having a job while in dental school

[tess5788]

Hey guys, I was wondering if there are any dental students out there who also have a job? I worked 20 hours a week as an undergrad and managed to do very well. I realize I will not be able to work as many hours, but would it be at all feasible to work less hours and still have time for school and such? Advice and opinions would be greatly appreciated

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[bigbrightsmile]

Hey guys, I was wondering if there are any dental students out there who also have a job? I worked 20 hours a week as an undergrad and managed to do very well. I realize I will not be able to work as many hours, but would it be at all feasible to work less hours and still have time for school and such? Advice and opinions would be greatly appreciated

some students teach Kaplan courses...I can not wait to just focus on school and not work!

 

[tess5788]

I just cant imagine not having an income, I mean I know you get money to live off of with your loans, I just am worried it wont be enough. I have heard about teaching kaplan, but dont you need a sick nasty dat score?

 

[lmaozedong1]

I just cant imagine not having an income, I mean I know you get money to live off of with your loans, I just am worried it wont be enough. I have heard about teaching kaplan, but dont you need a sick nasty dat score?

well, I'd imagine your score would have to be pretty "sick nasty."

 

[JonNCSU08]

score just needs to be in the 90th percentile.

 

[Mazmel]

score just needs to be in the 90th percentile.

i.e. 21AA

 

[MNdental]

Here's how i see it: is that additional money worth the stress of having even less time available for studying/relaxing/being with my family?

I am definitely going to stop working before I start dental school. Working a few hours a week will not contribute significantly enough. Loan debt is not bad debt. We're going to be so far in debt that whatever money I make working oustide of dental school will be a drop in the bucket. If you were asking my advice, I would say at least start school without working. Then, if you feel you can add on the burden of working, do so. Especially considering if you want to leave your options open to specialize or seek out other programs after your dds, your grades need to be very strong and you will be competing with people who were not working. And as a successful dentist, I won't take that long to pay off the equivalent of whatever money you might make working part-time during school.

 

[Hordel]

To be honest, I think having a job in dental school is asking for trouble/failure. I can NOT even imagine trying this. I know some people in our class have work studies (i.e. lab monitor, AV guy...etc). Outside of that, I would advise going military. You get a 1800 stipend each month, which in a less expensive area (NOT near Nova) would likely be enough. Just my advice

 

[DrEndo]

I worked all 4 years while in dental school. 16 hours every 2 weeks. Mind you it was on weekends. That part time turned to full time during winter, summer and march breaks. I did very well in school, good enough to specialize. I guess it kept me out of trouble, providing me with structured time management. I knew I had to work on Saturday and Sunday, so I must study when I have free time Monday, Tuesday, etc. I don't see a problem with earning some extra money, 20,000 a year. Mind you I wasn't flippin' no burgers.

 

[dentalWorks]

Well, first two years of DS, u are in class from 8AM till about 3-4PM, by time u get home and eat dinner and talk with ur husband(or wife), it will be about 6-7PM... U might do some studying for 3-4 hrs, that puts u at 9-10PM...time for bed and the cycle repeats all over the next day

On the weekend however, u MIGHT be able to work one of the days (say saturday) but how much money will u really make? 100 bux a week? Less than $400 a month? Less than $8000 per year? I guess it is possible, but u will be one busybee

 

[doc toothache]

The ideal time to put in some weekend hours is during 3rd and 4th year.

 

[emurocker]

I worked all 4 years while in dental school. 16 hours every 2 weeks. Mind you it was on weekends. That part time turned to full time during winter, summer and march breaks. I did very well in school, good enough to specialize. I guess it kept me out of trouble, providing me with structured time management. I knew I had to work on Saturday and Sunday, so I must study when I have free time Monday, Tuesday, etc. I don't see a problem with earning some extra money, 20,000 a year. Mind you I wasn't flippin' no burgers.

What job did you have? And how can I get in on that?!

 

[MrBeans]

I'm also curious, DrEndo!

 

[amalgamgrillz]

I just cant imagine not having an income, I mean I know you get money to live off of with your loans, I just am worried it wont be enough. I have heard about teaching kaplan, but dont you need a sick nasty dat score?

To be a Kaplan instructor, you just have to do well on the Kaplan test, which isn't even a full DAT. The material/test is simple, so it's not hard to become a Kaplan instructor at all. From several past experiences, many kaplan dental instructors don't even want to become dentists; kaplan just fills the spots with whoever is "qualified" (according to their standards). So I wouldn't worry about needing to achieve a "sick nasty dat score".

 

[DrEndo]

What job did you have? And how can I get in on that?!

It was pretty mundane hospital job, I took shifts that only students wanted, weekends and holidays.

 

[Oral]

Hey guys, I was wondering if there are any dental students out there who also have a job? I worked 20 hours a week as an undergrad and managed to do very well. I realize I will not be able to work as many hours, but would it be at all feasible to work less hours and still have time for school and such? Advice and opinions would be greatly appreciated

I say this as I am sitting in the library the night before a final at 1:30am cramming. There are points in the first two years where it doesn't matter what you do, you will have to sacrifice a lot of sleep or family time or whatever it is you do to maintain your grades. Needless to say, holding down a job while in school would be impossible. I actually know someone that tried doing that last year and that person is now repeating first year. Until you get to school and have comprehended just how difficult it is, I would hold off on the job.

 

[Odontos2015]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfKTDMEoC88

 

[kitejunky27]

like above, we had a person who was trying to hold a job down first year, he will now be coming back next year and repeating.

 

[sparklingwhites]

Honestly, i have no idea how DrEndo did it. I admire you to no return.

My professors were not kidding when they said that in the first 2 years of DS we are going to sacrifice:
"- sleep
- food
- sex and
- shelter"

Sounds brutal, but from my experience of finals so far 1st year, i miss sleep the most. I don't have the time to do my laundry or go for a 5 min walk to go throw away my garbage behind the apt complex i live at. I am in no way trying to get all "A's" or honors, but no mean's i'm also simply trying to pass my courses.

You need some amazing time management skills; faced with the amount of material thrown at you each day to learn, on top of all the hands on practical work you are faced in lab (i know some schools don’t start drilling until 2nd semester but our class started waxing 2nd week and we got to pick up our drills in October since we start seeing patients Nov of 2nd year). Honest to all that is holy I rather take an additional 20.000 in loans (which, btw you get more than enough of loan money approval than you probably need, you wont have to accept it all anyway) than be like a robot for 2 years, with less than necessary sleep in your routine.

But that is just my feeling on the subject, everyone is different and with different skills that they can yours at their advantage. I finished college in 3 years and worked 15 hrs a week for the last 2 of my undergrad. No way i would try to attempt even half of that now with the work that i am faced with. Maybe I’ll search for a research lab position in 3-4th yrs which are stipend in our school I believe, but not earlier than that.

 

[Munchy]

I would be good if you can work as a lab tech or something. Couple of hours per week for decent pay and making connections ... and gain experience.

It's not going to be much but it will cover your basic expenses (ie bus fare, food).

I am seriously thinking about working a couple of hours/week but now that everyone is saying how it is impossible.... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

[DrEndo]

What I was seeing during DS was that I had much more accomplished when I was super busy. When I had lots of time to study and I knew it, there were too many distractions around. Roommates wanted to talk, watch tv, etc. On my free weekend I may have studied for 2 hours max. When I had to work, after coming home I studied after dinner until sleep time, probably 5 hours. The least amount of study per hours spent was in study groups where people were there to chat. Time management is the key.
I only asked someone else to work my shift during final exams in December and May.
Really working 16 hours a week is not that much time. Calculate how much time one spends on listening to music, watching tv, facebooking, tweeting and youtubing. Cut that out of your life and you'll have so much free time to study.
You have to be responsible.

 

[shedara2008]

Hey guys, I was wondering if there are any dental students out there who also have a job? I worked 20 hours a week as an undergrad and managed to do very well. I realize I will not be able to work as many hours, but would it be at all feasible to work less hours and still have time for school and such? Advice and opinions would be greatly appreciated

I would say don't even try it. Maybe once your in, see if you can manage just courses and studying before adding another responsibility. But i have known some people who have worked on weekends though, but in a crunch for time for studying, you may actually need your weekends.

 

[nze82]

Hey guys, I was wondering if there are any dental students out there who also have a job? I worked 20 hours a week as an undergrad and managed to do very well. I realize I will not be able to work as many hours, but would it be at all feasible to work less hours and still have time for school and such? Advice and opinions would be greatly appreciated

Hmmm! It would be next to impossible to work and do well in DS.
You're in school from 8:00AM-5:00PM and after that you're either in LAB or the library. Unless you're willing to give up the 4-5 hours of sleep that you might get (if you're lucky) I don't see how someone could work while in DS.