What kind of part-time job have you had as a Ugrad pre-med?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
As an undergrad I worked as a general contractor, assistant manager for a hardware store, tutor, Opthalmic Technician and PT tech. Quite a mix, but i was able to get involved in medicine AND make some money to live off of.
 
Barista at Starbucks (not helpful science-wise, except it proves I can talk to people maybe?? 😛 And discounted/free caffeine!!)
Emergency Dept. scribe
Lab monkey, not really a research assistant, more like a tech that ran PCR all day.
 
Last edited:
Tile Setter- 🙂
7-Eleven- 🙁
American Eagle- :/

I hope to work as a tutor in school come this fall.
 
I was a janitor for my first three years of college, basically cleaning up after football games ($25 an hour!) and other sporting events (much less for those, only like $12). During the summer, I weedwacked for AmeriCorps. Now undergraduate lab technician and a TA for anatomy (awesome experience, I love teaching and the pay is great!)
 
During academic year: catering, paid homework-doer... er, i mean "technology consultant"
Summers: sporting goods store, camp counselor, research assistant

I never worked more than 15 hours ever during a school week (and usually it was less than 10), but part-time work was my only source of discretionary income in college. On my AMCAS, all odd jobs were included as a bullet-pointed list in the activities section, under the heading "work," to help demonstrate to adcoms that my time outside of classes, etc. was judiciously used.
 
I work as a Paramedic in my undergrad. Perfect work schedule while attending college.
 
- Cashier at a hardware store (lasted a few months into my freshman year)
- Intern at a contract medical device company for a summer
- Technician at another medical device company for about 8 months
-Intern at yet another medical device company for a lil over 1 1/2 years
-My current job as a kinda intern, sorta engineer at...you guessed it...a medical device company.

Usually for me it's ~15-20 hrs during the school year and full time during the summer/winter. Definitely keeps things busy.
 
Biochem Lab TA for a semester, Biology tutor for 5 semesters, Chem library monitor one semester, football team manager one season
 
i worked as a porn star for 6 months cause it paid well, eventually i got a job at a near-by apple store as a genius.
 
Bio Lab Assistant... Just taking care of plants/animals & preparing lab equipment for a field bio course.

Only a few hours per week, but I get to tell people I handle highly venomous snakes everyday. 😎
 
executive custodial engineer
 
I've yet to have a job during the school year, to be honest I'm kind of afraid it might get in the way of school, but in the fall hopefully I'll have a job. I'll just have to manage.

But during the summers I'm a medical assistant for the mentally challenged. It pays minimum wage but its rewarding..
 
I've yet to have a job during the school year, to be honest I'm kind of afraid it might get in the way of school, but in the fall hopefully I'll have a job. I'll just have to manage.

But during the summers I'm a medical assistant for the mentally challenged. It pays minimum wage but its rewarding..
Now im thinking of possibly working as a waitress or something during the school year since you can make $$ in tips over just a couple of days during the week/end, but I have a loaded schedule with 18 credits (and researching, volunteering etc) so I'm trying to be cautious about taking on too much! ...
 
I work as an after school kindergarten/1st grade teacher...
Yay kids 😀 I'm a Teacher's Aide at a daycare for infants and toddlers.

I really want to scribe though, pays twice as much and it's an experience I'd love to have!
 
Yay kids 😀 I'm a Teacher's Aide at a daycare for infants and toddlers.

I really want to scribe though, pays twice as much and it's an experience I'd love to have!

Hah that was a while ago, in a couple weeks ill be working as a after school recreation teacher now. Its going to be awesome! 😎
 
ACT, SAT, math and science tutor for high school kids. Sometimes really spoiled kids but great teaching experience, my mental math has gotten great, and can't complain about the pay ($40-50 an hour ~20hr/week ). Not bad for undergrad work..
 
Now im thinking of possibly working as a waitress or something during the school year since you can make $$ in tips over just a couple of days during the week/end, but I have a loaded schedule with 18 credits (and researching, volunteering etc) so I'm trying to be cautious about taking on too much! ...

When I delivered pizzas, I would typically work 4-5 hours on a Friday or Saturday night, and came out with $60+ in cash a night! These kinds of jobs will be best if you're concerned about school. Also when you have tests, the managers are usually pretty flexible.
 
For 2.5 years I was a SI instructor for a basic chemistry course. Around 10 hours a week of good pay, made my own hours, reviewed for MCAT, got the professor of the course to write me a recommendation letter, and it turned into a leadership position!

I liked my job, and worked a few other ones as well. Basically I was just trying to make money and got lucky with some of them being meaningful for medical school.
 
Student researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies. If any of you are chemical engineers and have used Aspen for process simulations, you have benefited from my copy and pasting abilities.
 
1. University Dining Hall
2. Starbucks
3. Construction-type work
4. ER Scribe
5. RA
6. Auto Bell Car Wash
7. More Baller ER Scribe/Power level 9000

I moved a lot of places as all of these jobs were/are happening.
 
Currently tutoring and babysitting children. Thus far, its been pretty chill 🙂

Sent from my SGH-T959V using SDN Mobile
 
Im the big fat bugs bunny selling cotton candies in front a roller coaster. :laugh:
 
Do you put up advertising? Or do your parents just know people that are rich enough to spend 50 bucks an hr for some rando to teach their kid SAT stuff

Nah I actually work for a small private tutoring company and they set me up with clients. You'd better know your stuff though because parents always blame the tutor if their "perfect" child fails an Algebra test

And parents dont mind a "rando" if you tell them you're pre med and have good stats (33 ACT, high MCAT). Most of the other people I work with though are PhD students or have education degrees.
 
I was an engineering intern for a suture company
also a substitute teacher when I was home for breaks
 
Just finished my fifth course as a gen chem TA. It was so sad to finish yesterday.

I also worked as a tutor, a nurses' aide in a nursing home and in a hospital, and as a summer camp counselor.
 
Licensed and legal drug dealer. I even talked about it on AMCAS / secondaries.
 
Last edited:
As an undergrad I worked as a general contractor, assistant manager for a hardware store, tutor, Opthalmic Technician and PT tech. Quite a mix, but i was able to get involved in medicine AND make some money to live off of.
Would you say having the experience as an ophthalmic tech helped you get into med school? I just got the job and hoping it counts as some good clinical exposure.
 
Sales, computer tech, private IT-type work, internships
 
I usually worked 20hours during the school year and had different jobs for few hours such as TA, lab technician, research, tutoring and customer service.
 
Lab assistant, just grunt work.
Cutting meat in a deli.
 
Let's see... When I was getting my respiratory degree, I worked in retail, car sales, computer repair, and as an ED tech, 30 hours/week. When I was getting my BS I worked as an RT 3/4 time while taking 12 credits a semester.
 
Would you say having the experience as an ophthalmic tech helped you get into med school? I just got the job and hoping it counts as some good clinical exposure.
I think it helped some, more so being involved clinically with patients and understanding disease process and management. Also it gave me something to talk about on the interview trail. I worked specifically for a retina surgeon so I got to see a lot of interesting procedures
 
I worked as a waiter. If you're interested in a part-time job that pays well, I would go with that!! I averaged $20-$30 an hour, but good nights, you can make more
 
I waited tables for all 4 years of undergrad. Actually, I tended bar the last 2 years, as well. I can usually sell it pretty well in interviews as I gained a lot of people skills and confidence speaking in front of large groups of strangers from this experience. It definitely looks good if you can show that you manage your time well enough to have a job and maintain a good GPA as a pre-med.
 
I've been working as a TA for a science course sequence for the past year now, and I think it's the perfect job. Good hourly pay, only 10 or so hours/week, good review of material for the MCAT, and an amazing and fulfilling teaching experience. I have my job not because I need the money (though it's always nice) but because I love it.

For the record, I doubt an admissions commitee would ever look down on someone for waiting tables or cashiering to bring in the dough. Money is money, and job opportunities are highly variable between peoples' situations.
My school doesn't pay TA's per policy 🙁
 
TAing, clinical research, menial work in university departments and setting up those giant flame-******ant party tents to pay the bills during the summer LOL.
 
I waited tables for 3 years LIKE A BOSS! Then I got a tutoring job my last year of ug. I'm jealous of all the EMTs and paramedics in my class who already have such a solid foundation from which to build
 
analyzed combustion of proteins and various starches.

aka Burger King.
 
Top