What do you think the best job for a premed is..

[Azjoe]

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I am one of the premeds with a family. I am very close to finishing everything that I need but holding a full time job always slows me down. I have talked to many other premeds and have heard so many different suggestions.

My question to you guys/girls is what do you think the best full time job for a premed student with a very heavy load.

The areas of judgment that I have come up with are the following:

1. Hours (early in my case)
2. Pay (the more the better)
3. Flexibility (extra hours shadowing and volunteering)
4. Non demanding (late night cram sessions) 😴
5. Perhaps study time at work??


Please tell me what you guys think. I believe that this is a very important part of strategy for success.

Thanks.

 

[MEG@COOL]

Working at a morgue / funeral parlor.

 

[Rafa]

A job that pays you $500/semester for every A you add to your GPA. Otherwise known as a pair of parents with too much money.

 

[drmota]

i'm getting a job as a pizza delivery boy. i've always wanted to be one. the job description just reaks of neglected housewives. extra sauce.
-dr. mota

 

[rehanyazdani]

I work for an orthopaedic surgeon as a research assistant. I also get to assist in surgery when needed. This job has given me a lot of experience. Of course finding something like this isn't easy, but you might want to see if any physicians in your area are into research (publishing papers, etc). The job pays well and I set my own hours which gives me ample time for study. Hope that helps.

 

[otemd]

At my school, we had students who would work as front desk assistants. They would just sit at the front desk in the lobbies of the dorms to be there if any students needed assistance. Most of the time it was just paid studying. You could try doing this.

 

[nikibean]

Got an EMT certificate?

You can work on an ambulance. You'll be called about 25% of your time most days, some days it'll be insanely busy. Most of the time you can do your homework (or sleep) and it generally pays 10-12/hr. Not super high, but pretty good.

If you dont have an EMT certificate, try these:

1) Front desk of a hotel, part time- you'll do nothing. I used to work the front desk at Sugar Bowl hotel and ski patrol in the day time at Boreal, and I almost died of boredom at the hotel. It was free email checking time. Make sure you get the swing shift, though. Everyone will check in from 4-8pm, and from 8-11 you will sit there. Waiting. Perfect for homework.

2) If you do #1 part time, do either a) coffee shop barista-ing part time or b) bartending or c)waiting tables. You'll make a ton with b/c. With a, you'll get free coffee. I used to work 4:15am-12:45pm and get my 8 hours. As much as I don't drink starbucks coffee anymore, they were great to work for in my undergrad years. Super flexible, and full benefits for part time employees. Peets does the same.

3) Combine the above with part-time volunteering. Even one day/week for 4 hours in a clinic. We also have part-time people working in our clinic at Planned Parenthood- almost all of the medical assistants are in full time school, and honestly, they taught everyone there how to draw blood, etc. You get a LOT of hands-on patient care, and get to help out people who need it most- the uninsured. Check out local clinics and see if they'll train you - many will.

just some ideas...

 

[supa]

I highly recommend phlebotomy. Not only did it pay the bills through undergrad, but on my rotations in PA school I was probably the only student comfortable drawing blood, putting in IVs, and femoral lines etc. I think the classes are relatively short and inexpensive.

 

[StevenRF]

I'd say just plain old research. Get your prof to pay you for it. You can pull 10+ an hour, work whenever you want, it looks good on your app, you can get published, and undergraduate stipends/ grants are a dime a dozen. You can pull an extra two or three g's every semester on the grants alone. Add that to around 500$ a month just for doing the research, and your looking at 5-6 thousand a semester and you only gotta put in part time. I spend my other time tutoring. People pay major bank for tutoring because its usually the dumb students with rich parents who have money to blow.

I've done this since freshman year and its worked out pretty well. The key with both of these jobs is that the hours are very flexible. I was taking 20-24 units for a couple of semesters and working full time this way.


...and the school thinks I should pay them $1100 a unit to get credits for doing research. HAHA There is a reason why profs spend all their time writing grant proposals and having you do the slave labor. It's awesome when you can screw the system too.

 

[riceman04]

I am one of the premeds with a family. I am very close to finishing everything that I need but holding a full time job always slows me down. I have talked to many other premeds and have heard so many different suggestions.

My question to you guys/girls is what do you think the best full time job for a premed student with a very heavy load.

The areas of judgment that I have come up with are the following:

1. Hours (early in my case)
2. Pay (the more the better)
3. Flexibility (extra hours shadowing and volunteering)
4. Non demanding (late night cram sessions) 😴
5. Perhaps study time at work??

Please tell me what you guys think. I believe that this is a very important part of strategy for success.

Thanks.

Library or the student center at night.

I worked as a building manager at the student center on nights and weekends where there was not that much foot traffic...of course I had to close the building down but that was not that bad.

I also worked late late night at the library (from like 11pm - 3am in the morning mon-thursday)

Then I worked in a lab on friday afternoons. I go alot of studying done.
And I still had time to participate in many EC's.

All was good...but on occasion I did not sleep much in a week (may 10 hrs total during the weekdays).

 

[TexasFool]

i think tutoring is good

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Working at a morgue / funeral parlor.

I'll second that (speaking as a mortuary science major)

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I highly recommend phlebotomy. Not only did it pay the bills through undergrad, but on my rotations in PA school I was probably the only student comfortable drawing blood, putting in IVs, and femoral lines etc. I think the classes are relatively short and inexpensive.

Another great choice.


One job I recommend against is EMS.

 

[Zmoody33]

yea, ive been tutoring and its great. i do it in the mornings in between
classes or after. its basically paid studying because there isnt many people coming in for help, but when they do its a great way to refresh your mind on the basics.

 

[princessd3]

I have been a pharmacy technician since high school and it has truly been fascinating. I have learned so much about drugs, their uses, side-effects etc. So cool. Nothing better than mixing, pouring, filling syringes, having a doctor call in a script for an azithromycin Z-pac taken 2 stat then 1 PO QD for the next 4 days. Way cool. It's not difficult to get the job either. You can get on-the-job training.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I am one of the premeds with a family. I am very close to finishing everything that I need but holding a full time job always slows me down. I have talked to many other premeds and have heard so many different suggestions.

My question to you guys/girls is what do you think the best full time job for a premed student with a very heavy load.

The areas of judgment that I have come up with are the following:

1. Hours (early in my case)
2. Pay (the more the better)
3. Flexibility (extra hours shadowing and volunteering)
4. Non demanding (late night cram sessions) 😴
5. Perhaps study time at work??


Please tell me what you guys think. I believe that this is a very important part of strategy for success.

Thanks.

EMT/Paramedic.

Hands down.

 

[johnny5]

i'm getting a job as a pizza delivery boy. i've always wanted to be one. the job description just reaks of neglected housewives. extra sauce.
-dr. mota

nice. was one in high school when i was 16 in a really nice neighboorhood, a lot of good tips, hot moms, and a couple of other unmentionable perks. i was fired because someone reported that the delivery truck had been outside one of the houses I was "delivering to" for over a half hour. oops. 😀

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

EMT/Paramedic.

Hands down.

I agree that being an EMT is a good option. It is fairly well respected (more so amongst non-medical people) and looks good on an application (even though we are kind of a dime a dozen)..

It is also great because you can lump a bunch of work hours into one or two days. For example, I was working ~25 hours a week spread out over 5 days, which sucked, now I work all those hours in one day. You might also have plenty of time to lay around and study depending on where you work. The pay is ok.

Phlebotomy is also a good option. A lot less intense, less training, and more pay...although you won't be able to get those 12-24 hour shifts, if that's what you want. You also get a very limited amount of actual "clinical" exposure, in my opinion.

Library jobs are great too. I make ~ $10/hour at the library and usually don't have to do very much. My specific job pays a little more than the avergae circ desk job, but those guys pretty much get paid to sit there and do homework. 👍

Having worked several minimum-wage jobs outside of academia, I highly recommend finding anything on campus. You will most likely get paid more than minimum wage for even the most menial of tasks, and your bosses will be more flexible because they know you are a student and are probably used to other students requiring time off for exams, etc.

 

[jebus]

for what you want: barista. you can even be the super-cute, ultra-trendy, music snob kind except that, you know, you have no style.
or have you considered rock star? you'll make lots of money and pick up hotties. If I were you I would do that.

 

[etf]

daytrader. making money during boring lectures is fun.

 

[jbrice1639]

something in retail/food service that gives you some experience dealing with cranky people on a regular basis...it's actually really good practice for entering medicine. working at starbucks and dealing with the annoying, demanding idiots who came in helped me learn to be patient with people and to try to always appear upbeat even when you want to douse someone in an extra-hot, no foam, half-caf, 2%, i'm-a-tool-for-ordering-this-drink, latte.

 

[4theunderserved]

Any job in the emergency department of a busy hospital (technician or scribe preferably). You will see and learn so much. Most of these positions start at $10/hour or a little more.

 

[youngnflyy]

Any job which has absolutely nothing to do with school or your career plans, and pays you a competitive salary to basically do nothing. 👍

 

[gujuDoc]

I don't personally think there is an ideal job. But I like DaMota's delivery person job. That seems like easy enough job. Actually, someone on the residency forum was saying that was their favorite job they ever had and it was soooooo fun for them to cruise around with their windows down and music playing delivering pizza.

 

[McMD]

Research. Not only does is look GREAT on applications, if you get a few papers published (which is nothing if you're working with the right people) that's even better on apps/interviews...PLUS...experiments run and sometimes you spend HOURS not doing ANYTHING (ie...good time to study)...this is when I'm on SDN!

 

[gujuDoc]

A job that pays you $500/semester for every A you add to your GPA. Otherwise known as a pair of parents with too much money.

Nahhhhhhh rich parents will just give the credit card and atm card that will mean they don't even need to give 500 per semester.

Although, in all seriousness, a lot of rich people I know, don't even let their kids have a car or live off campus and have their kids by semi cheaper clothes, while others are spoiled beyond spoiled and have everything that money could buy.

It really depends on the values of the parents and the way I child is brought up. That said, this response is still by far the best one here because it is FUNNY.

 

[Dominion]

Right now I work at as a PC tech at a retail store and on the side. Decent pay at the store and on the side I make a good bit of cash. Retail will definatly prepare you, especially one that will deal with 'those' kinds of customers. Something that I think helps is if you work retail or something that deals with customers in a specialty field. Such as PC repair, it's taught me A. How to deal with crazy people. B. How to talk to someone who knows NOTHING about technology.

Other than that, I'd say EMT. I am starting my EMT training soon, the pay is decent and around here you would get alot of downtime, still see some busy nights, but it's fairly quiet.

 

[Dominion]

Nahhhhhhh rich parents will just give the credit card and atm card that will mean they don't even need to give 500 per semester.

Although, in all seriousness, a lot of rich people I know, don't even let their kids have a car or live off campus and have their kids by semi cheaper clothes, while others are spoiled beyond spoiled and have everything that money could buy.

It really depends on the values of the parents and the way I child is brought up. That said, this response is still by far the best one here because it is FUNNY.

A really good friend of mine and his family are like the above. His dad is an ER doc and his mom is a psychologist/nurse/pt/god person. She owns her own mecca practice and his dad makes a good amount of money. To give you an idea of the type of people they are, his dad went out fishing with a buddy one weekend for the first time in years and came back with a brand new 40 foot boat paid in full. But my friend and his brother never had anything extra special, they both got used mid 90's domestic cars on their 16th birthday, nothing special.

Sorry to thread jack 😛

 

[45408]

For an easy entry-level spot, I'd go with tutoring. Just tutor in the subjects that you did well on (hopefully there's a lot of those).

While it's a bigger hurdle to get into, EMS is probably about the easiest job to fit into my schedule. I hate working a fixed schedule, and I think it's a huge waste of time to get into uniform, drive to work, and leave after 3-4 hours, but lots of my friends have jobs like that. I'll get a call in the afternoon asking if I can come work for 12 hours (overnight), and of course, what else is in your schedule for 9pm to 8am in the middle of the week? They called me three times last week, and I got 36 hours, almost a full-time job. Next week I've got almost 40 hours as well, but since I work as-needed, I can always say no.

 

[gujuDoc]

A really good friend of mine and his family are like the above. His dad is an ER doc and his mom is a psychologist/nurse/pt/god person. She owns her own mecca practice and his dad makes a good amount of money. To give you an idea of the type of people they are, his dad went out fishing with a buddy one weekend for the first time in years and came back with a brand new 40 foot boat paid in full. But my friend and his brother never had anything extra special, they both got used mid 90's domestic cars on their 16th birthday, nothing special.

Sorry to thread jack 😛

Yeah, I have several south indo acquaintances like that, one of whom I was good friends in highschool and one of whom was a good friend in college.

In both cases, the girls never lived off campus in 4 years of college, and their clothes look like really cheap not the typical designer clothes. Actually, one of them, got her clothes at target though she could more then afford to go elsewhere for clothes shopping. its because the parents were more modest since they didn't want their kids taking advantage. i admire that alot over the parents that spoil their kids with everything. I find that rich but educated well and raised to be modest kids to be quite as mature as a lot of the people who have to work for every penny of their education, because they are thought to value non materialistic things by being forced to earn their own way to the top before they wipe out any of the NordStroms, and so forth....lol...😛

 

[klptvf]

Since we are chattin about jobs, here is my dilemma.
i am a psychology major turned pre med. just finished my BA in psych. taking three courses now that i dont need but also arent pre. reqs. just to boost GPA. Will start pre reqs summer or fall 2006. when pre. reqs. begin, I MUST
either 1. take few classes and work ft or 2. work little but make a lot of money in those few hours and take heavy load of classes

i work at my university's counseling clinic. i dont do much. i dont like the grad student i work with at all and it causes me stress cuz is it just the two of us. i get paid less than 10/hour. it sucks. it was worth it when i was planning on pursuing psychology grad school, but now it just sucks. HOWEVER, i get paid to sit there and check email, play on SDN, etc. etc. study a little, too. I work there PT. But I figure since it isnt directly medicine related, i should move on to a more medically related job. but no more getting paid to play on the internet. and no more understanding boss when i need time off for finals or studying abroad since i work for the university now. OR do you think since my current interests are psychiatry/neurology and working at this psychology clinic is semi-related, that i should stick it out? Also afraid of losing my boss's LOR if i quit, but she is a phD not MD, so do i even need her lor for med school?. On the other hand, another local university's med. sch. has a position opening in the neuro. dept conducting neuro assessments PT. Maybe more money and possibly new MD contacts for me in neuro dept. Apply or stay?
😕
i also work at a hospital as a tech in psychiatry so maybe that takes care of my medicine experience.????...OR maybe not since it is psychiatry and not a real medicine floor????. Do I need more medical experience outside of psychiatry to get a good feel for it all? Or will shadowing take care of that? either way, i think dont leave the job at the hospital, just for the sake of working at a hospital. Right? also bad pay but i like the job a lot.

was thinking i could pick up a pt job as a server to bring in some money. i am so broke. but juggling all three plus tutoring for a whopping 7 bucks an hour and classes is hard for me. gotta make some decisions and changes. HELP ?

🙂
IDEAS? thanks!

 

[Krazykritter]

I don't know if this was mentioned or not, but it WILL, without a doubt, further your application: GET YOUR CNA and work as an aide. It is crappy work (pun intended) but if you get in somewhere like an assisted living place w/ full time care, 1) the work will not be nearly as bad and 2) you will get to do a lot more things such as passing meds.

This is a great thing for a pre-med to do and then when you get interviews you can say how much respect you earned for nurses and blah, blah, blah. The best part...you will learn a lot, if you pay attention, about the care of patients while dealing with clinical medicine (which you don't get much of as an MS-1).

If anyone has any specific questions, PM me.

 

[OSUdoc08]

I don't know if this was mentioned or not, but it WILL, without a doubt, further your application: GET YOUR CNA and work as an aide. It is crappy work (pun intended) but if you get in somewhere like an assisted living place w/ full time care, 1) the work will not be nearly as bad and 2) you will get to do a lot more things such as passing meds.

This is a great thing for a pre-med to do and then when you get interviews you can say how much respect you earned for nurses and blah, blah, blah. The best part...you will learn a lot, if you pay attention, about the care of patients while dealing with clinical medicine (which you don't get much of as an MS-1).

If anyone has any specific questions, PM me.

Why run "Code Browns" when you can run a "Code Blue?"

👍 for EMT!