"Pre-med" work

[grindtime1]

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What type of work should I be looking for as a pre-med?

So far I've been told

1) EMT
2) cRNA
3) pharmacy technician
4) patient transporter


anything else that's common?

 

[Zairair]

Medical Scribe! Write stuff down for doctors.

 

[jagonzo]

Anything at all that allows to observe doctor-patient interactions (extra points if you get to participate in any part of said interaction).

 

[alwaysaangel]

I would suggest something non-medical.

Customer service jobs are good because you really do learn customer service which is important to medicine. Even if most people think they're menial.

Or there is some sort of teaching gig. Check the local schools, a lot will hire classroom assistance.

Or get an office job around your campus. These pay pretty well and are usually pretty easy gigs.

Don't stick with just medical stuff. Its good if you can say..."you know I've worked as ___, and ____, and ____ and I am quite sure that none of that is for me because I wasn't satisfied with ______, ______, or ______. Can't wait to become a physician."

 

[Dr Ginger]

research assistant. you may have to do grunt work, but you may get lucky and actually learn something useful for med school.

 

[LoveTheRunner]

do you mean CNA?

CRNA = certified registered nurse anesthetist, i.e. BS + 1-2 years ICU duty + anesthesia education.

CNA = certified nursing assistant...

 

[grindtime1]

I would suggest something non-medical.

Customer service jobs are good because you really do learn customer service which is important to medicine. Even if most people think they're menial.

Or there is some sort of teaching gig. Check the local schools, a lot will hire classroom assistance.

Or get an office job around your campus. These pay pretty well and are usually pretty easy gigs.

Don't stick with just medical stuff. Its good if you can say..."you know I've worked as ___, and ____, and ____ and I am quite sure that none of that is for me because I wasn't satisfied with ______, ______, or ______. Can't wait to become a physician."

And how exactly would this improve your chances of getting into MEDICAL school?

Most high school dropouts have worked "non-medical" jobs part time during their high school years.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine and are looking to beef up ECs on your app, how does it make sense to work a "non-medical" job?

 

[bacalaca]

research work, if you put in your time, by the time you are a upper classmen you can win alot of grants. not only will you have money... the research and grants are great additions to your appp

 

[Tappinfool66]

I would suggest something non-medical.

Customer service jobs are good because you really do learn customer service which is important to medicine. Even if most people think they're menial.

Or there is some sort of teaching gig. Check the local schools, a lot will hire classroom assistance.

Or get an office job around your campus. These pay pretty well and are usually pretty easy gigs.

Don't stick with just medical stuff. Its good if you can say..."you know I've worked as ___, and ____, and ____ and I am quite sure that none of that is for me because I wasn't satisfied with ______, ______, or ______. Can't wait to become a physician."

I agree. I want to be a tutor. I think it's important to show that you can take in information, and effectively teach it back to others. It makes for a good doctor (especially at a teaching hospital).

And how exactly would this improve your chances of getting into MEDICAL school?

Most high school dropouts have worked "non-medical" jobs part time during their high school years.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine and are looking to beef up ECs on your app, how does it make sense to work a "non-medical" job?

Not everything on your application has to be ALL MEDICAL ALL THE TIME. They're supposed to want to see that applicants do things that they enjoy and have varied experiences.

 

[curlytop]

And how exactly would this improve your chances of getting into MEDICAL school?

Most high school dropouts have worked "non-medical" jobs part time during their high school years.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine and are looking to beef up ECs on your app, how does it make sense to work a "non-medical" job?

Because you're demonstrating you've experienced non-medical work and that it obviously isn't fulfilling long-term. Because there's more to an excellent candidate for any medical school beyond exposure to medicine, and even then that exposure can and should come from several sources, not just a job.

A good candidate's interests lie in medicine, among other things. Not just medicine and science and learning. Medical schools know that and aren't going to be impressed by someone who's never pursued anything non-medical. Your goal is to be unique, not halfway to your MD before you apply.

And that's a pretty elitist attitude there, with your "high school dropouts" comment. Furthermore, this is a forum, if you don't value one poster's particular advice, ignore it. You mocking it makes no sense when she's the one in medical school and you're the one trying to figure out how best to be a pre-med. You asked for help and she's trying to give it to you.

My advice: listen to people who have actually succeeded at what you're merely attempting.

 

[alwaysaangel]

And how exactly would this improve your chances of getting into MEDICAL school?

Improved my chances greatly. FOUR years ago when I applied to medical school, interviewers asked me far more about my non-medical jobs than my medical ones. In fact, the jobs I had 4-8 years ago in college have even come up on my residency interviews this year, because they were interesting and affected my choices to go into EM. Not only does it make me different, but they were things I really enjoyed and learned a lot in. They gave me perspective on the world in general so I can very confidently and maturely explain how I got to where I am and why I want to go where I want to go - essential in an interview. Succeeding in a variety of settings is a very good sign to ad-comms.

Most high school dropouts have worked "non-medical" jobs part time during their high school years.

Not sure what this has to do with anything

If you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine and are looking to beef up ECs on your app, how does it make sense to work a "non-medical" job?

Because other than having something on your application that has put you in contact with patients and doctors (which a "medical job" like EMT or scribe only partially does) medical schools don't really care what ECs you've done. So long as you're successful at them and can talk about what you learned from your experiences. Doing something different makes you different - that will take you farther than being an EMT will.

I'm not saying you should go get a minimum wage job. You guys are college students - you qualify for all sorts of things that pay $12-$25 if you are competent, hard working people. Just find something that looks interesting and do it.

Now I remember why I don't post in pre-allo very often. Such closed, one-tract minds.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Any job will do. A job is a job. I would recommend a customer service job. I doubt medically related jobs put you at an advantage, maybe for PA school since they require 2000 hours of clinical work, and any customer service job will allow you to develop your on-the-job people skills. I sure as heck wouldn't want to learn that in medical school and look like a tool. Don't be fooled into thinking that you need to have some clinical-type job like this one obviously pre-med girl that I heard while walking from class: *speaking to some guy* "Yeah, I need to Orange Coast College and become an EMT so I can become a doctor n ****."

Medicine is business, and business have customers (patients).

And in response to your "high school dropouts" working those "non-medical related jobs", people with PhDs, MBAs, and EdD spend their entire lives working in non-medical related jobs. Just because a job isn't related to the medical field doesn't mean that it's some low-level job.

 

[mwall003]

although something medical would be good, it's good to have a diverse work experience. I think something in the teaching profession would look "well" such as TAing, tutoring, or teaching. For instance many schools will hire you as a classroom assistant and some counties will hire you as a substitute teacher (good $ and good applicant qualities).

 

[n3xa]

Most high school dropouts have worked "non-medical" jobs part time during their high school years.

This is sound advice.

 

[Barcu]

And how exactly would this improve your chances of getting into MEDICAL school?

Most high school dropouts have worked "non-medical" jobs part time during their high school years.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine and are looking to beef up ECs on your app, how does it make sense to work a "non-medical" job?

You are extremely wrong.

Sure, getting a medical related job is fine, but so is a non-medical job. You have to be able to talk about what you LEARNED from your job. You can learn a lot from working in retail or the restaurant industry about how to interact with coworkers and customers (another way to describe patients).

And I second that many interviews focus on the non-medical parts of your app. Those make you stand out compared to every other applicant.

 

[grindtime1]

Don't schools look for clinical experience MOSTLY? If that's the case, wouldn't a medically related job have advantages over a regular job?

 

[Barcu]

Don't schools look for clinical experience MOSTLY? If that's the case, wouldn't a medically related job have advantages over a regular job?

Schools do want to see clinical experience. I think the average is like a 1.5 yrs and a couple hundred hours.

This can be done through a job or through volunteering. The problem with medically-related job is that some require training (costs time and money, like EMT and CNA) then you might not even be able to work. You would need to be the luckiest person in the world to find an EMT job where I went to school.

If you have no time to volunteer, a job would be a good way to get clinical experience.

I think we all responded like we did because many premeds feel they NEED a medically-related job. That isn't true, and it doesn't necessarily provide an advantage if you can't find a job or find one that doesn't provide much patient interaction (which is what adcoms look for with clinical experience many times).

 

[Barcu]

And I will reiterate:

It is the non-medical aspects of your app that get a lot of attention.

 

[Kaustikos]

And I will reiterate:

It is the non-medical aspects of your app that get a lot of attention.

Agreed. Don't narrow down your focus on working in the clinical setting. You can volunteer there and focus on a job to help you out.

 

[grindtime1]

And I will reiterate:

It is the non-medical aspects of your app that get a lot of attention.

Could you give me an idea of what I'd need to do that's completely unrelated to medicine to get in?

Is this something that would be easier for me to figure out once I get a look at the AMCAS form?

Does it have to be non-medical work or is it ok if you've only worked medical jobs but have other hobbies/activities you can talk about in the interview?

 

[Barcu]

Could you give me an idea of what I'd need to do that's completely unrelated to medicine to get in?

Is this something that would be easier for me to figure out once I get a look at the AMCAS form?

It could be anything. It could be a club you start or join (and getting some leadership experience is always a plus) or an organization that you volunteer for or a job that you have.

What interests you besides medicine? Get involved with that in some way. There is no magical way to get involved. Be creative. It will pay off come app time.

In terms of seeing the AMCAS app, it's pretty generic. It's not like, "list your clinical experience here" and "list your non-clinical here." There is a drop down menu, and you can add up to 15 activities/clubs/volunteer work (medical or non-medical)/clinical experience/awards, etc. You can really list anything you want on there. So don't worry about that. It won't help you come up with anything.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Could you give me an idea of what I'd need to do that's completely unrelated to medicine to get in?

Is this something that would be easier for me to figure out once I get a look at the AMCAS form?

Does it have to be non-medical work or is it ok if you've only worked medical jobs but have other hobbies/activities you can talk about in the interview?

The best thing anyone can do to get into medical school is to do something they are passionate about (and no I don't mean "I'm passionate about getting into medical school.")

If you really love science and research then do research. If you don't then its useless. I cannot count the number of people I have interviewed who sounded so uninterested in their own research...bad sign.

If you love teaching, find a classroom assistant or tutor gig.

If you're a girl and you love clothes - get a clothing retail job.

If you love being social and talking to people - work in a restaurant or coffee shop

If you are super organized and enjoy a variety of work, and like being social and working with people look into some office jobs at your college

If you love hiking and live near a hot spot see if you can be a tour guide, or maybe work in a hiking gear store or start a club.

If you're religious and thats important to you maybe start a community service group through your church or something else you think of and get some leadership experience.

If you can't get your head out of the idea that you "must do something clinical" and you enjoy working with underserved populations then look into local free clinics/low income clinics and see if any will train you to be a medical assistant.

Just find something you LOVE and do it. Medically related or not if you love it then you will love going, you will get a lot out of it, and your enthusiasm will show in your essays.

There are only a few things required to get into medical school:

1) decent GPA (say >3.5) and decent MCAT (say 30) - there's wiggle room on both depending on the other
2) Completed prereqs (otherwise NO ONE CARES WHAT YOUR MAJOR IS! Non-science majors can be GREAT THINGS!)
3) At least some exposure (say 100 hrs) to doctors and patients. You need to understand what a doctors job entails (most people will shadow but I suppose a scribe would have this exposure, while EMT, pharm tech and patient transporter does not). You need to have some exposure to patients (many people volunteer, but working as an MA, EMT or some sort of healthcorps position will usually give you the exposure you need). Somethings are two for one (eg an MA will usually get sufficient exposure to both the patients and the docs.
4) Interesting ECs. The most interesting ECs are the ones that interest YOU because YOU will make them interesting in your essays and interviews. This is the hardest thing for most premeds because they usually don't believe me when I tell them or are so obsessed with the idea of going to medical school that they honestly have no clue what else they would enjoy. Find something and do it. If you love it and learn SOMETHING from it, adcomms will love you.
5) $5,000-10,000 to apply.
Thats it. Thats all it takes to get into medical school. People really make it more complicated than it is.

 

[wavves]

Could you give me an idea of what I'd need to do that's completely unrelated to medicine to get in?

Does anyone else find this hilarious? The notion that you need to be unique in just the right way in order to get into med school?

The over-analysis on this site is truly remarkable...

 

[Unclipped]

Being a scribe gave me a lot to talk about during the interview, and I have a feeling it will really help with learning H and P during 3rd year.