To work or not to work?

[blue0rchid]

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I got accepted and will start summer anatomy in June 2012. I've been unemployed since end of June 2011.

Recently I was contacted by a recruiter and going through a string of motions to interview for a contracting position that will start in Jan and end at the end of July 2012. Now, I'm currently receiving unemployment benefits, but I'm tired of sitting at home and frankly the idea of working again sounds appealing to me. So, I'm debating whether or not I should do my best to obtain this contract position, or do my worst so that I won't get hired (I can't flat out refuse an offer because of the terms of unemployment benefits).

Here're the pros and cons:

PROS:

- Money. Whatever I will be making will go straight to future tuition as I don't have to worry about any bills or whatsoever (supported by husband). And it's not a small sum. It will probably cover almost 2 years of tuition (more like 1.5)

- I won't be bored out of my mind sitting home for months on end

- I actually like working again. This position requires the skills that I have, and enjoy doing (web application programmer)

CONS:

- I don't want to quit half way, so most likely I will be working full time while taking Summer Anatomy class (offered by my med school for new coming students to take anatomy in the summer so that Fall workload will be lighter). It's only one class, but as I understand it's worth 9 credits. To experienced med students out there, is it possible to work full time and still get good grades for anatomy? I already confirmed that the work schedule is flexible. And class lectures are recorded and available online.

- I have a 4 months old baby 🙂 I love him so much but sitting around at home with him for the last 4 months was really tiring... If I work, I'll have to find daycare in short notice... And I don't even know how much it'll cost. My mom is supposed to take care of my kid when I'm in school, but she's not available until May.

- I'm planning to familiarize myself with anatomy materials (already got thieme flash cards, coloring book, and BRS physiology book to read up), perhaps teach myself a little Latin and Spanish... With a full time job and a baby, I may not have a lot of time doing those things.

So, what do you think? Obviously you can't tell me what to do, I have to decide for myself, yada yada... But, if you were me, what would you do? To work or not to work? Perhaps I should make a poll...

Thanks for your input!

 

[Helen Wheels]

Even if this is undergrad anatomy, summer undergrad courses are pretty intense. I never had undergrad anatomy but I am going to go out on a limb and say don't try to work FT and take a 9 credit anatomy course this summer with a baby. If you failed the class before starting med school, there might be some problems with that with your med school acceptance, even though it isn't required for med school.

Also, the child care issue alone might stop you from working. Unless you can work out some sort of inexpensive solution with another relative or neighbor, the cost of daycare may be prohibitive. I have had coworkers who have had to quit working because daycare easily costs $1000-1500 or more per month and it didn't make sense for them to work only to hand most of their paycheck over to daycare every month.

So, probably not a good idea to work FT this summer. Frankly, having just finished my first semester yesterday, I am recalling all the posts on here that say, "do nothing but relax and do fun things before med school!" Kind of agree with that! Once you start, it's a long ride with no real breaks.

 

[blue0rchid]

Sorry if I didn't mention that this isn't undergrad anatomy. I already took A&P I undergrad 2 years ago. This is the summer anatomy program at med school. They let some students take the anatomy class by itself in the summer, and so come Fall the load will be lighter.

 

[Helen Wheels]

Okay, if it is med school anatomy I would absolutely not recommend it. Anatomy is a full time job unto itself. Anatomy consumed three months of the fall semester and the other courses running simultaneously were very hard to keep up with at the same time so I'd imagine you'd feel pretty overwhelmed between work and anatomy.