How do people survive off intern salaries?

[Nalra095]

Just as the title states..

I'm looking at certain internship sites like The Animal Medical Center in NYC, and they pay a salary of 27k... But this is NYC we're talking here with crazy ass prices. I don't even think the salary after taxes will even cover rent let alone other expenses like food, insurance, etc. How do these hospitals expect these interns to survive??

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[Coopah]

Just as the title states..

I'm looking at certain internship sites like The Animal Medical Center in NYC, and they pay a salary of 27k... But this is NYC we're talking here with crazy ass prices. I don't even think the salary after taxes will even cover rent let alone other expenses like food, insurance, etc. How do these hospitals expect these interns to survive??

That particular hospital always advertises that they own their own apartment building and rent them to staff for "below market rates". But other than that I have no idea

 

[Lupin21]

That particular hospital always advertises that they own their own apartment building and rent them to staff for "below market rates". But other than that I have no idea

lots of roommates. I think @orca2011 was there for a bit? I can't remember. Apologies if I mistagged.

 

[JaynaAli]

I lived in Colorado on 28,000. My parents had to help out, since rent alone that year was over $1000/month and my monthly take home pay was only $1800. It was easier for people with significant others. Luckily you’re too busy to really go spend a lot of money.

 

[SocialStigma]

AMC interns (and residents) receive subsidized housing and pretty much everyone lives with roommates.

I lived off of my savings/loans, didn't eat out or go out much, and ate a lot of sandwiches and ramen.

 

[orca2011]

lots of roommates. I think @orca2011 was there for a bit? I can't remember. Apologies if I mistagged.

Nope, wasn't me. Did my internship up in RI but have a few classmates who went there. But either way, I had roommates (non-vet) intern year. It worked out well until the last few months (one ended up being a bit cray, the other and I still hang out). I was paid more than those at AMC (think it's like 30-32k) and picked up some extra shifts here and there to make a little extra. But otherwise, it's a lot of not eating out and tried to not go out too much.

 

[Lupin21]

Oh. I believe it was @jmo1012. Think she is/was resident though. still, crap salary. haha

 

[Minnerbelle]

I mean, plenty of people work close to minimum wage jobs and survive..... just hope you don’t have any medical/dental/veterinary bills you need to pay in the next year, and eat lots of spaghettios... None of that $10 avocado toast for you. Subsidized housing if available, and/or many many roommates.

Go into credit card debt. Use any savings you have. Beg relatives for support. It’s just a continuation of making poor financial choices just like going to vet school in the first place ... I guess you can argue, why stop now?

If you don’t like it, apply to other places with a more reasonable salary to cost of living ratio.

 

[Coopah]

I mean, plenty of people work close to minimum wage jobs and survive..... just hope you don’t have any medical/dental/veterinary bills you need to pay in the next year, and eat lots of spaghettios... None of that $10 avocado toast for you. Subsidized housing if available, and/or many many roommates.

Go into credit card debt. Use any savings you have. Beg relatives for support. It’s just a continuation of making poor financial choices just like going to vet school in the first place ... I guess you can argue, why stop now?

If you don’t like it, apply to other places with a more reasonable salary to cost of living ratio.

but also true, this just has much more impact because there are no loans to make it feel more comfortable

 

[deleted498041]

I make $30,000 before taxes. I am lucky enough to have a partner with which we do NOT split expenses 50/50. Most people where I work have help from partners or parents. One colleague just signed a lease for 80% of our monthly salary. It's not ideal, but we all make do. You either need to have a lot of roommates, live in a not so great place or part of town, live off of ramen and Kraft mac and cheese, have help from someone else, or more loans. It's kind of a crappy situation all the way around, but we just keep hoping it pays off in the end. If you're hoping to specialize, there's really no way around it.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

but also true, this just has much more impact because there are no loans to make it feel more comfortable

This was the thing I had to explain to my now husband/parents when I was talking about how I was worried about making ends meet (Tampa is more expensive than I thought when I ranked honestly, and my husband is looking for a job still so I'm alone here with my expenses). "You've been broke for four years and haven't been worried like this before, what's the problem now?" Uhhh, I was forked over like $5-6,000 at the beginning of each semester and in a town with significantly lower COL. Currently, my rent is $1300 in a somewhat sketchy area. Can't have roommates because I have too many pets to make it reasonable, so I'm hoping hubs can get down here soon. I knew I wouldn't be financially comfortable, but it's still a stressor. I'm looking forward to my 6 month mark, at that point we're allowed to pick up ER shifts and make up to $1000 a shift apparently.

Most graduating vets can't even move to these internships without financial help, it's kind of crazy. My pre-vet internship gave me a moving stipend for pete's sake. My husband had to pay to rent my Penske and cover gas for my car and said Penske. I think in the next 5 years, there will be real pushing for some salary improvement, especially for the corporate hospitals. AAVMC is already looking into ways to 'certify' internships that are legit programs or something like that, which is a good start to hopefully weed out some of the 'cheap labor' internships out there.

I'm still peeved that Mars (Banfield, VCA, Bluepearl) upped their VCA intern salaries by $10k nationwide for this year but us Bluepearl folks didn't get the same generosity.

 

[deleted498041]

I'm still peeved that Mars (Banfield, VCA, Bluepearl) upped their VCA intern salaries by $10k nationwide for this year but us Bluepearl folks didn't get the same generosity.

I'm pretty sure resident salaries haven't changed at my program for 10 years... one day, I'll make a livable wage!

 

[JaynaAli]

Luckily my current program has been pretty good about increasing salaries. They aren’t great but better than most academic positions, especially given COL here being relatively low. Most of the increases have been driven by increasing salary requirements for foreign nationals though, trying to make it fair for everyone. When I first started the foreign nationals were getting like $5k more per year than US citizens, so everyone got a raise. But now they really don’t accept foreign nationals anymore because they can’t afford to keep increasing the salaries.

My internship was the lowest paid VCA position at the time. The next year’s interns got a 2k raise...when my intern mates and I jokingly complained we were told that 2k wasn’t that much, to which we replied that it was almost a 10% raise which is pretty significant!

 

[Minnerbelle]

My internship was the lowest paid VCA position at the time. The next year’s interns got a 2k raise...when my intern mates and I jokingly complained we were told that 2k wasn’t that much [...]

In which case it shouldn’t be a problem for them to grant it...? It really isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things. At a VCA in my area, they were paying $150/hr to relief vets for ANY doctor who was willing to relief in the ER. So a 2k raise for a year for an intern who acts as a warm body in the ER should be easy to do...

 

[Trilt]

In which case it shouldn’t be a problem for them to grant it...? It really isn’t that much in the grand scheme of things. At a VCA in my area, they were paying $150/hr to relief vets for ANY doctor who was willing to relief in the ER. So a 2k raise for a year for an intern who acts as a warm body in the ER should be easy to do...

But then the interns might get ideas that they're worth something and nobody wants that...

 

[Minnerbelle]

But then the interns might get ideas that they're worth something and nobody wants that...

Lol that is VCA’s MO. They have “valuable” doctors who they give the world to, and “the ugly stepchild” doctors who get the **** end of the stick at every hospital. Interns don’t even make it in that scheme.

 

[anjabryn]

Some live off of private loans and credit cards as well as the reduced housing prices. Although private loans and credit cards are not recommended. It will be a struggle for a few years, but once the internship is done, it will all be worth it!

 

[Nalra095]

So from reading all this, for someone who is most likely going to pursue internship and residency, would it be wise to take out more loans than usual for 4th year so that left over money can be used for that internship year? As of right now, I'm commuting from my parent's house so I've only been taking out enough just to pay for tuition.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

So from reading all this, for someone who is most likely going to pursue internship and residency, would it be wise to take out more loans than usual for 4th year so that left over money can be used for that internship year? As of right now, I'm commuting from my parent's house so I've only been taking out enough just to pay for tuition.

In hindsight, I wish I wouldn't have returned my excess from my last semester. I was SOL for moving costs, deposits for the new apartment, etc. Very poor planning on my part, I was just so focused on keeping interest as low as possible.

 

[stealthoscope]

Just as the title states..

I'm looking at certain internship sites like The Animal Medical Center in NYC, and they pay a salary of 27k... But this is NYC we're talking here with crazy ass prices. I don't even think the salary after taxes will even cover rent let alone other expenses like food, insurance, etc. How do these hospitals expect these interns to survive??

For what it's worth, the subsidized housing at AMC is doable... but they didn't have room for 4-5 people in my intern class. If this occurs for you, you would have to find housing elsewhere and you will almost definitely need more money than you make, and you should think very carefully about what options are available to you, whether that means more loans or borrowing from family or dipping into savings... if those aren't an option for you, it may be worth considering not gambling on getting housing and applying for internships in places that do not have such a high cost of living. I know how unfair it is to say "if you can't afford it, don't apply" - but it is good that you are asking these questions now so that you can think about your options and be prepared, rather than be blindsided, as a lot of us were.

 

[pinkpuppy9]

For what it's worth, the subsidized housing at AMC is doable... but they didn't have room for 4-5 people in my intern class. If this occurs for you, you would have to find housing elsewhere and you will almost definitely need more money than you make, and you should think very carefully about what options are available to you, whether that means more loans or borrowing from family or dipping into savings... if those aren't an option for you, it may be worth considering not gambling on getting housing and applying for internships in places that do not have such a high cost of living. I know how unfair it is to say "if you can't afford it, don't apply" - but it is good that you are asking these questions now so that you can think about your options and be prepared, rather than be blindsided, as a lot of us were.

That's BS. If they advertise that as a perk of the internship, it should be available to all. How did they decide who got the housing and who didn't?

 

[nyanko]

held on to a live-in relationship that was well past its prime for probably two years in order to be able to afford living in NY and LA on intern salaries and then moving here. not like i was spending any time at home anyway so it didn't really matter that the relationship was basically over all but officially. i don't think i consciously realized this while i was doing it, to be fair.

i'm pretty sure this all makes me a bad person.

oh well. sleepin okay at night anyway. my SO got to live in a lot of different places where he wouldn't have otherwise and i gave him one of my cats that he was obsessed with (and made him take the one i didn't really like as a part of the deal). good for him.

 

[Coopah]

held on to a live-in relationship that was well past its prime for probably two years in order to be able to afford living in NY and LA on intern salaries and then moving here. not like i was spending any time at home anyway so it didn't really matter that the relationship was basically over all but officially. i don't think i consciously realized this while i was doing it, to be fair.

i'm pretty sure this all makes me a bad person.

oh well. sleepin okay at night anyway. my SO got to live in a lot of different places where he wouldn't have otherwise and i gave him one of my cats that he was obsessed with (and made him take the one i didn't really like as a part of the deal). good for him.

Does not make you a bad person. If feel like I did something similar and took my SO to vet school and he was going to work and pay living expenses. Then it crashed and burned anyways and looking back I never should have brought him in the first place and I'm sure that was a factor. But hey I sleep just fine too.

 

[stealthoscope]

That's BS. If they advertise that as a perk of the internship, it should be available to all. How did they decide who got the housing and who didn't?

It was decided randomly as far as I know. It was a “fine print” situation that had not actually happened in a number of years and we just got unlucky.

 

[Minnerbelle]

It was decided randomly as far as I know. It was a “fine print” situation that had not actually happened in a number of years and we just got unlucky.

That’s lame

 

[allygator13]

For what it's worth, the subsidized housing at AMC is doable... but they didn't have room for 4-5 people in my intern class. If this occurs for you, you would have to find housing elsewhere and you will almost definitely need more money than you make, and you should think very carefully about what options are available to you, whether that means more loans or borrowing from family or dipping into savings... if those aren't an option for you, it may be worth considering not gambling on getting housing and applying for internships in places that do not have such a high cost of living. I know how unfair it is to say "if you can't afford it, don't apply" - but it is good that you are asking these questions now so that you can think about your options and be prepared, rather than be blindsided, as a lot of us were.

I thought this was odd because their radiology residency listing on VIRMP does say they may not have enough rooms for people: "The Animal Medical Center owns an apartment complex with limited availability for shared or single apartment units on a first-come, first-served basis. Shared units are with other AMC house officers. Housing availability is not guaranteed." But dang I just checked their internship listing on the VIRMP site and yeah, it definitely doesn't say anything to suggest they may not have enough rooms... That sucks.

 

[yogapony]

This is where on-site housing is a godsend. I paid zero rent and had no time to spend money, so ended up banking about $10K during intern year.

 

[Coopah]

This is where on-site housing is a godsend. I paid zero rent and had no time to spend money, so ended up banking about $10K during intern year.

Where was this?

 

[pinkpuppy9]

This is where on-site housing is a godsend. I paid zero rent and had no time to spend money, so ended up banking about $10K during intern year.

Was this an equine internship? Seems on-site housing is almost the norm in the equine world where you're truly on call, vs. small animal internships where the hospitals are open 24/7 anyways so you just work the night shifts

 

[yogapony]

Yes, it was an equine internship. My hospital was also open 24/7 and we worked night shifts, but unless it's your actual day off you are on call at all times for emergencies.