Non-traditional Applicant: What is the highest-paying medical job one can get?

[PreMedBlogger]

I am gathering information for an article of mine. I think this list will benefit all non-traditional students who fit the criteria below.

Take a case Non-traditional pre-medical student: Non-traditional Applicant (25 y/o). Graduated from a Top-10 university with a Bachelor's in Biology & Physiology. High GPA 3.9+. Has hospital shadowing and volunteer experience only (2000+ hours).

What is the highest paying medical job this student can get that will not only provide benefits but look good on their resume? This student is living alone right now and needs health insurance/other insurance right now and is trying to find a job that provides benefits. This student needs additional recent healthcare experience for their med school applications AND also needs to pay the bills (rent/food/utilities/etc/etc/etc). This student may have a family and wants to take the job with the greatest salary so that he can use the other time for his family and not have to work additional jobs outside of the medical job.

This student is trying to find a list of medical jobs (see below), ranked in terms of the parameters below.

I am trying to make a table/list with the following information for each job:

1. Medical Job/Position

2. Salary Per Hour

3. Certifications/ Licenses Needed

4. Years of Additional Education to Obtain Certificate/License

5. Avg. Tuition Cost

Please help me complete this list!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

1. Medical Job/Position
EMT

2. Salary Per Hour
10-20 depending on where you live. For me it's 10 for weekdays, and 15 for weekends around, with occasional overtime, and fire standby possibility which pays 20

3. Certifications/ Licenses Needed
EMT

4. Years of Additional Education to Obtain Certificate/License
8 weeks full time. Longer if taking alongside other courses.

5. Avg. Tuition Cost
I paid 1000

 

[1forrest1]

.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[1forrest1]

.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[ChrisMack390]

I worked as a clinical research coordinator at a big academic center for a while before med school. I had both patient contact and research involvement, and I got some great letters out of it.

1. Medical Job/Position
Clinical Research Coordinator

2. Salary Per Hour
In a big coastal city, I started at 19/h and ended at 30/h after 3-4 years experience.

3. Certifications/ Licenses Needed
None!

4. Years of Additional Education to Obtain Certificate/License
None!

5. Avg. Tuition Cost
None!

 

[hurtem&healem]

1. Nurse's Assistant
2. $11-15/hr
3. LNA/CNA depending on the state
4. Again, state dependent. Could be 2 weeks could be 2 months.
5. My course was $1500 up front, refunded by the state after my first day on the job (if you think there's a physician shortage...)


For the folks saying EMT, didn't you also have to volunteer for a substantial amount of time before you could get a job? Maybe this is regional dependent, but I've heard as much from sources all over the east coast.

 

[hurtem&healem]

1. Phlebotomist
2. ~$15/hr
3. Technically, none (except in CA), but it helps in finding a job.
4. Only courses I know of are at a local state university, so 1 semester.
5. Cost of 2 or 3 credits.

 

[md-2020]

1. Black market organ transplant surgeon
2. > $1,000 p/h with the potential for much more depending on commission
3. Definitely nothing
4. None
5. Your soul

 

[efle]

Nurse? I think you can go BS -> BSN in like 1.5 years and then make 60k+ ?

But why is this a question in the first place? Ivy league type grad with a 3.9+ and tons of EC hours should just go take the MCAT and apply ASAP

 

[esob]

Why do EMT's and the guy who takes my order at In-N-Out have the same hourly wage? This is the reason I took a job in tech instead of working as an EMT after the army, lol.

 

[LizzyM]

Morgue Attendant (medical examiner's office or hospital)
$17-20/hr
no certificate or training required beyond a HS diploma.
some prior experience (e.g. as a nurse's aide or patient care technician) helpful.

 

[PreMedBlogger]

Thank you for your replies so far. Keep them coming!

 

[TFredrick]

Started as an ophthalmic technician in a rural area then moved to an imaging specialist in ophthalmology at a large university hospital. No certifications but job listings will prefer those that do. I did not have anything when I started each job and experience is usually all you need. Will list both.

1. Medical Job/Position: Ophthalmic technician

2. Salary Per Hour: Started at $10, moved to $13.50 after a few months. Had no experience and was in rural east coast area.

3. Certifications/ Licenses Needed: Not needed, COA or COT preferred though

4. Years of Additional Education to Obtain Certificate/License: N/A

5. Avg. Tuition Cost: N/A



1. Medical Job/Position: Ophthalmic Imaging Specialist

2. Salary Per Hour: $24.50 to start at large midwest city

3. Certifications/ Licenses Needed: Certified Retinal Angiographer or OCT-C certification preferred

4. Years of Additional Education to Obtain Certificate/License: N/A

5. Avg. Tuition Cost: N/A