what kind of part-time jobs yall have?

[mehh]

I plan to work part time during medical school and I was wondering what are some of the jobs current med students have. What kind of jobs are recommended?

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[confuse]

I find teaching/tutoring to be a great part-time job during med school. Hours are flexible and pay rate is good if you can develop a reputation. Kaplan is always looking for people to teach MCAT and SAT but their pay rate is not very high; if you do private tutoring, you can easily earn 3x as much and usually without tax. I have a couple of friends who work part-time as data analysts or medical transcriber in med school but these jobs require certain skillsets. You should check out what your school schedule is like, what you skills are, and take it from there.

 

[Mr hawkings]

I plan to work part time during medical school and I was wondering what are some of the jobs current med students have. What kind of jobs are recommended?

Dont do it until you have settled in and you know you can handle the work load.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Dont do it until you have settled in and you know you can handle the work load.

For real. Med school is hard, and very smart people crash and burn every year despite schools' making failing incredibly difficult. If you were an RN or pharmacist I could definitely see picking up a couple of shifts a month, but otherwise it'd be extremely short-sighted to pick up $300/wk at Blockbuster when you could be studying or otherwise doing something like research that might help you land a $300K future income vs. a $180K one.

 

[atomi]

I plan to work part time during medical school and I was wondering what are some of the jobs current med students have. What kind of jobs are recommended?

self run auto repair business on the side. lucrative, actually.

 

[Mr hawkings]

self run auto repair business on the side. lucrative, actually.

Yeah, i used to run a marginally succesful moving company but i shut it down when i realized i was going to be attending med school out of state.

 

[PepperMD]

Assuming:
A. you can handle the workload of med school plus a job (which truly is not likely even for the most gifted of students) and
B. you're able to find a job in this economy (particularly when you tell them you're in med school and they consider the likelihood that you will frequently have to take time off to study for tests or may just up and quit)...

I would recommend a job where you pretty much do nothing but sit there so you can at least get some studying done. A computer lab monitor at a campus library might be a good choice or possibly a tech in a lab where you mainly are just babysitting the machinery/waiting for incubations, etc.

I stayed on at a job I really enjoyed doing one 8-hr shift every other week and even that became too much once the curriculum started really humming. That time, if you have it, is much, much better spent relaxing or spending time with family.

 

[mjl1717]

self run auto repair business on the side. lucrative, actually.

Although it may be lucrative...Things like this always seemed like a conflict of interest to me.. Maybe Im wrong , some guys may wear many hats and claim they can multitask..

As L2D has said.. I worry about whats on "my own plate" , [especially the fragile, meticulous, goal oriented medical plate].. Just my opinion.

 

[PepperMD]

Although it may be lucrative...Things like this always seemed like a conflict of interest to me...

I was planning on becoming a dermatologist with a chain of tanning salons on the side. Would this be a conflict of interest?

 

[akpete]

i recommend donating plasma. it seems the toughest part of working part-time during med school is finding a job that has flexible enough hours.

 

[mjl1717]

I was planning on becoming a dermatologist with a chain of tanning salons on the side. Would this be a conflict of interest?

At least thats related!...To show some compassion and altruism.. Id just keep my prices reasonable..Dont want to appear in any manner like a greedy, oil Republican or unconscientious American car maker..[as you see there both as good as dead.]. { Just my opinion}..

 

[sprinkibrio]

A lot of people work in the library or student center and study at the same time. I'm sure the hours they work are limited.

 

[rachmoninov3]

I've kept my per diem position as a CNA at the hospital I worked at before medical school. I only work during the breaks, and at about $200 shift, it's pretty lucrative. Only problem is that the hospital is now 1 hour away rather than 5 miles away...my poor truck.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Speech therapist.

I wasn't working (and it was so nice!) until my husband lost his job last week (thanks economy!).

So now I have to pick up about 10 clients to help pay the mortgage and the rent (since I go to school 3 hours from home and financial aid isn't enough for the non-trads).

BUT, I decompressed, meaning I split my first year into two so I can handle 10 hours a week for work after having done well my first semester.

 

[atomi]

Although it may be lucrative...Things like this always seemed like a conflict of interest to me.. Maybe Im wrong , some guys may wear many hats and claim they can multitask..

As L2D has said.. I worry about whats on "my own plate" , [especially the fragile, meticulous, goal oriented medical plate].. Just my opinion.

Yeah, it's something I struggle with. I'm good at it and the money is good, so it's hard to give up as long as I have time for it. I imagine I will shut down come residency time.

 

[atomi]

flexible enough hours.

that is key. I suggested self employment because you can set your own hours, but upon thinking about it more, customers can be very annoying at times, and you find yourself tied to the business 24/7 whether you realize it or not. Doing spreadsheets, answering emails in class, etc.

Still, it's a better option than working night shift at the foundry I guess.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Speech therapist.

I wasn't working (and it was so nice!) until my husband lost his job last week (thanks economy!).

So now I have to pick up about 10 clients to help pay the mortgage and the rent (since I go to school 3 hours from home and financial aid isn't enough for the non-trads).

BUT, I decompressed, meaning I split my first year into two so I can handle 10 hours a week for work after having done well my first semester.

thanks for posting! It's nice to hear a (mostly) positive post on how this can be done, versus why it shouldn't.

Seems to me that a couple questions coming in to play regarding this topic would be:

1) Is the income needed? For us non-trads, it may be. If spouse is doing childcare or not paid much, and the cost of living financial aid allowance is not enough the pay the mortgage on the house that can't be sold due to real estate values slipping..working through med school may be the only way one can afford to attend med school. For many, financial stress = stress; less financial stress may mean increased ability to focus on school, albeit with fewer available hours to study.

2) Job requirements? Flexibility seems important, although I've read lots of posts about some students spending lots more time studying just before exams..this seems to indicate some room for a few-hrs-per-day job provided one has the discipline and makes a more consistent study effort throughout the blocks/terms/semesters.

3) how long can one really study effectively? I personally cannot be effective at studying, say on a Saturday, from 6am until 12am (6 hrs sleep is enough for me). After a certain amount of hours, I just fizzle out, lose focus, etc. A 4 hour work time somewhere in there, for me, would help me to be more effective during the remaining 13-14 hours available that day.

4) How much income are we talking about? From previous posts and what seems to be the general concensus, $8-10 an hr may well not be worth the effort, given possible implications of less study time and lower grades. $60 an hour as a tutor, paid in cash? Probably would be worth it. Seems somewhat personal as to what the cutoff would be, but likely somewhere between those figures?

I hope to keep working due to great benefits + good hourly wage but unsure if my employer will allow this..

 

[coldweatherblue]

I'll probably do some tutoring next year. Try to teach guitar too..

I'd like to have a normal part-time job but it's hard cause I'd need to be off two out of five weeks for exams. I would NOT want to work during exam week or the week before.. am paying way too much $$$ for school to compromise it at all.

 

[Slide]

I worked at Kaplan since the beginning of my M1 and I'm still retained there. The money was pretty good, and had some nice perks, like QBank and some of the books. However, I would not recommend it until you know what you can handle on your schedule. There were times were I had to teach 3 hour classes right when I had an anatomy practical or a physiology exam coming up, and other times I had to fill in for other classes at the last minute because all the d@mn pre-meds that got in med school quit as soon as they got their letter or changed their minds.

 

[mjl1717]

I worked at Kaplan since the beginning of my M1 and I'm still retained there. The money was pretty good, and had some nice perks, like QBank and some of the books. However, I would not recommend it until you know what you can handle on your schedule. There were times were I had to teach 3 hour classes right when I had an anatomy practical or a physiology exam coming up, and other times I had to fill in for other classes at the last minute because all the d@mn pre-meds that got in med school quit as soon as they got their letter or changed their minds.

That is a good relevant gig (slang for job)

 

[Richspiders07]

Dog/house sit... nothing better than finding a rich doctor who needs a reliable person [ie: you, a fab med student] to sit in their mansion and study while they are away at some conference.

 

[bodonid]

I can't see how a little bit of chump change would be worth the last vestiges of my sanity.

People who honor don't have time, people who don't honor probably shouldn't be working. I know a grand total of one person who had a part time job last semester, and he quit after a month.

To each his own

 

[Mr hawkings]

I can't see how a little bit of chump change would be worth the last vestiges of my sanity.

People who honor don't have time, people who don't honor probably shouldn't be working. I know a grand total of one person who had a part time job last semester, and he quit after a month.

To each his own

Some people do need the money.

 

[bodonid]

Some people do need the money.

we are all in debt here.

 

[kdburton]

I plan to work part time during medical school and I was wondering what are some of the jobs current med students have. What kind of jobs are recommended?

I worked in the computer lab at my school one night a week for 6 hours. Basically just sat there and studied, surfed the web, and BS'ed with my classmates who were on campus. If you can find a cush job like that I'd highly recommend it. It paid for all of my gas and some of my bar tabs

 

[PepperMD]

we are all in debt here.

Yeah, but you can imagine somebody with a family, a single parent, etc where the maximum loan amount that the school allows just won't cut it.

 

[lilnoelle]

No paying job for me but I do spend about 3 hours per day (more on weekends and during M1/M2) taking care of my children so I can see how somebody could make it work... though preferable if you don't have to.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

No paying job for me but I do spend about 3 hours per day (more on weekends and during M1/M2) taking care of my children so I can see how somebody could make it work... though preferable if you don't have to.

That's a full time job!

 

[smgfan]

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[Jwax]

i recommend donating plasma. it seems the toughest part of working part-time during med school is finding a job that has flexible enough hours.

Dog/house sit... nothing better than finding a rich doctor who needs a reliable person [ie: you, a fab med student] to sit in their mansion and study while they are away at some conference.

These are some great ideas. I actually looked up plasma donation in my city to see where I could do it. Can't find any info on exactly how much they get per donation though. Am strongly considering this as we could really use the extra cash. I'm going to have to look and see if I could someone to house sit for. Clever.

What I figured out to do last year when I was really strapped for cash as we were trying to pay for a wedding/honeymoon over xmas break of M1: at our school we have a note group service that the majority of the class enrolls in. We each get assigned an hour of lecture to take notes for (1/2 an hour the week before exams) and then post them online. We each only have to do about 4 a year. Some people want to be a part of notegroups where they can have access to all the notes but don't want to do their assigned hour. I (along with maybe 2 or 3 other girls in my class) have offered our note-taking services for hire - ~$30/lecture hour. They each take about 2.5 hours, and I usually do one or two a week. This gives me an extra $100-200 each month. It is related, since you are having to watch the lectures in detail, so you learn and get paid. It helps that I type ~80wpm.

 

[clinicallabguy]

we are all in debt here.

Yes, but it's not just about the debt. It's about not being able to live on the maximum amount of loans one receives. I wouldn't have any problem living off of $1,500/mo. if I were single. But, I need more than that if I want to be able to afford medical insurance for myself, my spouse and my kids on top of other expenses. The options I see here are: take out private loans on top of school loans, make your spouse work (or work more), or work part-time. Each of these requires that you choose to sacrifice either more debt with higher interest during school, possibly seeing your spouse even less and sending kids to day care, or sacrificing some study time. I don't know what the least of these evils are for me.

Yeah, but you can imagine somebody with a family, a single parent, etc where the maximum loan amount that the school allows just won't cut it.

This is why I may consider working part-time. But, I want to get a feel for the workload first.

 

[Perrotfish]

Going to medical school and then working part time seems like staying in a 5 star resort and then offering to spend the day cleaning the bathroom stalls for minimum wage while you're there.

 

[smgfan]

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[mjl1717]

You clearly come from a privileged background and don't know what it might be like for non-traditional students who have a spouse or a family. Your comment was a bit of an insult to those in that situation.

Agree: Little does he know it.. The guy is indirectly saying "Im unconscientious", shows little compassion, might agree with Chrylser/GM CEOs greedy ideology, probably lives at LEAST a sheltered middle class life..With mentation like that would not be my primary care doc..

Also I never thought of med school as a resort but more like a royal fight to ace the boards..

 

[coldweatherblue]

not to speak out of turn, but I think the point of Perrotfish's statement was that med school is so expensive that part-time labor is inconsequential and it is far wiser to use the time one would be spending at work studying in order to make the best of one's educational investment.

 

[DOquestions]

I plan to work part time during medical school and I was wondering what are some of the jobs current med students have. What kind of jobs are recommended?

I'm in the process right now of going through a trial period for a full-time writing position that I can do from home. The hours are flexible and all I have to do is follow guidelines and all that stuff and meet deadlines. If I do get this position, I don't see how I could not keep working this position while in medical school (if). I would write 40 articles that are about 500 words in length and make $2,000 a month.

 

[smgfan]

*

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

I'm in the process right now of going through a trial period for a full-time writing position that I can do from home. The hours are flexible and all I have to do is follow guidelines and all that stuff and meet deadlines. If I do get this position, I don't see how I could not keep working this position while in medical school (if). I would write 40 articles that are about 500 words in length and make $2,000 a month.

I hope you don't mean 40 articles a month.

 

[mjl1717]

not to speak out of turn, but I think the point of Perrotfish's statement was that med school is so expensive that part-time labor is inconsequential and it is far wiser to use the time one would be spending at work studying in order to make the best of one's educational investment.

If nothing else:

You and perrot should at least be aware (especially in this economy) not everyone can afford to live high on the hog, med school or no med school..[shouldnt even have to explain this]

 

[coldweatherblue]

Did you understand what I wrote?

Who said anything about living large?

Think about it like this: You pay $50k/year to go to school. You could get a part-time job making $20k a year but it's going to cut into study time. Some nights before exams you'll be working instead of studying. Step 1 decides pretty much what career options are open for you. Is it wiser economically to spend time studying so you can maximize your future career options and make the best of your medical education, or to try to work in order to have *slightly* more money but less time for medicine?

Look I waited tables 30+ hours a week in undergrad to pay for rent/gas/insurance, etc so I ain't no fortunate son, but even though it sucks not having enough money to ... buy cheese... or take a vacation over spring break.. , I'm not going to work (outside tutoring, teaching guitar, etc) in med school because frankly I take my education too seriously and all my time (outside free time) is devoted towards medicine. Does that make sense?

that said if you have dependents it is a totally different situation.

 

[DOquestions]

I hope you don't mean 40 articles a month.

40 per week. I would cut down to a point that I could handle though. They require at least 5 a week.

 

[DOquestions]

Did you understand what I wrote?

Who said anything about living large?

Think about it like this: You pay $50k/year to go to school. You could get a part-time job making $20k a year but it's going to cut into study time. Some nights before exams you'll be working instead of studying. Step 1 decides pretty much what career options are open for you. Is it wiser economically to spend time studying so you can maximize your future career options and make the best of your medical education, or to try to work in order to have *slightly* more money but less time for medicine?

Look I waited tables 30+ hours a week in undergrad to pay for rent/gas/insurance, etc so I ain't no fortunate son, but even though it sucks not having enough money to ... buy cheese... or take a vacation over spring break.. , I'm not going to work (outside tutoring, teaching guitar, etc) in med school because frankly I take my education too seriously and all my time (outside free time) is devoted towards medicine. Does that make sense?

that said if you have dependents it is a totally different situation.

Nothing wrong with working about 10 hours a week to help pay for food, gas, and other expenses. I already have a part-time writing job that I could make on average of around $100/month just by working one single day.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

40 per week. I would cut down to a point that I could handle though. They require at least 5 a week.

I obviously don't know what kind of articles these are, but this sounds like a tall order. I couldn't imagine finding the time to write a 2-page essay every day during M1-3 years. Maybe you can, who knows, but I'd make sure there's a no-penalty opt-out clause in your employment agreement.

 

[DOquestions]

I obviously don't know what kind of articles these are, but this sounds like a tall order. I couldn't imagine finding the time to write a 2-page essay every day during M1-3 years. Maybe you can, who knows, but I'd make sure there's a no-penalty opt-out clause in your employment agreement.

Usually takes me 30 minutes to write an article about any health topic. get up at 6:00 am and write for an hour or so and do the same right before I go to bed and maybe fit an article or two in during the day.

I get to submit my own article ideas. So I would not have to spend all that rough time learning about a topic I have no idea about. I basically just pull out a journal article and write a paper about it. I always follow this format:

Description:

Findings:

What the findings mean:

Conclusion:

References:

All of this discussion will be mute if I don't get the position. These articles are not really essays, thank god.

I'm sure I could handle about 20 or so a week. That would provide about $1,000 - $2,000 a month.

 

[Houser1121]

I am working for the Army National Guard in the ASR program. They are paying a portion of my tuition and a salary of 50 grand per year for 3 years of medical school. Then paying me about 4 grand my last year as a true guard member.

 

[confuse]

By this same argument, med school is such a big investment that all that we should do is lock ourselves in the library for 24 hr/day. No phone calls, no TV, no extracurriculars, no hanging out with friends, and no SDN.

not to speak out of turn, but I think the point of Perrotfish's statement was that med school is so expensive that part-time labor is inconsequential and it is far wiser to use the time one would be spending at work studying in order to make the best of one's educational investment.

 

[coldweatherblue]

By this same argument, med school is such a big investment that all that we should do is lock ourselves in the library for 24 hr/day. No phone calls, no TV, no extracurriculars, no hanging out with friends, and no SDN.

...reductio ad absurdum...

also my point was regarding medical school expenses and the relative benefit of average part-time employment; both involve money. Extracurriculars do not involve earning money but rather the abstract enjoyment one gets from quality free time which is necessary to be in a good mood and cannot be monetarily quantified. They are not at all the same argument.

If you have a part-time job that lets you earn significant money and doesn't affect your education, that's awesome props to you. Personally I'm not going to spend 30 hours a week waiting tables because I'd rather be either relaxing or studying. Like I said also if you have dependents it's a different matter.