Work during medical school?

[pharmchica15]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

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[Goro]

I cannot recommend this unless you are a true master of time management.

 

[jarednogeek]

I’ve never heard of this being a good idea. Between taking time to study and mental wellness I don’t think it wise. Feasible? Maybe. On my interview trail one med student restored old furniture and resold it but I think it was 1 day a week part time.

 

[WinslowPringle]

I did it. Didn't help my grades, didn't help my residency interviews really, didn't make a huge dent in my loans.
Know a few people who also worked and their grades were ok. YMMV. I absolutely would recommend against doing it in the first semester/block until you know how you will handle the work load.

 

[Catalystik]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Many med schools have a policy that doesn't allow employment during academic terms. You might check and see if that is the case at your school.

That said, I worked during med school, and there was a definite negative impact on my test scores compared to the first year when I made money only as a participant in research studies..

 

[Blanky]

When I started working in the ED (start of my premed) there was a guy there who worked two 12s a month and he was in his first semester of med school at the local instate MD. Fast forward he has worked two 12s a month and is now in the last semester of M4 and getting ready to match.
I think a lot of it has to do with time management and willingness to put in the work. He has also mentioned during M3 how he stays late and goes into the OR when something interesting comes in...

 

[puahate]

just takes loans

 

[Dwight Snoot]

I'm only 4 months into my first year but I would say that I would have time to work 10-15 hours a week. Whether or not its worth it is a different story. But the way I look at is is that 15 hours of work now will be about 1 hour work as an attending (in terms of money). Hard to justify using the little free time you have to make a fairly insignificant amount of money.

 

[Medic741]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Not worth it unless you can land a paid research position where your PI let's you work on your own schedule (ie. bioinformatics you can do in you PJ's at 2am)

 

[Medic741]

I'm only 4 months into my first year but I would say that I would have time to work 10-15 hours a week. Whether or not its worth it is a different story. But the way I look at is is that 15 hours of work now will be about 1 hour work as an attending (in terms of money). Hard to justify using the little free time you have to make a fairly insignificant amount of money.

Will not be the case second year when your free time is sunk into step

 

[TresselforPresident]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

This mainly depends on specialty choice, IMO.

If you are convinced without a doubt that you want a "less competitive" specialty...and you know for a fact there is absolutely no way you will want to go into Ortho/Plastics/ENT after seeing your first mandibulectomy with scapular tip free flap reconstruction during MS3 (even though many people who come into med school this way change their mind)... then yeah, you can very likely earn some money on the side during med school.

I know people (US MDs) who barely passed most of their classes and still managed to easily match into well-regarded Family Medicine and IM residency programs.

If you're considering something competitive down the line, however, I would strongly discourage. Spend that time on studying for Step 1 and save yourself a lot of stress, anxiety and worrying during your application and interview season. You'll pay the extra loans back eventually, and will be much happier you matched than you would be by shaving off a few points of interest from your still hefty loan package.

 

[Med Ed]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Start by assuming the time commitment is 60 hours/week. If going to 72-75 hours/week in order to work does not intimidate you, then by all means jeopardize your academic record.

I have known a number of medical students over the years who have successfully worked in medical school. The common thread is they all did it on an occasional basis (read 1-2 times/month during the low intensity parts of school) and on the weekends. Their jobs ranged from EMT to nurse to bartender.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

No.

 

[nymd22]

Some people at my school work at the front desk of the gym or whatnot, so they can get paid while they study. Another option is paid research, if you're a master of time management. If you can find a situation like that, I would say go for it, but otherwise I can't imagine you having any time.

 

[shaosoldier]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

If you're gifted in learning information quickly (first pass) and disciplined than go for it. Otherwise, like the others above, I would recommend against it. The first year isn't too bad, it's basic sciences but on steroids -- each test is like a cumulative undergrad final and you'll prob have multiple per week. It might be plausible to so first year. 2nd year, I did not see much sunlight. 3rd and 4th year it depends on your rotation, you'll be pulling night shift though.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Hey everyone! Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I was recently accepted to medical school (yay!!), and I was wondering how feasible it is to work part time as a full time med student. For the past three years, I have worked as a pharmacy tech (~12-15hrs/week). For the most part, I have been able to pay my rent and have a little left over for spending money each month. I've really enjoyed not having to take out extra loans for living expenses, so ideally I would like to continue this. That said, I am unsure of the time commitment required. I'm not thrilled with the idea of taking out more loans to cover housing, but I guess I will have to if its not realistic.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Generally the answer is, “no, you won’t have time.”

There occasionally are people who find time to do a little MCAT tutoring on the side. But having a scheduled job? It would either have to be very flexible hours or maybe be a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or evening.

One thing that seems to surprise premeds is that med students don’t typically get 10-12 weeks off in the summer. I know that each med school has their own Academic Calendar, but it seems that the biggest break is the summer before MS1, then the summer between MS1 and MS2 may have about 2-4 weeks off (sometimes varies depending on research activities). Just not a lot of time off.

 

[JeSuisUnDoc]

I would do something on campus like a front desk thing where it’s chill enough that you can study at the same time.


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[Golden_Caramel]

I've heard that some medical schools have options for M2s/M3s/M4s to be teaching assistants or tutors on the med school campus, but that the hours requirement (or cap?) per week is low