PT school and working

[at4444]

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To any current or previous PT students:
Can you give some insight as to whether you think working while in PT school is doable or not? I obviously do not expect to be able to work a full time job, I'm thinking maybe 10-15 hours/week. Has anyone done this and felt they were comfortable while taking classes? I appreciate any input!

 

[callmecrazy]

It's going to depend on the individual, your study habits, the job, and your workload for the semester. I worked throughout, anywhere from 5-20 hours/week. I could have worked more than I did some semesters and should have worked less during others. There have been other threads on the same topic, and the general consensus is usually to start your program first and then decide what you can handle.

 

[starrsgirl]

I didn't work the first semester, but worked after that. I never worked more than 10 hours/week but I also have a family so my time may be a little shorter than others. I think it's doable....especially if you have a job for weekend nights (or I worked really early mornings)....times where you won't be studying anyway.

 

[wanderlustpt]

I think it depends on the individual. Working in PT school is definitely do-able. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, including your professors. I worked 25 - 35 hours per week when I was in my DPT program. I will admit that this is significantly more hours than the average DPT student works. My stress levels were high and I wasn't able to devote as much time as I wanted to my schoolwork. I did not have much of a social life in grad school and on the rare occasions my classmates went out for drinks after exams I usually had to stay behind and catch up on responding to work-related emails.

Most of my classmates worked 0 - 10 hours per week. My friends who worked 0 hours per week complained that they were just as stressed, tired, and overworked as I was. No matter what you're going to be stressed in PT school because it's a rigorous program. It all depends on how much of your social life you are willing to sacrifice while you're in school. Your education should definitely come first. But, I'll take the high stress levels and the 3.65 "risky" GPA for 86k less debt. My post-graduate stress levels are significantly lower because of it.

Hope that is helpful

 

[DesertPT]

I would say yes to up to 15 hours a week or so if you are an effective studier who doesn't tend to struggle in school or require a lot of hours to be able to learn something.. Some people most definitely should not work while in PT school, others can handle it just fine. We can't really answer the question definitively for you. If you are somebody who can read through a lecture once and get an A, then by all means. If you are somebody who really needs to sit down for several hours to understand a lecture, choose wisely. Neither of these students are bad people, different people just learn differently.

I think it also depends how much you're making. If you're working at or close to minimum wage and bringing in like 100 bucks a week pre-tax, that's not going reduce your student debt that significantly relative to the potential for added stress. But if you were working a better paying job I'd tip more towards the worth it side of the fence.

Don't bite off more than you are confident you can chew in any case. Remember, this brief 3 years of your life will be the only time you likely ever have to dedicate yourself wholly to studying and training in the basic theory that underlies physical rehabilitation. Make the very most of it. You have the rest of your life to work and earn.