Personal Trainer?

[ajay786]

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Hi guys,

I recently applied for a job as a personal trainer at la fitness, and I got the job. Will this look good on my med school app. or should I just spend my time doing something else (ex. EMT)? If this a dumb question, I apologize.

Sincerely
AJ

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Do it if you enjoy it and it pays decent.

 

[dd128]

Find a job you like, don't live your life trying to decide what will please adcoms. As long as you have sufficient clinical experience get the job at la fitness if you would prefer that to emting.

 

[Picklesali]

sounds like a cool job to me -- lots of people EMT, as with all things premed, it's become less and less unique.

 

[mfrizzo3]

Taking a proactive instead of a reactive approach to health. Might work.👍

 

[ironman7]

personal trainer right here and i love it 🙂

you get good experience on communication and people skills, plus you got something to talk about in your interview.

id say go for it!

 

[Kingfish]

I cannot stress to you enough, DO NOT TAKE THIS JOB!! LA fitness/ body of change or whatever they label themselves is the shadiest company out there. Enjoy making $8-12/hour while they charge $50/hr for your services. They promise big money to all of their employees but never deliver. Two of my friends were PTs with them at two different locations and both got screwed. One of my buddies had to take them to small claims court because they didn't want to pay him $1600 in overtime. His manager tried to relabel them as "training hours" I believe. I will get the specifics for you tonight from my buddy if you pm me your e-mail. PT jobs are great but LA fitness is not where you want to be (just look at their employee turnover, no one lasts more than 6 months.)

 

[AppTrail]

Hi guys,

I recently applied for a job as a personal trainer at la fitness, and I got the job. Will this look good on my med school app. or should I just spend my time doing something else (ex. EMT)? If this a dumb question, I apologize.

Sincerely
AJ

Don't listen to people who tell you not to do things just to please adcom committees. If you are trying to go to med school, then you need to do extracurriculars that adcoms want. Forget the uniqueness of it...there are thousands of people who apply to medical school so there's not much you can do to be unique. The purpose of clinical experience is to get an idea of what being a doctor is like.

Personal training is good in that you are problem solving with clients, which you can relate to a doctor-patient relationship (but you can't make this claim unless you've actually shadowed or volunteered and observed this). My recommendation is that you shadow or volunteer in a hospital 4-5 hrs a week along with your job.

 

[fitnesspremed]

Hey,
I'm a personal trainer... bet you never would have guessed haha... and all of my interviews involved something about the job. Make sure you can relate it well to preventive medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, solving problems, and leadership, and it will benefit you in interviews as much as it will benefit you now for fun.
Surprisingly, not many premeds are in this profession so it DOES make you unique. One of my interviewers even wrote me after an interview to tell me that, and how he thought it was admirable of me to do it considering my past (used to be obese, completely out of shape, pulled myself together... blah blah blah) and that i wanted to share it with other people. It's a great job, definitely don't think it will hurt you in any way!!!

 

[[pj]]

Sounds like fun. It's something I would do if I ever had the opportunity.

 

[GEFFENorBUST]

I worked as a personal trainer at L.A. Fitness for two years. It was a fun job, and I definitely think it looks good on an app. Unless you happen to go to UCLA (thats where I went and there was an L.A. Fitness down the street), I would say it's better to apply at another gym. L.A. Fitness pays $16/hr (thats per hour of TRAINING, not sitting and waiting for your next client). If you have the right certification, I'd say try to work at Equinox. They start their trainers at $23.50/hr, and you can move up to $32 and even higher.

I was also an EMT for 5 months, and that ALSO looks good. If you're in doubt, you can do both I guess, just not at the same time. EMT pays less though, and the work is really dull (unless you run 911 calls, in which case the pay is even worse).

I must say though, I had a better time training than working as an EMT.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi guys,

I recently applied for a job as a personal trainer at la fitness, and I got the job. Will this look good on my med school app. or should I just spend my time doing something else (ex. EMT)? If this a dumb question, I apologize.

Sincerely
AJ

You don't do this to "look good" on your app. you do it to earn some bucks for school. Like any other job it looks fine, but isn't going to turn any heads. But it might add some credibility to an essay or interview if you talk about wanting to go into PM&R or ortho because of all your experience with gym related injuries and rehab.

 

[dEterm1ned]

I don't think he/she said it would be Body of Change? What Company? where?
I was a personal trainer and I was never asked about it in my interviews.
I loved it and made good money, but I was in the sales aspect as well, selling packages and making commission.
Fun job for awhile (def couldn't do that forever).
are you certified? That will cost you money to get that? Will they pay for it?
Good luck with whatever you do!

 

[ziggy793]

Hey,
I'm a personal trainer... bet you never would have guessed haha... and all of my interviews involved something about the job. Make sure you can relate it well to preventive medicine and the doctor-patient relationship, solving problems, and leadership, and it will benefit you in interviews as much as it will benefit you now for fun.
Surprisingly, not many premeds are in this profession so it DOES make you unique. One of my interviewers even wrote me after an interview to tell me that, and how he thought it was admirable of me to do it considering my past (used to be obese, completely out of shape, pulled myself together... blah blah blah) and that i wanted to share it with other people. It's a great job, definitely don't think it will hurt you in any way!!!

I completely agree. It makes you different and you are doing something that gets you excited! Besides, you will rock the muscle section exam in school! Training, while profitable, is still a profession that requires you to build a connection with your client. You will learn how to listen to their needs and worries, just like a doctor does for his patients!! Just keep your other pre med ECs going to keep your interest in medicine obvious to the adcom.

 

[nu2004]

I cannot stress to you enough, DO NOT TAKE THIS JOB!! LA fitness/ body of change or whatever they label themselves is the shadiest company out there. Enjoy making $8-12/hour while they charge $50/hr for your services. They promise big money to all of their employees but never deliver. Two of my friends were PTs with them at two different locations and both got screwed. One of my buddies had to take them to small claims court because they didn't want to pay him $1600 in overtime. His manager tried to relabel them as "training hours" I believe. I will get the specifics for you tonight from my buddy if you pm me your e-mail. PT jobs are great but LA fitness is not where you want to be (just look at their employee turnover, no one lasts more than 6 months.)

my gf has a friend who echoes this experience. when i was searching for personal training online, i read dozens of similar stories from disgruntled ex-trainers.

i personally use LA fitness (and their trainers) and i've had pretty good experiences as a customer so far, but it makes me sad to think of my trainers locked up in cages and malnourished 🙁

 

[ajay786]

The reason I decided to get the job at LA Fitness and not another gym is, because it is right across from my University (Unversity of Miami). Working out changed my life, and I wanted to use my knowledge to help others. The certification costs $600. Anymore feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
AJ

 

[nu2004]

The reason I decided to get the job at LA Fitness and not another gym is, because it is right across from my University (Unversity of Miami). Working out changed my life, and I wanted to use my knowledge to help others. The certification costs $600. Anymore feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
AJ

well, if you're committed to the job you have the ability to help and motivate a lot of people.

just be assertive as an employee, make sure you understand all your rights and responsibilities, and don't be afraid so say "see ya" at the slightest hint of crap from the management.

gl