Medical Non-health or science related opportunity during summer

[GoSpursGo]

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Hello,

Long story short my financial situation is not in the best possible spot, and I am really trying to make as much money as possible before I graduate.

My research programs pay $4000 for a full-time summer (they just sponsor the project I'm currently working on). My current plans were to do this, and then do a part-time scribing job and work at a vaccine clinic + hospital volunteer over the next summer, in which I am applying to medical school.

However, I was just offered a remote opportunity at an investment bank that would pay roughly $20,000 for the summer, 11 weeks. Obviously, the $$ difference is astronomical, but I was wondering if when an AO sees this, they would view it in a negative light because I abandoned my previous research for it or something. I would still be volunteering and scribing if that matters.

Could I do this program, and just not put it on my application?

Thank you

You do you. Research is nice, but it isn't the be-all, end-all.

If you do the investment banker thing, definitely put it on your app. Plenty of med school applicants have non-medical activities on their application. Shows that you have real-world experience.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thank you for the note, that makes sense!

Also as an aside, my research kind of "peaked" per se; that is, I've been at this lab for around 3 years since my freshman year first semester and it's a molecular engineering lab focused on biomedical device/immune-compatible polymers. We just hit a wave of publications, and I was fortunate enough to be co-authored on a review manuscript and a normal research manuscript. I also did a semi-independent project last summer as part of an internship and presented a poster and presentation regarding the findings.

However, due to the nature of our research, it's highly unlikely that anything else will really come from it in the near future. Things take forever to do, experiments take days, etc. and the entire process is very long and complex.

Would it look bad if I dropped this now? I'm really hoping to be gunning for some heavy research schools, and have always had this bug on my shoulder since I don't really know how my research stacks up against people who do more traditional clinical or straight biology wet lab research.

Honestly I doubt anyone will look at your app that closely, and even if they did I doubt they would care since you've got 2 publications. You've done plenty of research to prove your research chops.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Get out of the lab and take the money job. You have fulfilled your research box on the application. No one is going to care if you take another job that pays more as long as you have your other hours (non-clinical volunteer, clinical work).

 

[PapaGuava]

I think it would be a great idea to go for it and it is good experience.

 

[AlteredScale]

That's so much more money and is way more unique of an experience than doing more research. I would take the latter than the former for those two reasons. Try and stay in touch with your research lab throughout though.

 

[Goro]

Not everything you do has to be science or medicine related.

Go for it!!!