials and test reimbursement to obtain a certificate. You'll be working with MD's.

 

[MedWonk]

Although a research position is ideal, the OP states they are hard to find. Getting a CNA/phlebotomy position sounds like it is the most obtainable and is good experience for pre-meds and residents. It is actually really helpful for residents to know how to draw blood....with that training you may be the only one who can get blood from a pt when everyone else misses. Being a CNA also gives you a chance to work with patients...this is great for both your personal summary and interviews. It shows you have worked with patients and like it. I have lost count of the number of classmates that were rejected the first time they applied to med school and were told they didn't have enough medical experience: despite having good grades and scores.

Sounds like doing CNA/phlebotomy will give you a paycheck and that frees you to be a research volunteer which is also really important for your application.

I'm leaning towards this. CNA/phlebotomy jobs are plentiful and the scheduling seems pretty flexible. The issue seems to be waiting until classes open up in the summer. It won't go on my app, though, since I'll have turned in my AMCAS/AACOMAS by then. Maybe it'll be something I can put down in my secondary/mention in interviews?

If you have volunteer fire and rescue in your area (I don't know what area of MA you're in), you can probably get your EMT training done free. These people might be able to help you get an idea of the commitment required and where to start. That doesn't help the need for paying employment in the short term, but it does get you going in the right direction.

All of my training is free in my jurisdiction, and it's an amazing program, especially once you get up to the advanced life support level. No "paper medics" because everyone has to have a certain amount of experience before entering, and no fiscal incentive for them to bend the standards because it's free.

This sounds pretty cool. I'll check to see if my town has volunteers.

Try ophthalmology departments. They hire assistants without certification and then help you with study materials and test reimbursement to obtain a certificate. You'll be working with MD's.

I really like this idea, but most job opportunities around here seem to require certification. There are some that OK with no certification and will train, but seem hard to find. Of course, I'll keep my eye on these. No pun intended.

 

[VictorAlpha]

I worked as an in-patient pharm tech. Gave me a chance to get familiar with drugs, doses, schedules etc... and I could learn from the pharmacists. Also it allowed me to round on all the units of the hospital (psych, birthing center, icu, telemetry etc...)

I think it helped me a lot. my $0.02.

 

[TriagePreMed]

I assume you mean getting paid gig. Doing it for free means I don't eat. Not eating is no bueno. What are the chances you can pump out two publications in eighteen months?

Depends. Are you looking just for your name in a publication or a first authorship? What field are you thinking of? If all you want is your name anywhere, you can most easily do it in public health and will have a co-authorship in a few papers.

I would suggest you volunteer at a lab for a few months. Tell the PI directly that you want a paying job, but that you're willing to volunteer 2-3 months before he/she makes up their mind.