Jobs during Med School

[kissit]

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I recently realized that I'm going to be completely broke during medical school. I am freaking out about how I will pay for rent, utilities, car insurance, food, and precription drug costs while in school. Are there jobs out there that allow you work 8-10 hours a week?

Have any of you worked part-time while in school? Is this manageable? Do you recommend it?

Thanks!

 

[mpp]

The financial aid office at your school will set an annual budget that will include school expenses (tuition, fees, books, equipment, etc.) and living expenses (rent, transportation, etc.). They will be sure you have access to at least that budget (minus what you are expected to contribute as calculated by your FAFSA) usually through Stafford and other loans.

Your school might have on-campus jobs available that will have flexible hours...jobs such as computer support, library staffing, etc. Other options for income include tutoring undergraduate students or Kaplan/Princeton MCAT teaching. If you are at a big research center you can also get some income by volunteering as a clinical research subject. None of these will pay big but these are possible options. Prior to getting yourself a job, be sure that you feel that you can handle it on top of your studies. Give youself a couple of months of school at least to see how much extra time you have. Carrying a job will be more difficult during 3rd and 4th year.

 

[kissit]

Thanks mpp. That was very helpful.

 

[lumirubin]

I have been working for most of my second year-- babysitting after classes, sometimes as much as 5 nights a week. The schedule has worked out great as my classes are after noon everyday and I usually study in the mornings, giving me the evening to do whatever. It has not affected my studying at all.

My school actually has a policy that med students are not allowed to be employed-- too much of a distraction. I didn't know this when I took the job, but whatever. It is nice to have a few extra bucks, covers my car payments with a little left over.

So there's a suggestion for you. Childcare usually is pretty low key with flexible hours, depending on what kind of situation you take on. The best place to look is in your campus news paper. The pay is better than most on-campus jobs (usu. min. wage), too.

If you are really stressing out about money and are holding your own grade wise, I don't think you should have any problem working a few hours a week. It is worth the financial relief. Another of my classmates is a nurse and has been taking shifts during her entire med school carreer. It can be done!

Good luck,
Lumirubin

 

[southerndoc]

I worked throughout my first two years. I stopped working when I started my third year, but I'm about to resume part-time work (on weekends - a 12 hour shift two or three times a month).

Where I attend school, the fourth year is among the easiest years because you have no tests to study for.

 

[brokeandtired]

I'm almost done with 3rd year and I've worked 1-2 shifts at a restaurant every week since I started. (Oh I did take a month off to study for boards).
It depends on your goals, really. I pass all of my classes and only have about 3 honors and that's OK with me since I'm not looking for a competitive residency. It also depends on you being VERY good at managing your free time.
I would recommend that if you do work, do it somewhere where you can make good money fast. It's not worth losing all that study time if you're not making at least 10 bucks an hour in my opinion. That's why waiting tables, while not helpful towards your medical career, is a good choice. It's also good bc it gives you something to look forward to every week that is NOT medicine. It's very nice to be around people that don't talk about medicine 24-7.

 

[ubiquitous]

At my school, we have a student-run note service. Students are paid approx. $40-60 for every lecture they scribe. It can be relatively time-consuming to produce quality notes (anywhere from 3-5 hours), but the advantage here is that you actually learn the material as you scribe it. Maybe your med school has a similar note service.

Hope this helps!🙂