Work During Med School?

[Zeus MD]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering if any of you were planning on working during med school, or had heard of anyone successfully doing this?

I would really like to keep my current job, because my wife and I really need the great health insurance that we currently have. In order to keep the insurance, I would only need to work about 5 hours each week (1 half-day roughly), and I can make my own hours to achieve that total of 5 each week.

Any thoughts on if this would be doable?? Thanks in advance.

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[MercuryX]

Only 5 hours? You can definately squeeze in that time. Good luck.

 

[lilnoelle]

I agree, 5 hours should be doable. I wouldn't depend on doing more than that though until you get a ways into med school to see how things go. Some individuals do work (I think Critical Mass works something like 30 hours a week) but it is pretty rare. (I only know of one individual in my class).

 

[kdburton]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering if any of you were planning on working during med school, or had heard of anyone successfully doing this?

I would really like to keep my current job, because my wife and I really need the great health insurance that we currently have. In order to keep the insurance, I would only need to work about 5 hours each week (1 half-day roughly), and I can make my own hours to achieve that total of 5 each week.

Any thoughts on if this would be doable?? Thanks in advance.

I was told in my interviews that plenty of students do around 10 hours/week of research or TA stuff, so 5 hours of something else should be no problem based on that.

 

[DblHelix]

I just took a job as a lion tamer next year. Mostly for the health insurance.

 

[Critical Mass]

Some individuals do work (I think Critical Mass works something like 30 hours a week) but it is pretty rare. (I only know of one individual in my class).

I start at about 30/week at the beginning of an exam block and then ramp downward toward 10 as exams approach. No working the week of exams until they are over (then I'm on while everybody else is partying).

FYI I'm a med tech at the hospital on my school's campus. It's all per diem pay ($30/hour); no benefits aside from my parking space and a lousy 10% discount on meals.

{lilnoelle}

 

[georgia_md]

I start at about 30/week at the beginning of an exam block and then ramp downward toward 10 as exams approach. No working the week of exams until they are over (then I'm on while everybody else is partying).

FYI I'm a med tech at the hospital on my school's campus. It's all per diem pay ($30/hour); no benefits aside from my parking space and a lousy 10% discount on meals.

{lilnoelle}

med tech? ASCP? So am I

 

[Critical Mass]

med tech? ASCP? So am I

I didn't go through the formal MT training so I am just MP,M(ASCP) via on-the-job training.

I work in the micro/viro lab. Much respeck.

 

[kdburton]

I start at about 30/week at the beginning of an exam block and then ramp downward toward 10 as exams approach. No working the week of exams until they are over (then I'm on while everybody else is partying).

FYI I'm a med tech at the hospital on my school's campus. It's all per diem pay ($30/hour); no benefits aside from my parking space and a lousy 10% discount on meals.

{lilnoelle}

Wow. that seems like a lot of hours. Are you still able to do as well as you want to in school?

 

[45408]

Wow. that seems like a lot of hours. Are you still able to do as well as you want to in school?

CM is the guy who will take the easy B over the hard A. It's all about time-management. He still has another 138 hours in a week for other stuff.

 

[hawkeey]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering if any of you were planning on working during med school, or had heard of anyone successfully doing this?

I would really like to keep my current job, because my wife and I really need the great health insurance that we currently have. In order to keep the insurance, I would only need to work about 5 hours each week (1 half-day roughly), and I can make my own hours to achieve that total of 5 each week.

Any thoughts on if this would be doable?? Thanks in advance.

My advice is to work at or near the medical school. At my school, the student center (gym + track) employs a lot of the student population. Another consideration is summer research and getting a small stipend.

Be careful though, if you start falling behind, it might be better to just focus on class and take out the loans. You can make up the money later one way or the other, but it is difficult to go back and improve your grades.

 

[Critical Mass]

CM is the guy who will take the easy B over the hard A. It's all about time-management. He still has another 138 hours in a week for other stuff.

My reputation precedes me! Damn straight, Prowler. Do you know who I used to be? Or have I commented on this since February?

I'll cut back next year when we hit the higher yield stuff for step 1. Right now, I'm all about the nest egg. Fortunately I was blessed to have a solid background in biochem and physiology before starting med school. The neuro was mostly new, but it's interesting so I like studying it.

Right now it looks like I can hang up my hospital nametag after the winter holiday season. I'll probably sign on with a different hospital during my fourth year.

Don't forget that I have to save time for SDN.

 

[primadonna22274]

Gosh CM, I didn't know that you could still do OJT for MT. My ex-mother-in-law did the same (back in the late 70s/early 80s) and in fact at that time you could take the exam so she was MT(ASCP). She retired several years ago and my ex and I parted ways so I haven't spoken with her since.
But you know, I think there's something to be said for the easy B vs. the hard A. In PA school there were a couple of hard Bs for me (Physio, Anatomy) and I really worked my butt off in Pharm. But strangely the medicine just clicked and I hardly felt like I worked at all and the rest were As...I don't imagine that med school would be so easy because the hard science is the stuff that makes me work. But man, I miss school. Just wondering if I miss it as much as I will my regular paycheck? (Which is why I keep putting off applying.)

My reputation precedes me! Damn straight, Prowler. Do you know who I used to be? Or have I commented on this since February?

I'll cut back next year when we hit the higher yield stuff for step 1. Right now, I'm all about the nest egg. Fortunately I was blessed to have a solid background in biochem and physiology before starting med school. The neuro was mostly new, but it's interesting so I like studying it.

Right now it looks like I can hang up my hospital nametag after the winter holiday season. I'll probably sign on with a different hospital during my fourth year.

Don't forget that I have to save time for SDN.

 

[Critical Mass]

Gosh CM, I didn't know that you could still do OJT for MT. My ex-mother-in-law did the same (back in the late 70s/early 80s) and in fact at that time you could take the exam so she was MT(ASCP).

An MT would need five years of experience post-Bachelor's to sit for the MT(ASCP) exam. Since I had a Master's in Micro, I could sit for M(ASCP) after 6 months. It would have been only a year with just a Bachelor's, and since I don't get paid any extra for my degree, my Master's turned out to be a waste of money (for more info, see my post in the re-applicant forum).

In my state, the MT programs have pretty much all closed down, so they're not left with much choice.

To address the OP specifically, I wouldn't have bothered with my job if I wasn't already trained, the pay wasn't decent, and I hadn't been given veto power over any shift that I didn't want.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey everyone. I was just wondering if any of you were planning on working during med school, or had heard of anyone successfully doing this?

I would really like to keep my current job, because my wife and I really need the great health insurance that we currently have. In order to keep the insurance, I would only need to work about 5 hours each week (1 half-day roughly), and I can make my own hours to achieve that total of 5 each week.

Any thoughts on if this would be doable?? Thanks in advance.

I suspect 5 hours is doable, but bear in mind that time is fungible and so that is 5 less hours you will be spending with your wife, working out, etc.
For most people, it's best to treat med school as your full time job -- start out doing it alone, and if, after a couple of tests, you find you have ample time, then add in something else. The vast majority of med students will not be working. Many find they don't really have the time to spare or would rather spend their handful of free hours blowing off steam and keeping their sanity in other less vocational ways.

 

[georgia_md]

An MT would need five years of experience post-Bachelor's to sit for the MT(ASCP) exam..

... Or if they possess at least 2 years medical lab experience post-bachelor's and MLT(ASCP) certification, they can sit for the MT(ASCP) exam. This was the route I took

 

[georgia_md]

I didn't go through the formal MT training so I am just MP,M(ASCP) via on-the-job training.

I work in the micro/viro lab. Much respeck.

Thanks! Much repecks to you too! Med techs represent!!