Leave my job or stay?

[nontrad:PP]

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Hello all! I am a non-trad premed currently working a 9-5 job, mostly WFH. I'm currently working full time and taking a part-time course load at my local university, but I'm wondering if there's any benefit in my situation to leaving my current 9-5 for a clinical job like a CNA or PCT. The main dilemma here is that at my local college, upper level sciences aren't available outside of my 9-5 working hours, so after this semester I won't be able to take night or weekend classes. This will be even more of a schedule conflict during summer semesters, as these classes meet more often.

My original plan was to leave my 9-5 after spring semester (May) so that I can start a clinical job with more flexible hours (3 12's ideally), and take courses during the week. This would also open me up for more volunteering opportunities, research, etc. However, my biggest concern is taking a ~50% pay cut. I've done the math and it will be tight, but livable. I have a good nest egg of savings, no dependents, and will be moving in with my boyfriend who is totally supportive of my goals and willing to pay more rent to cut my monthly costs.

I know of a few non-trad premeds who went part-time at work, asked for more flexible hours, etc. I guess I'm just looking to hear from others who have been in a similar situation and how they went about making this decision.

I have a good relationship with my current management and if I asked, they might be open to a flexible work schedule though I can't be sure of it. My other concern is health insurance- I don't know if my current employer or any clinical jobs near me would offer health insurance if I wasn't full-time. I struggle with feeling totally stuck at my current job, and to be honest have been looking forward to escaping ASAP to go all-in on a premed journey and get clinical hours. With my current courseload plan, I will likely be applying in the 2028 cycle so I'm not in a rush exactly. I was also hoping that having lots of clinical hours would help demonstrate my commitment and boost my application some.

I know this is a lot and a lot of it will come down to my own preferences, but would love to hear thoughts from others on how they would approach this situation. Thanks!!

 

[sardinetoast]

Hi there, I'm a fellow non-trad career changer, starting medical school in July this year. I was in a very similar situation as you, working a 9-5, WFH, and taking courses part-time on the side. I wrestled with the decision to quit my job often during the process, but ultimately decided to keep it. A few things informed that decision, of course income and health insurance were big factors. I also have a mortgage, and it was really important to me to keep a stable income, especially since being accepted to medical school is not a guarantee, and quitting my very stable, decently paying FT job for a "maybe" did not feel good to me at 30+ yrs old.

My local 4 yr university also offered courses online, which I was able to take advantage of. If yours does not, you might look into extension schools with online options. I ran into zero resistance or comments about my online coursework in my app process, and have received 9 interviews (so far). I think when you have a reasonable excuse for taking classes online, like working a 9-5 job, it is less of a red flag. I applied to 37 schools, 36 of which accepted online classes.

Another factor that helped me decide to keep my 9-5 was that I was able to find two different clinical volunteer roles that I could do outside of my work schedule. I volunteered at a free clinic on 1-2 weekday evenings every week, and another clinic on Saturday mornings. Because of that, I felt confident enough in my clinical hours not to worry about getting actual clinical employment. What kind of clinical volunteer roles are available to you locally? As a non-trad, especially someone working full time, the expectations are a bit different, although you definitely want to have meaningful experiences you can write about. But you don't need 1000 hrs to apply, either. With a plan to apply in 2028, you have plenty of time to gain enough hours by volunteering, even if you only have 4 hrs a week to give.

 

[nontrad:PP]

Hi there, I'm a fellow non-trad career changer, starting medical school in July this year. I was in a very similar situation as you, working a 9-5, WFH, and taking courses part-time on the side. I wrestled with the decision to quit my job often during the process, but ultimately decided to keep it. A few things informed that decision, of course income and health insurance were big factors. I also have a mortgage, and it was really important to me to keep a stable income, especially since being accepted to medical school is not a guarantee, and quitting my very stable, decently paying FT job for a "maybe" did not feel good to me at 30+ yrs old.

My local 4 yr university also offered courses online, which I was able to take advantage of. If yours does not, you might look into extension schools with online options. I ran into zero resistance or comments about my online coursework in my app process, and have received 9 interviews (so far). I think when you have a reasonable excuse for taking classes online, like working a 9-5 job, it is less of a red flag. I applied to 37 schools, 36 of which accepted online classes.

Another factor that helped me decide to keep my 9-5 was that I was able to find two different clinical volunteer roles that I could do outside of my work schedule. I volunteered at a free clinic on 1-2 weekday evenings every week, and another clinic on Saturday mornings. Because of that, I felt confident enough in my clinical hours not to worry about getting actual clinical employment. What kind of clinical volunteer roles are available to you locally? As a non-trad, especially someone working full time, the expectations are a bit different, although you definitely want to have meaningful experiences you can write about. But you don't need 1000 hrs to apply, either. With a plan to apply in 2028, you have plenty of time to gain enough hours by volunteering, even if you only have 4 hrs a week to give.

Hmm interesting, I had initially been avoiding online coursework since I've seen so many people discourage it. Can I ask what your stats were like and where you applied? Feel free to message me privately if you don't want to share.

Regarding clinical opportunities, I'm in a bit of a pickle in my current area. I could keep looking, but most clinical volunteering opportunities are during the workday and require a weekly commitment, which would be tough to pull off.

I'll definitely consider the pros and cons though of staying like you said. Luckily I don't have a mortgage or anything. I just want to be sure I'm giving myself the best chance possible of getting in the first time :')

 

[sardinetoast]

Hmm interesting, I had initially been avoiding online coursework since I've seen so many people discourage it. Can I ask what your stats were like and where you applied? Feel free to message me privately if you don't want to share.

Regarding clinical opportunities, I'm in a bit of a pickle in my current area. I could keep looking, but most clinical volunteering opportunities are during the workday and require a weekly commitment, which would be tough to pull off.

I'll definitely consider the pros and cons though of staying like you said. Luckily I don't have a mortgage or anything. I just want to be sure I'm giving myself the best chance possible of getting in the first time :')

I don't mind sharing at all. When I was going through this process, there was so little information, so I hope anything I share can be helpful, even if the way I went about things is not the right way for everyone!

I had a previous 4 yr degree in a "soft science" with a cumulative gpa of 3.8. My science gpa was 2.7 because almost none of my classes counted towards "hard" sciences. I did a 37 hr post bacc (only pre-reqs) and got a 4.0. That brought my science GPA up to a 3.7 by the time I applied. So I applied with a cGPA of 3.86 and sGPA of 3.7 . I also got a 518 on my MCAT, which I know was a huge plus to my app. I encourage all non-trad students to take the MCAT as seriously as possible, because it's practically the only "objective" measure of your readiness for medical school. I started with a diagnostic score of 488, so I wasn't starting from anywhere special, either! I also applied with only 100 hrs of research, which were from my undergrad back in 2010. So I had a few "cons" to my app, CC classes, online classes, and no research. Pros to my app were longitudinal and very meaningful, patient-facing clinical hours, strong letters of recommendation, and 20K+ hrs of customer-facing work experience, as well as personal medical experiences that I wove into my story and my "why"

For school list, I applied to my state schools, and the state schools of other states I had connections to. Beyond that, I used MSAR extensively to search for schools that accepted CC and online classes, had previously accepted older, non-trad students, and didn't have things like course expiration dates, and generally just seemed more non-trad friendly. Some of these schools were Tulane, Western Michigan, Virginia Commonwealth, University of Vermont, Quinnipiac, to name a few. Then I threw in some more "reach schools" but not too many because for me getting an MD was the goal, not going to a T20. I did receive some exciting interviews, but ultimately I'm attending my state school that is 10 min from my house, which was my goal the whole time 🙂

In terms of getting clinical hours, I can see your conflict, and with what is available to you, it seems like it would be hard with your full time job. Having the support of a partner, and also someone to share expenses with, puts you in a different place than I was, so I can see how leaving your job to start a clinical job might make sense for you! I did know a few other older students I met through volunteering that mentioned things like getting their CNA, or MA cert and doing that on weekends as a part time job, while continuing to work full time, but I know that is expensive not to mention really stressful when you are also juggling classes.

 

[nontrad:PP]

I don't mind sharing at all. When I was going through this process, there was so little information, so I hope anything I share can be helpful, even if the way I went about things is not the right way for everyone!

I had a previous 4 yr degree in a "soft science" with a cumulative gpa of 3.8. My science gpa was 2.7 because almost none of my classes counted towards "hard" sciences. I did a 37 hr post bacc (only pre-reqs) and got a 4.0. That brought my science GPA up to a 3.7 by the time I applied. So I applied with a cGPA of 3.86 and sGPA of 3.7 . I also got a 518 on my MCAT, which I know was a huge plus to my app. I encourage all non-trad students to take the MCAT as seriously as possible, because it's practically the only "objective" measure of your readiness for medical school. I started with a diagnostic score of 488, so I wasn't starting from anywhere special, either! I also applied with only 100 hrs of research, which were from my undergrad back in 2010. So I had a few "cons" to my app, CC classes, online classes, and no research. Pros to my app were longitudinal and very meaningful, patient-facing clinical hours, strong letters of recommendation, and 20K+ hrs of customer-facing work experience, as well as personal medical experiences that I wove into my story and my "why"

For school list, I applied to my state schools, and the state schools of other states I had connections to. Beyond that, I used MSAR extensively to search for schools that accepted CC and online classes, had previously accepted older, non-trad students, and didn't have things like course expiration dates, and generally just seemed more non-trad friendly. Some of these schools were Tulane, Western Michigan, Virginia Commonwealth, University of Vermont, Quinnipiac, to name a few. Then I threw in some more "reach schools" but not too many because for me getting an MD was the goal, not going to a T20. I did receive some exciting interviews, but ultimately I'm attending my state school that is 10 min from my house, which was my goal the whole time 🙂

In terms of getting clinical hours, I can see your conflict, and with what is available to you, it seems like it would be hard with your full time job. Having the support of a partner, and also someone to share expenses with, puts you in a different place than I was, so I can see how leaving your job to start a clinical job might make sense for you! I did know a few other older students I met through volunteering that mentioned things like getting their CNA, or MA cert and doing that on weekends as a part time job, while continuing to work full time, but I know that is expensive not to mention really stressful when you are also juggling classes.

Awesome, thank you for sharing and congratulations on your acceptance!! It's always great to hear from other accepted non-trads 🙂 I'm also planning to mainly apply to state schools and schools in my region in order to stay close to family if possible. Luckily I'm on the east coast so I'll definitely check out those schools you mentioned.

Hmm, can I ask how many or which classes you took online? I might consider taking an online summer class so that I can stay at my current job just a little while longer. I was planning to take Chem II + Lab this summer so I'm not sure how these online lab courses would work? Unfortunately I haven't seen my local university offer many lab courses online, just the lecture portion for some science courses.

 

[moltmannfanboi]

I have a very cushy tech job and kept it during the whole process. I know that this process is going to have an impact on my family and I wanted to minimize that impact as much as possible.

I don't regret that decision at all. There were two consequences you should be aware of though:

• There were some periods of time (months, not weeks) where all I did was work, premed stuff, and family stuff. No hobbies. No reading. The three times this really happened were when I studied for the mcat, when I ramped up a final "hours push" right before applying, and when I took a full time courseload for one quater.
• If you keep your job, extend your timeline by 1-2 years. It took me 4 years to prep an app. I could have done it in 1-2 years if I quit.

At the end of the day, I'm going into medical school with a 401k that will be sufficient to fund a modest retirement if I never add another dollar, enough savings to cover medical school tuition, and a family that will experience a bit less disruption. That was worth it to me.

 

[Rabbsters]

To me it sounds like you don't have bachelors yet? If that's the case, I might lean towards your plan of leaving your job and committing full time to be a student. Nest egg + no dependents + supportive partner, sounds like the ideal circumstances to be more deliberately focused on your journey to med school.

My situation allowed me to maintain my full-time job though (so I'm not speaking from experience). My BS covered mostly all the pre-reqs I needed, then I was fortunate that my local state college had evening classes for the few science pre-reqs I didn't have, so I was able to knock those out that way (plus had fairly flexible hours to leave 30mins early or whatever), plus I took a few upper level science classes that were online/hybrid to bolster my sGPA. Then I was an EMT/ED Tech so it worked out well to volunteer weekends/holidays/nights since ED are always open.

 

[nontrad:PP]

To me it sounds like you don't have bachelors yet? If that's the case, I might lean towards your plan of leaving your job and committing full time to be a student. Nest egg + no dependents + supportive partner, sounds like the ideal circumstances to be more deliberately focused on your journey to med school.

My situation allowed me to maintain my full-time job though (so I'm not speaking from experience). My BS covered mostly all the pre-reqs I needed, then I was fortunate that my local state college had evening classes for the few science pre-reqs I didn't have, so I was able to knock those out that way (plus had fairly flexible hours to leave 30mins early or whatever), plus I took a few upper level science classes that were online/hybrid to bolster my sGPA. Then I was an EMT/ED Tech so it worked out well to volunteer weekends/holidays/nights since ED are always open.

So I actually do have a bachelor's degree but it did not cover any of the science prereqs 😛 I appreciate you sharing your experience though. I agree that focusing fully on my journey to med school would be helpful especially with my partner's support. I'm an anxious person overall so the idea of a 50% pay cut scares me quite a bit.

I'm lucky in that I'm pretty young (turning 26 soon) so if I was gonna go all in on the journey, now would probably be the time to do it...

 

[Rabbsters]

So I actually do have a bachelor's degree but it did not cover any of the science prereqs 😛 I appreciate you sharing your experience though. I agree that focusing fully on my journey to med school would be helpful especially with my partner's support. I'm an anxious person overall so the idea of a 50% pay cut scares me quite a bit.

I'm lucky in that I'm pretty young (turning 26 soon) so if I was gonna go all in on the journey, now would probably be the time to do it...

Are you sure that you need to take those upper level science courses that aren't offered evenings/nights? As long as you can check the pre-req boxes (usually 2 Bio, 2 Chem, 2 OChem, then varies but maybe 2 Physics, English, and a Math/Stats). That's all you need to knock out additional schooling-wise. Obviously, you know your school's offering and if there's other schools nearby. I built my school list to largely avoid schools that required BioChem and other pre-reqs I didn't have/because I haven't taken them and they weren't offered at night (I do plan on doing an online class with UCSD this spring because I should probably know this stuff beyond my cram/dump MCAT studying, and in the off chance I get accepted to a dream school that requires it).

I didn't go 'all' in/start the deliberate journey until I was 32, so you're good.

 

[nontrad:PP]

Are you sure that you need to take those upper level science courses that aren't offered evenings/nights? As long as you can check the pre-req boxes (usually 2 Bio, 2 Chem, 2 OChem, then varies but maybe 2 Physics, English, and a Math/Stats). That's all you need to knock out additional schooling-wise. Obviously, you know your school's offering and if there's other schools nearby. I built my school list to largely avoid schools that required BioChem and other pre-reqs I didn't have/because I haven't taken them and they weren't offered at night (I do plan on doing an online class with UCSD this spring because I should probably know this stuff beyond my cram/dump MCAT studying, and in the off chance I get accepted to a dream school that requires it).

I didn't go 'all' in/start the deliberate journey until I was 32, so you're good.

Sorry if it was unclear, when I was referring to "upper level" I was mainly referring to classes like Orgo I and II, Bio II, Physics II. My local college doesn't offer many classes above the initial Bio I/Chem I/etc. outside of business hours. There might be some online options for lectures but they're not plentiful. I'm a bit nervous about taking Chem II online because I've heard that many adcoms either won't accept it or won't view it as equivalent to taking the course in person.

 

[Rabbsters]

Sorry if it was unclear, when I was referring to "upper level" I was mainly referring to classes like Orgo I and II, Bio II, Physics II. My local college doesn't offer many classes above the initial Bio I/Chem I/etc. outside of business hours. There might be some online options for lectures but they're not plentiful. I'm a bit nervous about taking Chem II online because I've heard that many adcoms either won't accept it or won't view it as equivalent to taking the course in person.

That's too bad the school you're close to doesn't offer most flexible schedules. I would most definitely do your Bio/Chem/OChem in person with labs to prevent any issues with them being accepted.

 

[nontrad:PP]

That's too bad the school you're close to doesn't offer most flexible schedules. I would most definitely do your Bio/Chem/OChem in person with labs to prevent any issues with them being accepted.

Thanks, yeah with everyone's feedback I think I'm going to try to see if another local (albeit slightly further of a drive) college might offer chem 2 this summer outside of my working hours. That way I could hold onto my job just a little longer since I know I'll have some big expenses coming up this year.

 

[sardinetoast]

• There were some periods of time (months, not weeks) where all I did was work, premed stuff, and family stuff. No hobbies. No reading. The three times this really happened were when I studied for the mcat, when I ramped up a final "hours push" right before applying, and when I took a full time courseload for one quater.
• If you keep your job, extend your timeline by 1-2 years. It took me 4 years to prep an app. I could have done it in 1-2 years if I quit.

This was basically my exact experience, too. Especially during mcat prep, my entire life was study, work, eat, study, sleep. For 7 months straight. It was terrible at the time, but looking back I guess it was worth it, haha.
It also took me 4 years to prep my app while working FT. I originally thought I could do it in 2, then 3, then finally succumbed to reality and took the 4 years I needed.

 

[A224B]

If you have a desirable day job, you should probably keep it, since there's no guarantee you'll get accepted, and then it could be hard to explain to hiring managers why you quit your SWE position to be an EMT for two years.

 

[holofox]

I have a very cushy tech job and kept it during the whole process. I know that this process is going to have an impact on my family and I wanted to minimize that impact as much as possible.

I don't regret that decision at all. There were two consequences you should be aware of though:

• There were some periods of time (months, not weeks) where all I did was work, premed stuff, and family stuff. No hobbies. No reading. The three times this really happened were when I studied for the mcat, when I ramped up a final "hours push" right before applying, and when I took a full time courseload for one quater.
• If you keep your job, extend your timeline by 1-2 years. It took me 4 years to prep an app. I could have done it in 1-2 years if I quit.

At the end of the day, I'm going into medical school with a 401k that will be sufficient to fund a modest retirement if I never add another dollar, enough savings to cover medical school tuition, and a family that will experience a bit less disruption. That was worth it to me.

I know this is a few months old, but thanks for posting about your experience. I, too, have a cushy tech job that I don't want to quit while I prepare my app. I'm in my late 30's and I think I'm there's some self-imposed time pressure that doesn't really need to be there. I thinking about how I'll be around 50 by the time I am done with fellowships, but honestly - what's the big difference between 50 and 52?

I'd love to go into med school with a more solid retirement (was previously courting BaristaFIRE or CoastFIRE) and also enough savings to pay for all of med school - so thanks for providing a data point and validation that this is something reasonable to aim for.

 

[RMR_1]

Hello all! I am a non-trad premed currently working a 9-5 job, mostly WFH. I'm currently working full time and taking a part-time course load at my local university, but I'm wondering if there's any benefit in my situation to leaving my current 9-5 for a clinical job like a CNA or PCT. The main dilemma here is that at my local college, upper level sciences aren't available outside of my 9-5 working hours, so after this semester I won't be able to take night or weekend classes. This will be even more of a schedule conflict during summer semesters, as these classes meet more often.

My original plan was to leave my 9-5 after spring semester (May) so that I can start a clinical job with more flexible hours (3 12's ideally), and take courses during the week. This would also open me up for more volunteering opportunities, research, etc. However, my biggest concern is taking a ~50% pay cut. I've done the math and it will be tight, but livable. I have a good nest egg of savings, no dependents, and will be moving in with my boyfriend who is totally supportive of my goals and willing to pay more rent to cut my monthly costs.

I know of a few non-trad premeds who went part-time at work, asked for more flexible hours, etc. I guess I'm just looking to hear from others who have been in a similar situation and how they went about making this decision.

I have a good relationship with my current management and if I asked, they might be open to a flexible work schedule though I can't be sure of it. My other concern is health insurance- I don't know if my current employer or any clinical jobs near me would offer health insurance if I wasn't full-time. I struggle with feeling totally stuck at my current job, and to be honest have been looking forward to escaping ASAP to go all-in on a premed journey and get clinical hours. With my current courseload plan, I will likely be applying in the 2028 cycle so I'm not in a rush exactly. I was also hoping that having lots of clinical hours would help demonstrate my commitment and boost my application some.

I know this is a lot and a lot of it will come down to my own preferences, but would love to hear thoughts from others on how they would approach this situation. Thanks!!

Good evening. I am not exactly sure what you're asking. What type of job are you working currently? Is it a clinical-type job? Or something more business related? What are your reasons for going into medicine?

Let me tell you a story (as a fellow nontrad). When I went pre-med, I initially tried to squeeze classes in around my FT work schedule, too. That meant--on my lunch break, at 9:30 p.m., etc. The last straw was a second degree burn on my finger when I was tired during evening chem lab (~10pm) one time.

I had to woman up, take out full time loans, and wait until the fiscal year that I turned 23 in order to go back to school FT. I decided that that was the only way to get straight As and achieve my goals. I graduated successfully after a few school transfers summa cum laude.

Med school is not something that you do half-heartedly. At the same time, even if medicine is something that you are passionate about, you need to be something of a workaholic in order to enjoy the training and work hours. Most specialties do not accommodate a cushy schedule or part-time hours.

I think that you need to sit down and write down:
1) Your reasons for going into medicine
2) What your current job is doing for you
3) What medicine would do for you
4) Pros and cons of a career as a doctor vs. other careers, and
5) Whether or not you would be satisfied in a random specialty like primary care.

Maybe there is something in between that you could strive for, such as becoming a psychologist. Like I said, it wasn't clear from your post what your background is like or what you have experience with. A lot of pre-meds just want a job that pays a lot and offers prestige. Med schools are pretty good at weeding out these applicants. Be sure that you have solid reasons for going into medicine, and stand behind them if you want to succeed.

Good luck.

 

[moltmannfanboi]

Good evening. I am not exactly sure what you're asking. What type of job are you working currently? Is it a clinical-type job? Or something more business related? What are your reasons for going into medicine?

Let me tell you a story (as a fellow nontrad). When I went pre-med, I initially tried to squeeze classes in around my FT work schedule, too. That meant--on my lunch break, at 9:30 p.m., etc. The last straw was a second degree burn on my finger when I was tired during evening chem lab (~10pm) one time.

I had to woman up, take out full time loans, and wait until the fiscal year that I turned 23 in order to go back to school FT. I decided that that was the only way to get straight As and achieve my goals. I graduated successfully after a few school transfers summa cum laude.

Med school is not something that you do half-heartedly. At the same time, even if medicine is something that you are passionate about, you need to be something of a workaholic in order to enjoy the training and work hours. Most specialties do not accommodate a cushy schedule or part-time hours.

I think that you need to sit down and write down:
1) Your reasons for going into medicine
2) What your current job is doing for you
3) What medicine would do for you
4) Pros and cons of a career as a doctor vs. other careers, and
5) Whether or not you would be satisfied in a random specialty like primary care.

Maybe there is something in between that you could strive for, such as becoming a psychologist. Like I said, it wasn't clear from your post what your background is like or what you have experience with. A lot of pre-meds just want a job that pays a lot and offers prestige. Med schools are pretty good at weeding out these applicants. Be sure that you have solid reasons for going into medicine, and stand behind them if you want to succeed.

Good luck.

Agree with and endorse the “be clear eyed about motivations” part of this.”

In my case, keeping my 9-5 non-clinical job gave me the time to consider why medicine was for me. It also made this financially doable, as someone with a family. I don’t see it as being halfhearted. I quit this September and am attending medical school in July, so I’m certainly all in at this point.

There are many paths, and I think OP’s ask for perspective on the different paths available is valid.

 

[sardinetoast]

Agree with and endorse the “be clear eyed about motivations” part of this.”

In my case, keeping my 9-5 non-clinical job gave me the time to consider why medicine was for me. It also made this financially doable, as someone with a family. I don’t see it as being halfhearted. I quit this September and am attending medical school in July, so I’m certainly all in at this point.

There are many paths, and I think OP’s ask for perspective on the different paths available is valid.

Agreed about keeping the 9-5 non-clinical job. There's nothing half-hearted about it. It's a lot different when you are in your early 20s, and have a lot more flexibility + more working years as a physician to take the risk of taking out loans for pre-reqs. It just isn't financially feasible for everyone.

In my case, I kept my 9-5 because I have things like....a mortgage, expensive healthcare costs, etc AND I was able to work from home, and study in my down time. There was *nothing* halfhearted about what I did, I was working up to 80 hrs a week sometimes between school, volunteering and studying. I got straight As in my post bacc, a high MCAT score, and I had the application cycle of my dreams all while working 9-5. And OP can do it too if that's what works best for their life situation...there is no one right way to go about this, but being unwilling to give up a stable income while you take on something that is not fully guaranteed, like medical school admissions, doesn't mean you aren't all in on being a doctor.

 

[nontrad:PP]

Agreed about keeping the 9-5 non-clinical job. There's nothing half-hearted about it. It's a lot different when you are in your early 20s, and have a lot more flexibility + more working years as a physician to take the risk of taking out loans for pre-reqs. It just isn't financially feasible for everyone.

In my case, I kept my 9-5 because I have things like....a mortgage, expensive healthcare costs, etc AND I was able to work from home, and study in my down time. There was *nothing* halfhearted about what I did, I was working up to 80 hrs a week sometimes between school, volunteering and studying. I got straight As in my post bacc, a high MCAT score, and I had the application cycle of my dreams all while working 9-5. And OP can do it too if that's what works best for their life situation...there is no one right way to go about this, but being unwilling to give up a stable income while you take on something that is not fully guaranteed, like medical school admissions, doesn't mean you aren't all in on being a doctor.

Thanks all for the support. I am planning to leave my full time corporate job this summer to accommodate my upcoming class schedule.

I appreciate those chiming in on my behalf, and agree that it's not as simple as "do you want this or not?" I've been using PTO days to shadow, find research experiences etc. in order to cement my motivations for becoming a physician. This is in addition to working 40 hours a week, studying for science courses and volunteering.

t took me up until this point to feel secure in my desires, finances, and life circumstances in order to be able to quit my job this summer. Although it might not be anyones intention, using "gatekeep-y" language that implies people don't want it enough/aren't cut out to become physicians if they aren't willing to sacrifice life stability in order to do is isn't helpful and discourages those who come from a non-traditional background from pursuing medicine.

 

[sardinetoast]

Thanks all for the support. I am planning to leave my full time corporate job this summer to accommodate my upcoming class schedule.

I appreciate those chiming in on my behalf, and agree that it's not as simple as "do you want this or not?" I've been using PTO days to shadow, find research experiences etc. in order to cement my motivations for becoming a physician. This is in addition to working 40 hours a week, studying for science courses and volunteering.

t took me up until this point to feel secure in my desires, finances, and life circumstances in order to be able to quit my job this summer. Although it might not be anyones intention, using "gatekeep-y" language that implies people don't want it enough/aren't cut out to become physicians if they aren't willing to sacrifice life stability in order to do is isn't helpful and discourages those who come from a non-traditional background from pursuing medicine.

So glad you were able to figure out what will work best for you in this process!! Best of luck to you, I hope you find so much success in your future!