MCAT Instructor While In Medical School?

[pianola]

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Hey I currently teach for an MCAT test-prep company (yes, one of the major ones) and I was thinking of continuing that through medical school.

Any of you tried that? Is it worth it? Thoughts?

Will residencies care in the slightest if I use that as an EC?

 

[bodonid]

Hey I currently teach for an MCAT test-prep company (yes, one of the major ones) and I was thinking of continuing that through medical school.

Any of you tried that? Is it worth it? Thoughts??

Sure, go for it. You wouldn't really kick into high gear until 2nd semester anyway, right? So you should know by then whether you can handle it. Or would you be starting in the fall?

Will residencies care in the slightest if I use that as an EC?

short answer: it won't count for much. same as any old job. Or that's the feeling i get anyway.

 

[FutureInternist]

Hey I currently teach for an MCAT test-prep company (yes, one of the major ones) and I was thinking of continuing that through medical school.

Any of you tried that? Is it worth it? Thoughts?

Will residencies care in the slightest if I use that as an EC?

I would be wary of doing this. Many people are shell shocked by the amount of time & effort it takes to do well in medical school...the last thing you want is to commit to teach the MCAT & then find yourself struggling to keep up with the material. I don't know if you will have the chance to do it in Jan 10 but that may be a better option....gives you time to get used to med school & how much effort it requires etc.

Worth it ??? Money wise...No, Helping in Board study....No

I don't think residencies will care.....although I would still bring up MCAT tutoring since as a resident you will be expected to teach the med students who rotate with you.

Good Luck.

 

[Cp22kjer]

Hey I currently teach for an MCAT test-prep company (yes, one of the major ones) and I was thinking of continuing that through medical school.

Any of you tried that? Is it worth it? Thoughts?

Will residencies care in the slightest if I use that as an EC?

My current undergraduate school has a number of 1st and 2nd year med students who teach for the MCAT. The two I spoke with seemed to be fine with their schedules and both did an extremely good job teaching. I believe my roommate will also teach when he starts in August. So yes it's possible.

I agree with the above poster though: be sure to know your limits.....it may be in your best interest to wait a semester and see just how much time you'll have.

 

[SomeDoc]

Hey I currently teach for an MCAT test-prep company (yes, one of the major ones) and I was thinking of continuing that through medical school.

Any of you tried that? Is it worth it? Thoughts?

Will residencies care in the slightest if I use that as an EC?

I highly suggest that you focus strongly on medical school academics and not do it during medical school. Lesson prep is a lot of work (as I am sure you already know); even if you decide to do just one subject- you're looking at several hours or an entire evening out of a week's schedule taken up for prepping and teaching. You can still put the teaching experience on your ERAS application even if it was prior to medical school.

 

[SoCuteMD]

It really depends how much you are going to teach. I would probably keep it to one section for your first semester - the reading comprehension was the least time commitment when I taught for one of the big companies. If you've taught before, then prep time is pretty much nonexistent.

Also keep in mind that in medical school, you get to pick two of 3: sleep, studying, social life/work. Understand that your grades might take a small hit, or you might have some late nights.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Two friends of mine did this through M1 year. One had to repeat the year; not saying this bite into his spare time caused it but hey that's my experience with this thing. If by 'through medical school' you mean through all 4 years though I can tell you that'll nigh on impossible.

No idea if it'll help your residency app. As teaching is (or should be) a component of a resident's duties, at least at teaching hospitals, I would think it might be a bright spot. At the same time you should make sure this wouldn't detract from things that matter more, like grades or board scores. And don't underestimate how much an innocuous couple of hours/week can affect your sanity in terms of lost spare time vegetating on the couch or having a beer with friends. All work and no play and all that.

 

[SomeDoc]

It really depends how much you are going to teach. I would probably keep it to one section for your first semester - the reading comprehension was the least time commitment when I taught for one of the big companies. If you've taught before, then prep time is pretty much nonexistent.

Also keep in mind that in medical school, you get to pick two of 3: sleep, studying, social life/work. Understand that your grades might take a small hit, or you might have some late nights.

Two friends of mine did this through M1 year. One had to repeat the year; not saying this bite into his spare time caused it but hey that's my experience with this thing. If by 'through medical school' you mean through all 4 years though I can tell you that'll nigh on impossible.

No idea if it'll help your residency app. As teaching is (or should be) a component of a resident's duties, at least at teaching hospitals, I would think it might be a bright spot. At the same time you should make sure this wouldn't detract from things that matter more, like grades or board scores. And don't underestimate how much an innocuous couple of hours/week can affect your sanity in terms of lost spare time vegetating on the couch or having a beer with friends. All work and no play and all that.

RE: helping a residency app- it does, but not by much. It's already something that can be racked on a CV, but in my opinion it's good to leave it at that, and move on. There are much more important things to focus on during years 1 and 2 that will help you much more (grades, board scores, and research) than to be spending valuable time teaching basic sciences to pre-meds.

 

[pianola]

OK, thanks guys.

Re: hours: I would only teach about 3 hours a week (max), and I've already prepped all the lessons (since I've already taught them all a few times before).

I hope my grades don't take a hit with 3 hours of teaching/week. 😳 --> 😱 That would...stink.

We'll see. Maybe I'll just take a "substitute teacher" position for the first semester or something.

 

[pianola]

Sure, go for it. You wouldn't really kick into high gear until 2nd semester anyway, right? So you should know by then whether you can handle it. Or would you be starting in the fall?

I'm still deciding...maybe I'll sub in the fall.

You can still put the teaching experience on your ERAS application even if it was prior to medical school.

😀😀😀 👍👍👍

Awesome!

 

[DocVirk]

I taught for the first two years. Made a little spending money, mostly just a drop in the bucket when factored against the cost of med school. Taught an entire class, so it ended up being maybe 20 hours a week. If you've taught before, it's pretty easy money.
It absolutely won't help on residency apps. I thought it was so impressive that I had worked and still succeeded at school, not a single person mentioned it during my interviews. It really is a non-issue on interviews.
I would see how med school treats you for a semester, then teach if you want a little going-out money. That's my $0.02

P.S. It's almost impossible to teach during clinical years. Scheduling is impossible. Maybe you can do some tutoring. Don't count on it for rent money or anything, just take out the loans and be okay with it.

 

[rock_climber]

I taught for the first two years. Made a little spending money, mostly just a drop in the bucket when factored against the cost of med school. Taught an entire class, so it ended up being maybe 20 hours a week. If you've taught before, it's pretty easy money.
It absolutely won't help on residency apps. I thought it was so impressive that I had worked and still succeeded at school, not a single person mentioned it during my interviews. It really is a non-issue on interviews.
I would see how med school treats you for a semester, then teach if you want a little going-out money. That's my $0.02

P.S. It's almost impossible to teach during clinical years. Scheduling is impossible. Maybe you can do some tutoring. Don't count on it for rent money or anything, just take out the loans and be okay with it.

I agree 100%. If you have taught a lot before and have it all prepped - it is not difficult to manage at all. I teach for kaplan and have taught enough that I can just show up and teach. If I still had to prep all the lessons, no way would it be worth it. Nice to have a bit of extra spending money and the free boards prep books are a sweet! I am starting M3 in July so I am pretty much done with teaching now except for the occasional sub.

 

[pianola]

Taught an entire class, so it ended up being maybe 20 hours a week.

😱

Yeah I was thinking more like 3. Kudos to you, man.

 

[pianola]

I agree 100%. If you have taught a lot before and have it all prepped - it is not difficult to manage at all. I teach for kaplan and have taught enough that I can just show up and teach. If I still had to prep all the lessons, no way would it be worth it. Nice to have a bit of extra spending money and the free boards prep books are a sweet! I am starting M3 in July so I am pretty much done with teaching now except for the occasional sub.

Yeah if I teach over the summer, probably by that point I'll be able to just "show up and teach." I've taught the class a couple of times.

Thanks for your input guys 🙂. I appreciate it a lot.

 

[mmmcdowe]

I'll have taught for Kaplan three times by the time I enter med school. I've thought about sticking with it, and I know people who have successfully done so, but honestly I think that I'd rather spend that time looking into a research position, or maybe doing some collaboration with a professor involved in medical history. The 150 a week is nice, but like I said I wonder if I should explore other interests.

 

[Momentum70]

I taught for Kaplan during 1st and 2nd year, no time for it after that. If you have taught for them before and already have your lesson plans prepared and are familiar with the system its a breeze. IT didnt interfere wiht my studies at all. It makes for some nice pocket change. It wont help at all for any exams in med school, but it does make you appreciate it a little more when you see all the people trying to get there. As far as your CV, every little thing helps. Its not so much a particular item on it, just that you have things to put down.

 

[LongIslProdigy]

I taught for Kaplan during 1st and 2nd year, no time for it after that. If you have taught for them before and already have your lesson plans prepared and are familiar with the system its a breeze. IT didnt interfere wiht my studies at all. It makes for some nice pocket change. It wont help at all for any exams in med school, but it does make you appreciate it a little more when you see all the people trying to get there. As far as your CV, every little thing helps. Its not so much a particular item on it, just that you have things to put down.

👍 Go for it, if you've been teaching already, continuing through MS1-2 won't be bad. You might just need a sub for your class during your study prep for your first set of exams as you get in to the swing of things. After that, you should be money. Good Luck!

 

[muggle911]

I also teach an MCAT prep course now and plan on continuing during years 1-2 of med school. Yes it might take away from some study time, but I know I'll be much more productive with the time I have left, and not waste it procrastinating. All of my previous courses have been 6hrs/wk max (+ prep time) which as most of the above posters mentioned becomes neglible after your first course.

I agree 100%. If you have taught a lot before and have it all prepped - it is not difficult to manage at all. I teach for kaplan and have taught enough that I can just show up and teach. If I still had to prep all the lessons, no way would it be worth it. Nice to have a bit of extra spending money and the free boards prep books are a sweet! I am starting M3 in July so I am pretty much done with teaching now except for the occasional sub.

Rock climber, how you get free board prep books? Is it after a certain period of time working for Kaplan?

 

[penguin24]

I didn't think it was worth it to teach for a small chunk of change & lower my grades, when I was taking out 40K in loans for med school. Teaching is really fun & I love being in front of the class doing my thing, but resist the temptation if u can, it's not worth it. Being able to teach is impt for being a good resident, but Step I/Clinical grades are WAY more impt than misc stuff u put on your CV.