What job did you have before you went to med school?

[helpfuldoc2b]

What job did you have before you went to med school for those who worked full time before med school. What undergrad degree did you have?

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[chicklett1]

Ultrasound tech/clinic supervisor. BA, biomedical ethics.

 

[EMH]

Car salesman, yea it sucked.

But I've had a diverse employment history. Computer/network sales, web design, several times a waiter, phone technical support, onsite PC tech, income tax prep, taught ball room dancing, Ford parts counter person, service adviser, golf course peon (picked up the range balls), and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Two undergraduate B.S. in accounting and small business entrepreneurship.

 

[LizUMD]

High school math teacher for six years.

B.S.- double major in mathematics and psychology
also, M.A. in education done part time while working

 

[kronickm]

Phlebotomist-Blood Bank Technician.

 

[helpfuldoc2b]

Phlebotomist-Blood Bank Technician.

Thats cool, i am wondering why med students in general and pre meds are so smart and we end up with misely low paying jobs (i am not trying to insult those who choose them by choice) but come on i hear alot of techs, waiters, etc... anyone with big money jobs or careers?

 

[foofish]

I was in publishing before going into medicine (although if you want what I was doing immediately before med school, I was a research assistant in a neuro lab). There was a slew of people with well paying careers in my postbac program--ibankers, consultants, Microsoft programmer, and so on.

 

[Halcyon440]

Systems Analyst/Programmer Analyst for nearly 9 years

BA in Computer Science & Music

 

[ArchiMed]

Bachelor of design in architecture
Master of Architecture
Master of Landscape Architecture

....thought I wanted to be an architect...oops

 

[kronickm]

Thats cool, i am wondering why med students in general and pre meds are so smart and we end up with misely low paying jobs (i am not trying to insult those who choose them by choice) but come on i hear alot of techs, waiters, etc... anyone with big money jobs or careers?

$20/hr ain't so bad during a post-bac.

And your answer is simple. Even pre-med is a time consuming thing. Most big money jobs/careers are just that, careers. They require either upper-level degrees or a lot of time spent as a bottom feeder in the right industry. I realize this is the non-trad forum, but the vast majority of pre-meds are probably within 3-5 years of their bachelors, hardly enough time to get a big money job/career. Those who have big money jobs are without a doubt the exceptions.

 

[UVABranch]

Asst. Dir of an IT dept at a school within a large Univ, bartended, and health policy analyst (yep, all at the same time)...and since I'm not in med school just yet, it's still what I'm doin'. Before that Clinical reserch in hem/onc BA in Psycology, MPH in Epi.

 

[buffdoc]

Well, I'm not in med school yet. I'm hoping to start in August, though.

Semiconductor process engineer. BS and MS in chemical engineering.

Good luck to all those who are still waiting like me.

 

[Engineer2MD]

Applying for 2009 cycle.
B.S. and M.S. in nuclear engineering. I worked as an engineer for Lockheed Martin.

 

[Nevadanteater]

Degree: BS Chemistry

Real(ish) Job: Chemistry Tutor & Program Manager (2 years)

Other (post college) Jobs: I've worked as a waiter, as a co-op manager, a coffee monkey, a video store dude, a scaffolding yard salesperson, a roadie, a club night manager, a braille/large print transcriber...

I'm sure I'm missing one or two.

Right now I work at a free clinic for homeless/uninsured people.

What a long strange road...

 

[EMH]

Good thread, keep it going.

 

[Alvarez13]

R&D Engineer for a medical device company. Great pay, great hours, and great people. The company's also nice enough to let me do my post-bac as long as it doesn't interfere with the teams projects. However, I can't stand being in a cubicle for 8 hrs a day and working my ass off so some CEO can buy a 3rd beach house.

 

[HSTeacher2MD]

B.S. in Cellular & Molecular Biology (minor in Russian Language & Literature) in 2001
M.A. in Education in 2002

Job: I've worked for the past 6 years teaching high school Biology, Chemistry and Freshman Physics (conceptually-based: it's like teaching physics with both hands tied behind your back...)

I LOVE teaching. I HATE HATE HATE grading papers, whiny parents, grading papers, setting up labs, grading papers, not being able to go to the bathroom whenever I want, grading papers...

 

[Lokhtar]

Software Engineer - 5 years, will be seven by the time I matriculate.

 

[DrMidlife]

Graduated high school at 16. It went down from there.

I literally had 50 jobs, from cleaning toilets, to 7-11 graveyards, to answering phones, to landscape maintenance, to tutoring, to running a mimeograph, to bookkeeping, to bartending, to running a copy center. This is just counting post-highschool jobs. I usually had 3-4 jobs at a time, while making half-assed attempts at college.

Eventually I got recruited at a software company, left my BS in Math unfinished, and worked in software for 10 years. Took time off, finished the BS in Math. Went back to software for 5 more years.

Started my premed postbac at 38. Hope to matric at 42.

 

[sawood]

BS in Mechanical engineering, worked as engineer on energy conservation projects for about 4 years. Now completing MS in Biomed engineering........

 

[RunShare]

I have a BS in civil engineering and I spent a few years as a project manager in the steel construction industry. (As a side note, I was the ONLY chick in my Fortune 500 company in that position.)

 

[sawood]

I'm noticing a lot of engineers jumping ship for medicine........

 

[RunShare]

I'm noticing a lot of engineers jumping ship for medicine........

I don't know if it's the industry in general lately, but several of the engineers I graduated with have left to pursue other careers (mostly teaching and medicine).

 

[MissT]

Not in med school yet, applying for 2009. I have a bachelors in Criminal Justice worked as a child protective specialist for 5 years.

 

[lpressley130]

Healthcare IT (B.S. Information Systems) and Respiratory Therapy (A.A.S Respiratory Therapy).

 

[tocems]

Specimen Processor (nice way of saying I play with blood and pee) for 3+ years.

 

[ndrwkwn]

BSME, Engineer at GE for 6+ yrs. MBA along the way.
Hope to start pre-med this year and to apply in 09 (for matricultion in '10). I have been lurking here for a while and am finally getting close to making this unnerving process a reality.
Best of luck to all!

 

[Asystole]

I currently work for a Tissue Bank (dissecting tissue specimens in the Pathology gross lab all day) & regularly assist on autopsies on the weekends. Also worked in the OR at the same hospital for a year.

Dual B.S. in Medical Biology (Pre-Med) and Biochemistry.

 

[charmedgrad]

how do u get a job in a tissue bank, dont you need to have a certificatin of some sort?

 

[polishtexan]

A former healthcare investment banking analyst for a bulge bracket. Left late last year and keeping my fingers crossed for all my fellow June '08 applicants!

 

[Alvarez13]

BSME, Engineer at GE for 6+ yrs. MBA along the way.
Hope to start pre-med this year and to apply in 09 (for matricultion in '10). I have been lurking here for a while and am finally getting close to making this unnerving process a reality.
Best of luck to all!

I did two internships with GE Aviation. Amazing pay/benefits. The work (testing first time, marketing the second) was boring as hell though. Cubicles suck, lol

 

[dr1day]

B.S Biology-1997
MPH with Maternal & Child Health concentration-1998
Worked as a health educator at a county health department until last year when I did a year long post-bac
Currently an MSI.

 

[JShineDoc]

Exercise Physiologist. Great prep for medschool... clinical experience, patient contact, got to know many physicians, got several very strong letters of rec from supervisors and physicians.

 

[ryan464]

B.S. Accounting and Finance (graduated in Dec. 2002)

Public accountant -- BORING!!!!

Starting med school in August

 

[gdk]

i worked in aerospace engineering for pratt & whitney, lockheed martin and ge. undergrad and masters degree in aerospace from auburn.

good luck to you guys

 

[Engineer2MD]

Rock On Engineers!

St. Patty's day is only a few months away!

Seriously though, of all of my engineering friends from undergrad, only a small FEW are still in the field of their majors.... There's a lot of them now in finance, economics, consulting, military, law... etc.

 

[167649]

I managed a nightclub.

 

[FstEgl]

I've had lots of jobs in my day: whale hunter, seal clubber, president of the fox network. And, like most people, yeah I've dealt a little ivory.

 

[wowitsmike]

bachelor's in journalism with 10 years in tv news and sports...oh and a master's in gigoloism, gotta pay for school somehow and this body ain't gonna be around forever

 

[JAG to Doc]

Practiced law for past six years (last two as Medical Law Consultant) in the Air Force. Before that Registered Respiratory Therapist for five years and Medical Technologist in Blood Bank for seven years.

 

[superoxide]

Worked as an English teacher for a year at a language school in Japan.

 

[elbrujo182]

I'm not in yet but i was a mechanic for 15yrs before completely crossing over to the darkside, by that i mean EMS. I have been an EMT-B/I, Firefighter since 1992 before getting my MICT/Paramedic in 2004. aside from that i have been everything from a truck driver to sheriff deputy. computer tech to pen rider in a feedyard to work through school.

 

[EMH]

I'm not in yet but i was a mechanic for 15yrs before completely crossing over to the darkside, by that i mean EMS. I have been an EMT-B/I, Firefighter since 1992 before getting my MICT/Paramedic in 2004. aside from that i have been everything from a truck driver to sheriff deputy. computer tech to pen rider in a feedyard to work through school.

Most impressive one yet. Just out of curiosity, do you have a specialty picked out?

 

[Alvarez13]

I'm not in yet but i was a mechanic for 15yrs before completely crossing over to the darkside, by that i mean EMS. I have been an EMT-B/I, Firefighter since 1992 before getting my MICT/Paramedic in 2004. aside from that i have been everything from a truck driver to sheriff deputy. computer tech to pen rider in a feedyard to work through school.

Wow. You'll probably get bored with medicine too and then go on to be an astronaut and then a country music star

 

[hollywoodfl]

well I am not yet in med school but I work as a substance abuse counselor/utilization review cordinator at a dual diagnosis treatment center. My undergrad is in Philosophy.

 

[Enginerds]

B.S. in Materials Engineering. Have worked for Northrop Grumman for the past 5 years as a composites engineer and a subcontracts manager. I have to echo all the other engineers that cubicles suck. Before graduating worked a number of jobs: Knife salesman, tuxedo tailor, research lab tech, even dressed up in funny outfits to promote things like rasin bran crunch and oreo cookies.

 

[plauto]

Middle/elementary school orchestra teacher for 4 1/2 yrs (BM in music and BS in Education) and Ebay e-store owner

I love the kids and teaching, hate school administrators and teaching same things over and over

 

[mazurkr]

us navy nuc plant operator
pharma consultant
clinic manager for a general/vascular surgery practice

ba in org studies
masters in health services administration

 

[chr123]

BS Mechanical Engineering. Spent a couple years working for a large aerospace company as an airframe stress analyst.

 

[Percival]

Army officer for 5 years. Self-employed lawn-care / grounds maintenance for 2 years. BS in General Management