Non-medical part time job as a pre-med

[Qwerty2013]

I am a pre-med (will soon graduate and take a gap year) and already have clinical experience and also do research at a lab.
The ideal situation will be to work in a hospital in some capacity but if that is not possible, how would non-medical jobs be viewed by adcom members?
I have a lot of work experience in labs and I would like a job with more people interaction (forexample: office receptionist/HR assistant, bank teller, any entry level job in corporate(some type of research analyst position)...)? I think it would be interesting to do something other than the typical EMT, CNA, Lab tech, Medical scribe etc...

thanks!!!

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[AlteredScale]

I am a pre-med (will soon graduate and take a gap year) and already have clinical experience and also do research at a lab.
The ideal situation will be to work in a hospital in some capacity but if that is not possible, how would non-medical jobs be viewed by adcom members?
I have a lot of work experience in labs and I would like a job with more people interaction (forexample: office receptionist/HR assistant, bank teller, any entry level job in corporate(some type of research analyst position)...)? I think it would be interesting to do something other than the typical EMT, CNA, Lab tech, Medical scribe etc...

thanks!!!

A jobs a job. If you are in dire need for money then you can't be picky and I'm sure AdComs understand that. Yes it's always ideal to have a job that deals with patient care, but the non-medical jobs don't go unnoticed especially of you talk about your growth through experiences within those jobs and how it led you to medicine.

Just as an example, I used my Sbux experience to describe how I felt confident working under pressure (highest volume drive thru, 24 hr store), and leading a team (shift supervisor), and it was talked about in my interview.

So you can definitely use non-medical/non-clinical work experiences to your advantage.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

A jobs a job. If you are in dire need for money then you can't be picky and I'm sure AdComs understand that. Yes it's always ideal to have a job that deals with patient care, but the non-medical jobs don't go unnoticed especially of you talk about your growth through experiences within those jobs and how it led you to medicine.

Just as an example, I used my Sbux experience to describe how I felt confident working under pressure (highest volume drive thru, 24 hr store), and leading a team (shift supervisor), and it was talked about in my interview.

So you can definitely use non-medical/non-clinical work experiences to your advantage.

That Starbucks feel. My heart goes out to you. Did you ever win a mug award?

 

[AlteredScale]

That Starbucks feel. My heart goes out to you. Did you ever win a mug award?

Haha are you a fellow barista as well? I did almost 6 years at one store.

I actually did get one of those! Did you have those little comment cards that other baristas wrote for you?

 

[Doctor Dream]

Hospital pharmacy tech is a great gig, just saying.

 

[Qwerty2013]

Hospital pharmacy tech is a great gig, just saying.

How does one get a hospital pharm tech job with no experience in pharmacy...?

 

[Buddy.the.Elf]

All of my teaching experience was highly regarded in my interviews. I worked as a K-12 teacher in a small charter school (I did not need a teaching credential). I also worked with a tutoring center. I ended up being asked about and talking about these experiences often.

 

[AspiringERMD]

How does one get a hospital pharm tech job with no experience in pharmacy...?

For me, there was on-the-job training.

 

[Osteoth]

Honestly man get outside the clinic/lab every once in a while, it's nice.

The people are different, the work is different, its a good change of pace that can really be a breath of fresh air from your pre-med focused life.

I worked in recreation, tons of chill people, very laid back.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

Haha are you a fellow barista as well? I did almost 6 years at one store.

I actually did get one of those! Did you have those little comment cards that other baristas wrote for you?

I was a fellow barista for a year. Being a slave for Starbucks actually motivated me to enroll in college. Working at that place is the definition of insanity. How you could put up with 8 years, I will never know.. That's actually very impressive.

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

Hospital pharmacy tech is a great gig, just saying.

I'm taking an EMT-B course this spring. However, pharmacy tech was my second option.

 

[AlteredScale]

I was a fellow barista for a year. Being a slave for Starbucks actually motivated me to enroll in college. Working at that place is the definition of insanity. How you could put up with 8 years, I will never know.. That's actually very impressive.

I could not agree more. Ever changing policy and administrative duties make it a nightmare for everyone there. There's literally no possible way to even stay "to the book" because there are so many rules in place.
I stayed because I actually really enjoyed the relationships I had with my customers and my team members. I think it taught me a lot about working methodically in a high-paced environment...drive-thru stores are no joke when 7am comes around....

Also: free coffee. That saved me a few hundred every year!

 

[f4reignbeauty]

@AlteredScale I'd have to agree with your previous post,most of my life lessons came from work in non-medical related fields.

 

[AlteredScale]

@AlteredScale I'd have to agree with your previous post,most of my life lessons came from work in non-medical related fields.

It's definitely different for everyone. I think a lot of people start their "medical interests" early by being exposed to work/volunteer/EC activities in the field. I myself was a musician playing shows and barista for the first 3 years of undergrad so I just had a different experience, but I definitely got life lessons out of it that helped augment how I perceived my medical/research experience down the road.

I feel like I'm prepping to write another secondary.....haha.

 

[f4reignbeauty]

Yeah, I kind of felt like I was writing a secondary as well lol! At least the non-medical work shows variety!

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

I could not agree more. Ever changing policy and administrative duties make it a nightmare for everyone there. There's literally no possible way to even stay "to the book" because there are so many rules in place.
I stayed because I actually really enjoyed the relationships I had with my customers and my team members. I think it taught me a lot about working methodically in a high-paced environment...drive-thru stores are no joke when 7am comes around....

Also: free coffee. That saved me a few hundred every year!

I could see how the social ties worked in your favor. I was hated at my store because I was the new guy. People could never seem to let that go... I was constantly substituting at other stores to get more hours. Finally I found a job at a local coffee shop and quit Starbucks; I stayed for a year at that place and loved it!

 

[Doctor Dream]

How does one get a hospital pharm tech job with no experience in pharmacy...?

For me, there was on-the-job training.

Same here, I learned everything on the job.

As far as getting hired, I was a volunteer in the pharmacy for a while, then applied for a job summer after my freshman year. Everyone there already knew me, so I was like an automatic hire.

 

[AlteredScale]

I could see how the social ties worked in your favor. I was hated at my store because I was the new guy. People could never seem to let that go... I was constantly substituting at other stores to get more hours. Finally I found a job at a local coffee shop and quit Starbucks; I stayed for a year at that place and loved it!

You made the right decision in supporting your local coffee shop my friend! My favorite coffee shop is a small one by the beach, just don't tell any of my fellow Sbux baristas that

 

[RC4L]

Adcoms understand that some students need to work and that won't be held against you. My experience was that being paid to work in a medical setting was no more beneficial than being paid to work elsewhere in terms of application value. Volunteer work is most likely going to be the focus of your extracurricular activities and that is where the medical setting is important.

 

[Doctor Dream]

Adcoms understand that some students need to work and that won't be held against you. My experience was that being paid to work in a medical setting was no more beneficial than being paid to work elsewhere in terms of application value. Volunteer work is most likely going to be the focus of your extracurricular activities and that is where the medical setting is important.

If you don't have any clinical experience though, then I'd say working in a medical setting as EMT, CNA, etc. is much more valuable than doing something else.

 

[AlteredScale]

If you don't have any clinical experience though, then I'd say working in a medical setting as EMT, CNA, etc. is much more valuable than doing something else.

I agree with this. If you are lacking clinical experience then you can definitely hit two birds with one stone in becoming a CNA/EMT/Scribe.

 

[RC4L]

If you don't have any clinical experience though, then I'd say working in a medical setting as EMT, CNA, etc. is much more valuable than doing something else.

That is a good point. I wrote the post under the assumption that volunteer work was part of the app. That being said, it would be risky to apply without volunteer experience.