Professional vs personal life

[vantheman]

I am currently applying to medical school and I have a few interviews lined up and so I am becoming sorta confident I will get in this cycle (I know there are no guarantees!). Here is my dilemma...

I just received a R&D job offer at a big biotech company. This position is pretty time intensive (6 days a week, evenings etc). This paired with my part time scribe job, I will work pretty much every day of the week (60-70 hours a week). I should mention that I love scribing and have made a commitment for 18 months so quitting is not an option. I also want to mention I have been doing full time research/scribing for the past 9 months and working similar hours as above and I can handle it. But, I must admit it is draining only getting 2-3 days off a month.

Although this lab position is a great opportunity both professional and financially (I have student loans), I am not sure if it is worth working so hard before I head to medical school. I have heard from so many individuals that you should try to take it easy before starting medical school if you can since once you start, it is going to be crazy for a long time. I also don't want to be burnt out before I even start school.

Does anyone have any advice or insight to help me make this difficult decision? Thanks!

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[starlite911]

I wouldn't take it if you can't quit scribing. With 2-3 days off a month, how are you going to have time for interviews, yet alone to relax?

 

[ndafife]

Don't take the R&D job. Its not worth it.

 

[Goro]

What does your heart tell you?

I am currently applying to medical school and I have a few interviews lined up and so I am becoming sorta confident I will get in this cycle (I know there are no guarantees!). Here is my dilemma...

I just received a R&D job offer at a big biotech company. This position is pretty time intensive (6 days a week, evenings etc). This paired with my part time scribe job, I will work pretty much every day of the week (60-70 hours a week). I should mention that I love scribing and have made a commitment for 18 months so quitting is not an option. I also want to mention I have been doing full time research/scribing for the past 9 months and working similar hours as above and I can handle it. But, I must admit it is draining only getting 2-3 days off a month.

Although this lab position is a great opportunity both professional and financially (I have student loans), I am not sure if it is worth working so hard before I head to medical school. I have heard from so many individuals that you should try to take it easy before starting medical school if you can since once you start, it is going to be crazy for a long time. I also don't want to be burnt out before I even start school.

Does anyone have any advice or insight to help me make this difficult decision? Thanks!

 

[strictlyanon]

Is it an option to work until next April or May and then quit and take the summer off?

 

[pageantry]

Quitting the scribing job IS an option. It's just a matter of what it will cost you. If I were you, I'd level with the company and say, look, I have this opportunity with an R&D firm and I'm drowning in loans. And then you ask them what they would suggest you do.

Most adults are not insane and your managers very well may tell you to cut your losses with them and take the R&D job. Scribes are pretty easy to replace. If you don't get in this cycle, you probably would have more job mobility and training opportunities with the R&D company. Don't shoot yourself in the foot because you think that company is going to swoon if you ask to be released from your contract.

...Unless you really really really love scribing of course.

 

[vantheman]

What does your heart tell you?

It tells me that it would really suck to work so much my last year before medical school, but it would also suck to go into medical school with undergraduate debt haha.

 

[vantheman]

Quitting the scribing job IS an option. It's just a matter of what it will cost you. If I were you, I'd level with the company and say, look, I have this opportunity with an R&D firm and I'm drowning in loans. And then you ask them what they would suggest you do.

Most adults are not insane and your managers very well may tell you to cut your losses with them and take the R&D job. Scribes are pretty easy to replace. If you don't get in this cycle, you probably would have more job mobility and training opportunities with the R&D company. Don't shoot yourself in the foot because you think that company is going to swoon if you ask to be released from your contract.

...Unless you really really really love scribing of course.

I really like it. I have been in the clinical setting for the past 4 years and I dont really intend on leaving it until I retire from medicine. This is because being around patients and the satisfaction I find from it motivates me to work hard.

Thanks for your insight and your opinion, though

 

[vantheman]

Is it an option to work until next April or May and then quit and take the summer off?

Unfortunately, I don't believe it would be professional of me to only work 6-7months then quit. She is asking for a 10-12 month commitment

 

[ramifications]

Quitting the scribing job IS an option. It's just a matter of what it will cost you. If I were you, I'd level with the company and say, look, I have this opportunity with an R&D firm and I'm drowning in loans. And then you ask them what they would suggest you do.

Most adults are not insane and your managers very well may tell you to cut your losses with them and take the R&D job. Scribes are pretty easy to replace. If you don't get in this cycle, you probably would have more job mobility and training opportunities with the R&D company. Don't shoot yourself in the foot because you think that company is going to swoon if you ask to be released from your contract.

...Unless you really really really love scribing of course.

I agree with this post strongly. Whoever is telling you to dismiss the company position clearly does not know the meaning of the real world. If you compromise like this...you're not going to have any success earning anytime soon. If you do the company job you are keeping research too (which depending on circumstances you can quit also like scribing). I want to advise that while currently research and scribing are doable, a professional job will drain you for sure but it is heck of a lot more productive and economical.

 

[pageantry]

There's a lot to be said for keeping your integrity, but in the real world of business, responsibly breaking contracts is part of the deal (unless you're old timey Hollywood starlet under the studio system and you just gotta make it, Mister, this is your chance don't you see? Your one big chance!)

Er. Well anyway.

I think it's overstating the case to say you won't have any success earning any time soon if you don't take this job. BUT, one might reasonably question your flexibility and willingness to try new things, which are hallmarks of lifelong success. I personally think you strengthen your application (should you have to reapply) by showing you will take outside-the-box opportunities.

But, then again, medicine likes conservative types. So, maybe stick with what you know you like. Who the heck knows.

 

[vantheman]

I agree with this post strongly. Whoever is telling you to dismiss the company position clearly does not know the meaning of the real world. If you compromise like this...you're not going to have any success earning anytime soon. If you do the company job you are keeping research too (which depending on circumstances you can quit also like scribing). I want to advise that while currently research and scribing are doable, a professional job will drain you for sure but it is heck of a lot more productive and economical.

There's a lot to be said for keeping your integrity, but in the real world of business, responsibly breaking contracts is part of the deal (unless you're old timey Hollywood starlet under the studio system and you just gotta make it, Mister, this is your chance don't you see? Your one big chance!)

Er. Well anyway.

I think it's overstating the case to say you won't have any success earning any time soon if you don't take this job. BUT, one might reasonably question your flexibility and willingness to try new things, which are hallmarks of lifelong success. I personally think you strengthen your application (should you have to reapply) by showing you will take outside-the-box opportunities.

But, then again, medicine likes conservative types. So, maybe stick with what you know you like. Who the heck knows.

I think you're both right that the position will help me professionally and financially, but at what point do you start worrying about your personal and psychological well being is all I am really having trouble with.

 

[pageantry]

I mean, I certainly wouldn't do both.
I also heftily prioritize sanity and joy in my personal life, so if you really think you wouldn't like R&D then don't do it. But, I mean, not to be harsh, but if you feel like doing something more demanding than scribing would be detrimental to your well-being... Well. You know what the chorus line says around here.

Maybe the real question is why you applied for the R&D job in the first place? Do those reasons still exist? Are they still important?

 

[ChillDawg]

Your scribe job is 'at-will' employment, right?
Making a 'commitment' isn't the same as a contract, they likely reserve the right to fire you at any time. Therefore, you should have no qualms about leaving if a much better opportunity presents itself, especially since you've got student loans. Priorities, dawg.

 

[vantheman]

I mean, I certainly wouldn't do both.
I also heftily prioritize sanity and joy in my personal life, so if you really think you wouldn't like R&D then don't do it. But, I mean, not to be harsh, but if you feel like doing something more demanding than scribing would be detrimental to your well-being... Well. You know what the chorus line says around here.

Maybe the real question is why you applied for the R&D job in the first place? Do those reasons still exist? Are they still important?

I have worked full time in a research lab for the past year and I have developed a particular set of skills that prompted the R&D lab to attempt to recruit me. My funding for my current research salary is running out this month so I need to find some other source of income. It is not that this R&D job will be "detrimental" to my well-being because of the skill required to do the work (I have perfectly handled working 27-28days a month doing both academic research and scribing for the past 9 months), I just dont know if I want to start up another 6 day a week job on top of my scribing during my last year before medical school. I think by doing this, it may be a bad call for me in the long run.

 

[vantheman]

Your scribe job is 'at-will' employment, right?
Making a 'commitment' isn't the same as a contract, they likely reserve the right to fire you at any time. Therefore, you should have no qualms about leaving if a much better opportunity presents itself, especially since you've got student loans. Priorities, dawg.

I REALLY like the scribe job. That is why I want to keep it

 

[pageantry]

I think you have your right answer.

 

[BeMD13]

Most jobs just plain suck. When you find one you can say you "REALLY like," stay as long as you can!

 

[HinduHammer]

I like scribing too. I was working 3 jobs as a scribe, a researcher in a prestigious lab that paid well, and a chem tutor. I quit scribing professionally and began to scribe voluntarily at a local free clinic where, as a trained scribe, I was given additional leeway to learn how to take vital signs, perform EKGs, distribute meds, and do intake - take real HPIs solo to give to the doc. What I'm saying is, you can and will find ways to scribe (at the very least, you will be "scribing" for 30-40 years as a practicing physician) outside of the scribe job. The commitment thing as mentioned elsewhere is BS, they would fire you in a heart beat if it made financial sense for them in any way shape or form.

The smart thing to do would be take the job that is better for your career and pocket book, that also preserves some time for you to relax, deflate, and focus on secondaries and interviews. I think we both know what the right answer is.

 

[ImmunoLove]

It depends on your preferences. I personally love to work (and consider an 80 hr workweek pretty feasible and well-balanced with social life and gym/dogs/other stuff), but other people are not too keen on my methods. What do you want your ideal life to look like, and will you find this new gig energizing or draining, given your other commitments? Either case, it's a good dilemma to have.

 

[ramifications]

I think you're both right that the position will help me professionally and financially, but at what point do you start worrying about your personal and psychological well being is all I am really having trouble with.

let me put something into perspective if you think an R&D job is going to take over your life. You, as a young and thriving professional, must understand that because of these two qualities you will be over-worked and expected of it. I got a taste of this in my senior year and hated it because my health suffered. But after taking almost 4 months out to do something else, I have come back with a game-plan of how I need to make my schedule manageable. I really became grateful and while I still won't really have a life (working somewhere from 10 am to 1 am, I know that this is what I feel best to make myself feel worth it. Scribe position does not pay well and I would for sure want to be looked at respectfully for a hard major which I know I won't receive if my only gap year profession is scribing. It is a real debbie downer so having seen that side I would totally go for the R&D title if you had the degree to support such qualifications. Scribing is something a layman can do. However, you and I have come from different fences of the yard and clearly each one of us has many miles to cover. R&D jobs are tough and even people in their 30s don't like it for the longest time but seeing that you will be applying to med school, I think you won't have the "I'm stuck in this for the rest of my life" mentality. You may already be exhausted from working depending on your schedule and maybe then you might feel scribing is better so then I say alright do it and be happy because health means everything. But if you are just starting out, you are simply whining and not understanding what real world jobs are like. Being a scientist, doctor, what-have-you-profession-that-actually-supports-a-family gives you a taste of what is expected. If you get such a golden opportunity and you can handle this, you can definitely save those lessons learned for when you become a doctor.

 

[Chir0nex]

I REALLY like the scribe job. That is why I want to keep it

Personally I would say that trading scribing for some free time is worthwhile. In theory your time off should be more fun than scribing, and you are going to spend the rest of your life working with patients in the hospital, trust me, so it's not like taking some time away will make a huge impact in terms of overall exposure. If you truly find scribing more
Overall, it sounds like the R&D position is a pretty great opportunity to make real money and pay off loans. In the long term paying those loans sonner is better due to interest. I would take the job and get the money. Even if you don't love the job, you are essentially buying yourself months if not years of time off of repayment later on down the line.

Basically you 2 questions to answer. Does less debt matter more than clinical/current work? If yes take the job. Is free time more fun for you than scribing? If yes stop scribing.

 

[vantheman]

Just thought I would let you all know, I ended up taking the position and I am also going to continue to scribe. I worked it out with my PI and I will only work the R&D position Monday-Friday 9-5 and I will just work scribing weekday nights. So although I may have a few 16 hour long work days during the week, I will get weekends off! First time I can say that in almost a year! Pretty stoked on how it all worked out.

Thanks for all your advice!