Need some advice for the summer please!!

[SECrazorhogs]

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First of all, I will be applying to med school this round with plenty of healthcare related volunteering/shadowing, etc. but no research. My question is about employment for this summer. I've got a large possibility I will be selected for a chemistry internship that is more of an industrial type chemistry gig than a research/medical position. I've been through a phone screening that went very well yesterday and am awaiting a phone call on Monday to know if I'm selected for a second interview or not, which based on how well the phone screening went and my credentials, I believe I will be. It is a full time job for the summer 40 hrs a week at 15 dollars an hour. I've also got a part time job currently that I could continue on the weekends if I took the chemistry internship position that would bring in around 100-200 more dollars a week.

On the other hand, my roommate is a manager at a local construction company and got me hooked up with a job there as an assistant to one of the engineers that works there. This job is a little more strenuous being that it will be about 60 hrs a week but the pay is $16/hr and then time and a half ($24/hr) after 40 hrs. I would make about $300 dollars a week more at this job vs. the first option.

I am also graduating this December and plan on working somewhere until I would start med school (pending an acceptance) in August.

My first question is will a chemistry internship look good on a medical school application even though it is not research based or healthcare based? I know that it could possibly help getting a job once I graduate, but since my roommate is a manager at the construction company that would also be a possibility upon graduating as well. I really can't decide right now on my own which option would be better for my situation. I would really appreciate any and all advice/insight/suggestions!!

 

[gyngyn]

My first question is will a chemistry internship look good on a medical school application even though it is not research based or healthcare based?

How "good it looks" will depend on how you express what you learned from it and how that might help you care for others better. The same holds true for the other job!

 

[SECrazorhogs]

Better for your situation is really up to you

The chemistry internship will look good, but is certainly not earth shaking to make/break an app in itself

The construction job pays more and you are going to need money for application fees, travel for interviews, a nice suit, etc.

In the long term which job would rather have? if you graduate in December, you will be working for 18 months prior to medical school. The chem job in that case, while going to interviews may be better .

BTW, there is a series of books by an Orthopedic Surgeon Michael J. Collins who worked in construction while doing post bacc as a nontrad students. He tells that story in

Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: Making of Surgeon

Thanks man. I'll definitely check that book out. Its been on my to read list.

 

[Catalystik]

First of all, I will be applying to med school this round with plenty of healthcare related volunteering/shadowing, etc. but no research. My question is about employment for this summer. I've got a large possibility I will be selected for a chemistry internship that is more of an industrial type chemistry gig than a research/medical position. I've been through a phone screening that went very well yesterday and am awaiting a phone call on Monday to know if I'm selected for a second interview or not, which based on how well the phone screening went and my credentials, I believe I will be. It is a full time job for the summer 40 hrs a week at 15 dollars an hour. I've also got a part time job currently that I could continue on the weekends if I took the chemistry internship position that would bring in around 100-200 more dollars a week.

On the other hand, my roommate is a manager at a local construction company and got me hooked up with a job there as an assistant to one of the engineers that works there. This job is a little more strenuous being that it will be about 60 hrs a week but the pay is $16/hr and then time and a half ($24/hr) after 40 hrs. I would make about $300 dollars a week more at this job vs. the first option.

I am also graduating this December and plan on working somewhere until I would start med school (pending an acceptance) in August.

My first question is will a chemistry internship look good on a medical school application even though it is not research based or healthcare based? I know that it could possibly help getting a job once I graduate, but since my roommate is a manager at the construction company that would also be a possibility upon graduating as well. I really can't decide right now on my own which option would be better for my situation. I would really appreciate any and all advice/insight/suggestions!!

Assuming the Chem Internship would require that you do something in a laboratory, it would give you SOMETHING to legitimately list in the Research/Lab category. From that point, I agree with gyngyn about what it would take for the activity to substantially add to your candidacy.