MD Working during Med school

[parapremedic]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

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[OraclePL]

Guess it depends on what "ample study time" means. if you’re really just sitting at work and have nothing to do and can study for hours each shift, you may be able to pull it off. Most of the time it’s not worth it, you need your weekends to catch up on the huge volume of material you'll be getting during the week.

I would only consider this if you really have 90% of free time each shift in order to study. basically if it’s like working in a student library where you’re at your desk and can study intensely and in a focused manner for the entire shift. Most premeds underestimate the sheer volume of material in medical school. you’ll have a tough enough transition as it is, I wouldn’t do anything that will stack the odds against you.

 

[Proudfather94]

Personally I wouldn't do it. That's still going to take time and focus away from your studies. Medical school is usually a once in a lifetime opportunity, I wouldn't risk it for some loans you can pay off in a few years.

 

[Kardio]

Maybe it would work but slipping up and repeating one year will cost you a year of MD pay over the course of your life. You'll also lose the time investment required to build a CV for more competitive fields (even if you're not interested as an M0, you never know what your future intere$t$ will be). Seems penny wise and pound foolish to me.

If your gig is paramedic (just speculating based on your username), maybe you can work a shift every few weeks for some spending cash and to keep your clinical skills up.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Allow me to respond by quoting some messages by me and @gyngyn from a recent thread Feasible side hustles going into MS1

Let me stop you now--if you need to do a job between now and when your loans come in then do what you need to do, but do NOT do a side hustle in med school. I cannot tell you the number of people who thought they were being smart by trying to defray the cost of their medical education but stumbled academically, or even wound up having to repeat a year. That sort of defeats the whole purpose of trying to save money if you wind up tacking on an extra year of tuition. I have literally never seen anyone who tried to hold a side-hustle in med school who thought it was worth it after the fact.

These are the only 4 years of med school that you will ever have in your entire life. It's your one chance to lay the groundwork for the kind of doctor you're going to grow up to be, and that means A) really learning your pathophysiology so that you're able to think mechanistically about what's happening with your patients, and B) devoting whatever spare time you have to deciding what specialty you want to spend the rest of your life doing, as well as leaving enough time to tend to your mental health.

If you are truly worried about your finances leading up to loan disbursement, then you need to seriously consider your pre-med school plans. It would be great to travel the world, but you've got to take care of the essentials first and that includes moving expenses. If you can fund that by driving an Uber or working retail or whatever between now and matriculation, go for it, but please do not try and continue whatever you're doing into med school.

Let me emphasize this with an illustration. We had two students working on the weekends (unbeknownst to us). They will both have to repeat the year due to poor academic performance. These were highly accomplished individuals with sky high stats who believed that they could do in med school the same things they did in college.

There are some posts in that thread that give examples of "side hustles" that may be feasible... ultimately, if you're doing it as your hobby and it also happens to make you some money then great, but I absolutely would not do something that is going to contribute to burnout just because you're trying to pinch a few pennies. It is hard to imagine now, but the amount of money you earn now really just doesn't matter over the long run, and the risk you take is real.

 

[Mre1123]

My take: Not worth it, and likely not feasible. Working full time on the weekends (again assuming you're in EMS) means you're probably working 40/48 hours of the 2 days you get off. Sure, maybe you can do some studying while you're there. But this means things like food shopping, laundry, cleaning your place, seeing friends, taking any personal time, etc., all has to be done Monday to Friday, on top of all of your regular school commitments. This also means that you will be busy 7/7 days of the week, with no time off. I know it may seem like having a slow day at work is "time off" but it isn't, you'll have no time to decompress. Have an exam on a Friday and it goes great/poorly? Can't celebrate or relax afterwards, gotta work a double/triple. Have a project/exam on a Monday? You're at work for 2 days before that.
Again, also assuming this is an EMS job: I also worked similar to you before beginning med school. I had an easy gig, I was in a fly car by myself in a really slow town, with mostly down time. If I could've kept that job while in school....I wouldn't have. In the off chance you get slammed one weekend, that could mean failing a test, falling a week behind, whatever. It's not worth it.
On the other side, maybe see if you could work per diem? I think something that could be reasonable is picking up 1-3 shifts a month, but you schedule them when they work for you. Gives you a decent amount of spending money, scratches the itch of wanting to stay at your job, but won't screw you over in school.

 

[xffan624]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

Not worth it. Most schools require you to get permission to work and I can't imagine any school approving this plan. At best you're basically working two full time jobs with no days off. Even if you could pull this off in MS1-2 it's not happening in MS3 so you will still have to take out loans that year. Maybe the only time this could happen would be second half of MS4.

 

[operaman]

As others have noted this is probably a plan destined for trouble. There may be the right combo of personal ability, job flexibility, and med school curriculum structure that would make this doable, but many things have to align.

I too saw some people flounder while trying to keep up other jobs. We lost an attorney early in M1 who tried to keep up his law practice part time and ultimately pulled the ripcord because of just how much time it took away from his family. We had a nurse who was actually pretty amazing and would take travel jobs during lecture blocks, then cram all the material during dedicated study days and she made it to M3 before pulling the ripcord from burnout and making a ton of money traveling.

I worked all through med school as a musician but probably averaged 3 hours a week so it was manageable. Wasn’t a ton of money but it was something I loved doing anyhow and it was enough money to let me save for other expenses not covered by loans.

If you’re going to attempt it, have a solid exit strategy. Ideally, you would pause the job for 3-4 months or even the first semester just to see how you handle the workload and how your school presents it. Much easier to add a side job once you know what you’re doing rather than trying to dig yourself out of a hole.

Notice these threads are always started by premeds. You never see anyone saying they’re an MS2 and thinking about adding a job.

 

[NegativeMargin]

People say don't work and they also say only go to private loans as a last choice... Would this be that last choice? the answer is more obvious when someone soft balls one out for you all to smack over the fence.. But plenty of edge cases exist. I am seriously debating the private loan route myself as an alternative to working, as my schools COA maxes out under 25k, and as a non-trad who's been living alone that leaves basically zero cushion.

Financial discussions come up all the time here, on reddit, in youtube comments.. and they all see the same sort of responses for good and obvious reasons, but not all of us fit so neatly into the boxes people expect the average med student to fit into. Unless there's something I'm missing, there's a decent chance I can't actually even get a private loan approved despite a credit score above 700 with no negative actions and a cosigner.. and I'm sure I'm not the only one in that position.

Could people debating this option have prepared better for transitioning into med school? Maybe.. but as someone who's lived 90% of his life under the poverty threshold, the fact that interviews went virtual and we got multiple COVID relief checks is the only reason I was able to afford the application cycle in the first place. Moving to a city 5x the size of any I have lived in, with the average rent and cost of living way higher and increasing yearly also isn't helping. And for the OP, doing well enough to disqualify himself from certain need-based aid may have put him in a worse position.

I really can't justify any of this changing the answer to the OPs question, but it does call into question these responses I have seen here over the years in response to this same question. Now that I am actually in the thick of it, it doesn't seem like any new information has actually been given out. It's the same "Don't work", "Take private loans as a final option (unless your credit score allows for lower interest rates)", and the old stand by: "You should have planned better financially for this." as if 90% of the people living in the states aren't pay-check to pay-check, or beholden to remaining poor or not getting the help they need for doing what the OP has done and position themselves in such a way as to maintain a decent salary.

 

[DarkBluMage]

People say don't work and they also say only go to private loans as a last choice... Would this be that last choice? the answer is more obvious when someone soft balls one out for you all to smack over the fence.. But plenty of edge cases exist. I am seriously debating the private loan route myself as an alternative to working, as my schools COA maxes out under 25k, and as a non-trad who's been living alone that leaves basically zero cushion.

Financial discussions come up all the time here, on reddit, in youtube comments.. and they all see the same sort of responses for good and obvious reasons, but not all of us fit so neatly into the boxes people expect the average med student to fit into. Unless there's something I'm missing, there's a decent chance I can't actually even get a private loan approved despite a credit score above 700 with no negative actions and a cosigner.. and I'm sure I'm not the only one in that position.

Could people debating this option have prepared better for transitioning into med school? Maybe.. but as someone who's lived 90% of his life under the poverty threshold, the fact that interviews went virtual and we got multiple COVID relief checks is the only reason I was able to afford the application cycle in the first place. Moving to a city 5x the size of any I have lived in, with the average rent and cost of living way higher and increasing yearly also isn't helping. And for the OP, doing well enough to disqualify himself from certain need-based aid may have put him in a worse position.

I really can't justify any of this changing the answer to the OPs question, but it does call into question these responses I have seen here over the years in response to this same question. Now that I am actually in the thick of it, it doesn't seem like any new information has actually been given out. It's the same "Don't work", "Take private loans as a final option (unless your credit score allows for lower interest rates)", and the old stand by: "You should have planned better financially for this." as if 90% of the people living in the states aren't pay-check to pay-check, or beholden to remaining poor or not getting the help they need for doing what the OP has done and position themselves in such a way as to maintain a decent salary.

It’s best not to work because it’s an added burden. A classmate of mine was working throughout the year. They were struggling when it came to school and ended up failing out. I don’t think anyone is coming from a position of thinking someone should have prepared better financially for school because not everyone comes from a wealthy or financially stable background but rather that med school is demanding and it’s not worth risking your future career for little money in return working a side job if it can be avoided.

 

[NegativeMargin]

It’s best not to work because it’s an added burden. A classmate of mine was working throughout the year. They were struggling when it came to school and ended up failing out. I don’t think anyone is coming from a position of thinking someone should have prepared better financially for school because not everyone comes from a wealthy or financially stable background but rather that med school is demanding and it’s not worth risking your future career for little money in return working a side job if it can be avoided.

Oh no, I'm not talking about anyone here. It's more a question of how can people who know more add to the discussion, as anyone who's spent a decent amount of time looking at medical school topics has seen this come up very often, and the responses I listed are really just the usual suspects.. It's really no criticism of anyone at all, more so asking if the answer is ever really going to change and what other advice can be given to people beyond this?

 

[peaceloveandmedicine]

People say don't work and they also say only go to private loans as a last choice... Would this be that last choice? the answer is more obvious when someone soft balls one out for you all to smack over the fence.. But plenty of edge cases exist. I am seriously debating the private loan route myself as an alternative to working, as my schools COA maxes out under 25k, and as a non-trad who's been living alone that leaves basically zero cushion.

Financial discussions come up all the time here, on reddit, in youtube comments.. and they all see the same sort of responses for good and obvious reasons, but not all of us fit so neatly into the boxes people expect the average med student to fit into. Unless there's something I'm missing, there's a decent chance I can't actually even get a private loan approved despite a credit score above 700 with no negative actions and a cosigner.. and I'm sure I'm not the only one in that position.

Could people debating this option have prepared better for transitioning into med school? Maybe.. but as someone who's lived 90% of his life under the poverty threshold, the fact that interviews went virtual and we got multiple COVID relief checks is the only reason I was able to afford the application cycle in the first place. Moving to a city 5x the size of any I have lived in, with the average rent and cost of living way higher and increasing yearly also isn't helping. And for the OP, doing well enough to disqualify himself from certain need-based aid may have put him in a worse position.

I really can't justify any of this changing the answer to the OPs question, but it does call into question these responses I have seen here over the years in response to this same question. Now that I am actually in the thick of it, it doesn't seem like any new information has actually been given out. It's the same "Don't work", "Take private loans as a final option (unless your credit score allows for lower interest rates)", and the old stand by: "You should have planned better financially for this." as if 90% of the people living in the states aren't pay-check to pay-check, or beholden to remaining poor or not getting the help they need for doing what the OP has done and position themselves in such a way as to maintain a decent salary.

I’m very confused at what school has a cost of attendance of 25k in a larger city. The schools I’ve been accepted to are very cheap and aren’t that low of a COA.

 

[wysdoc]

I’m very confused at what school has a cost of attendance of 25k in a larger city. The schools I’ve been accepted to are very cheap and aren’t that low of a COA.

That would be in Texas, pardner. That's why Texans stay in Texas for med school.

 

[tulsajoe94]

I worked sporadically doing dog sitting and it was nice, but I had the flexibility to turn stuff down if I fell behind. Another classmate of mine had a call center-like job but she chose her own hours and just logged on when she was free and there was a need. I think those kind of things are nice, 2 days a week without that flexibility might be tough!

 

[peaceloveandmedicine]

That would be in Texas, pardner. That's why Texans stay in Texas for med school.

I mean even those are like 40K COA on the low end. I feel like there something missing from this number. Tuition alone is at minimum 15K.

 

[GoSpursGo]

People say don't work and they also say only go to private loans as a last choice... Would this be that last choice? the answer is more obvious when someone soft balls one out for you all to smack over the fence.. But plenty of edge cases exist. I am seriously debating the private loan route myself as an alternative to working, as my schools COA maxes out under 25k, and as a non-trad who's been living alone that leaves basically zero cushion.

Financial discussions come up all the time here, on reddit, in youtube comments.. and they all see the same sort of responses for good and obvious reasons, but not all of us fit so neatly into the boxes people expect the average med student to fit into. Unless there's something I'm missing, there's a decent chance I can't actually even get a private loan approved despite a credit score above 700 with no negative actions and a cosigner.. and I'm sure I'm not the only one in that position.

Could people debating this option have prepared better for transitioning into med school? Maybe.. but as someone who's lived 90% of his life under the poverty threshold, the fact that interviews went virtual and we got multiple COVID relief checks is the only reason I was able to afford the application cycle in the first place. Moving to a city 5x the size of any I have lived in, with the average rent and cost of living way higher and increasing yearly also isn't helping. And for the OP, doing well enough to disqualify himself from certain need-based aid may have put him in a worse position.

I really can't justify any of this changing the answer to the OPs question, but it does call into question these responses I have seen here over the years in response to this same question. Now that I am actually in the thick of it, it doesn't seem like any new information has actually been given out. It's the same "Don't work", "Take private loans as a final option (unless your credit score allows for lower interest rates)", and the old stand by: "You should have planned better financially for this." as if 90% of the people living in the states aren't pay-check to pay-check, or beholden to remaining poor or not getting the help they need for doing what the OP has done and position themselves in such a way as to maintain a decent salary.

I don't think anyone is discounting the reality of financial hardship. But when you've worked so hard to get into medical school, why are you going to now handicap yourself and, at best, hinder your academic performance leading to fewer residency options, and at worst risk failing out as multiple people have cited examples of?

If you really need to, try and get a private loan. But before that talk to the financial aid office at your school about your concerns.

 

[Lifeblood_20]

As a med student, your priorities should be:
1. Well-being -- eating healthy, exercising, mental health
2. Academics & career

Anything else is below that. Don't set yourself up for burnout and academic distress by committing to a job whose pay will be a drop in the bucket in the long run.

 

[LunaOri]

Spending every weekend working will burn you out. Med school is tough; you need time to relax. Working part time (1 or 2 shifts per month) may be feasible if the schedule is flexible.

 

[wysdoc]

I mean even those are like 40K COA on the low end. I feel like there something missing from this number. Tuition alone is at minimum 15K.

A person could get a partial scholarship and have the remaining COA be 25K. This is a side point to the main topic, though.
Being a medical student and taking care of your own needs is a full time job.

 

[Detailsmatter]

I think many things have to align perfectly for something like working during med school to work out. I worked part time during MS1 and part of MS2 and was still able to do well. You have to make sure you're completely solid academically before adding anything on top of school. The job I did was basically doing chart review for clinical trials (did this during my gap year too) and so I could do it from home on my own time whenever I was free. If I was busy I could put stuff off as needed; it was super flexible. I stopped like midway through MS2 because it wasn't worth it and I needed to start the step 1 grind. In all, I probably worked about 10 hours a week. I was pretty good with time management to get school done, do research, work, and relax. It was tough but at a certain point it just wasn't worth it all. Would highly recommend and think its more bang for your buck to just grind school, research, and wellness and not work at all. at best, working in med school might give you a bit extra cash but at worst it be your academic demise.

 

[Acapedia]

I would generally say no way, don't work, at least not at a regular job that has fixed hours. Some rotations or preclinical courses are harder than others, so you may sometimes have the time to do so, and other times you wont. When I first started in medical school a few years ago, I was a lab assistant. My PI was cool and really flexible. After the project ended I didn't work (in year 3, which was probably a good thing). However, this year I found an online 3rd party service that essentially pays me to read medical journals and I can do it whenever I want and I'd say im averaging $20-30 per hour and i'm even learning relevant stuff while I do it. Its the best thing I've found and probably the best thing for a medical student for sure.

 

[MusicDOc124]

IMO, unless you are a PA or something (where you’ll be seeing patients at that level and able to start to apply what you’re learning in med school) working maybe 1-2 weekends per month, then no. Every (or nearly every) weekend both days will burn you out and reduce your study time, especially

The amount of pay might be high enough to cover expenses, but you’re already taking out loans, and IMO it’s not high enough to risk burn out, lost study time, lost free time, etc.

 

[ChiDr]

Wouldn’t recommend it. Part-time work under 20 h, may be. Some research, sure. You really have no idea how demanding school will be. I did some data analysis and worked in our simulation center, it was a lot with everything else going on. Most people who work more than part time don't do well. Start small and increase as you feel comfortable.

Remember, in school, you want to make sure you do that well and learn the material. Become a better doctor, you arent going to medical school and spending 200k+ to work during it. You will have plenty of time for that. But to each is own and you walk your own path. There is a reason they give you money to live, so you don’t need to work.

 

[wook]

I would also suggest not working while in med school. The number of posts on this board about getting into the residency of one's choice are plentiful. You will want to optimize your chances of getting into the specialty of YOUR choosing. Working while in med school may at the least potentially detract from that, and at the worst may cause you to fail out.

 

[Kuratz]

I worked through M1/2 and think it can be worth it if you have the right setup. In my opinion it must:
1. Be flexible. To allow ramping up or down the hours based on your studies.
2. Pay well.
3. Serve a dual purpose (ie you are at work but studying or exercising or hobby etc)
4. Be enjoyable.

If it doesn’t meet all these criteria I think you’ll have a bad experience and the stress will outweigh the money.

For example my “work” was giving private tennis lessons to high school kids who were trying to play in college. Could do it 1-2 hours at a time on my schedule for cash. It functioned at my workout, the pay still makes me miss it years later as a resident and it was very enjoyable. Occasionally there would be a national tournament that the parents would bring me to over the weekend that would pay my living expenses for an entire month or more and I still had downtime to study.

It is only unicorn situations like this that can make sense. 99% of my classmates did not have extra income.

 

[blacco]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

Keep in mind, a lot of your “studying” will be watching videos (of recorded lectures or 3rd party materials) which is harder to do while working than reading a textbook.

Also you really don’t want to feel committed to a job on days you don’t want to go in. If they were flexible and you could just work whenever you’re available that’s a different story.

Some labs have paid research positions that are a bit more time flexible. You could look into that if you need the money. But generally, as others have said, not really worth it. Med school is extremely demanding and the time off is precious. You’re on track to make good money and doctors that have financial sense do fine in repaying loans. The risk is probably not worth the reward

 

[idkmed]

I know a number of schools actually require you to sign a pledge not to engage in paid work while the semester is in session, so keep that in mind.

 

[dabears505]

Whatever you will be making in that time you work, you will make in 3 months as an attending. Not worth it at all. Even a few potential grade slips may cost you getting into a higher paying better lifestyle specialty.

 

[calvinhobbes]

I wouldn’t do it. Not in first year, you need to get used to the block and exam schedules. Every time you’re not studying, is points on an exam you may be missing, getting honors grades, reviewing concepts, etc. You should def take breaks, but working for money is an added stressor you don’t need. People have failed out for working before. The information you will be expected to memorize and understand and apply, in a very short amount of time, is 100x then that you are used to — don’t work, your job should be studying.

 

[nikki2018]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

Hi, I think this is a fair question. As someone who worked on Saturdays for a half day during the end of my first year into second year this is my advice:

1) Do not start med school with a job. Only you know what you can handle - no one else. However, you’ve worked so hard to get here and it’s not worth having a failed course on your transcript for the sake of decreasing loans. That will follow you when you apply to jobs. Your priority is to do well in your classes. Don’t start with any job responsibilities so that you can allow yourself the time to transition. It is like drinking from a firehouse in the beginning and it takes at least a few months to get your footing and figure out your learning style, and the workload is different from college.

2) Once you have a firm grasp of your schedule and you feel like you can work while also doing well in class, make sure not to sign up for any jobs that aren’t flexible. You will need your weekends to study and catch up (unless you study until 11pm every day, and even then?). That being said, make sure that the contract is flexible enough so that if you decide you have to quit, you can. Also, if you can, I would HIGHLY recommend starting with Saturdays only (part-time only). Trust me when I say that you need that one day with nothing scheduled.

3) I did work and I used the money as supplemental income for necessities and getting a dog. However, I wouldn’t put pressure on yourself to cover entire budget amounts like rent because then you’re in a bind. Of course, ask your school how loans will work. I know I took the minimum amount and then if I needed more, I asked for it versus taking everything out. It didn’t take long to You want to be smart and minimize your loans, of course.

4) While working, I was able to gain some medical knowledge and network. In the end, I didn’t even go into that field but at least I was able to use that experience and money. I quit once it was time to study for Step 2.

Congrats on your success!! Best of luck 🙂 Give yourself some time to make friends, enjoy your new space, and do well!!

 

[Pharmado]

Everyone says don’t do it, and that is clearly the most sound advice. That said, I worked in medical school and don’t regret it. I admit that my class ranking suffered, but I never was anywhere near falling. Because I worked I was always right in the middle of my class rankings wise, rather than competing for the top spots. I was also competing with classmates from affluent families who had advantages I didn’t. I had a wife and a job (sometimes 2 jobs) and 2 children, something none of my classmates could claim. This type of responsibility either helps you be better rounded and prepared for residency, or it breaks you. I saw a lot of residents get divorced due to the strains of residency, but I already had the balance and coping skills they lacked. I graduated medical school with less debt, but zero chance of going into derm (something I wasn’t interested in anyways). It was a worthwhile trade.

Anyone who works in med school will suffer at least a little academically, because you make practical choices. Test questions tend to break down something like this:
70% basic knowledge: practical info everyone should know. Minimal acceptable level
10% questions that demonstrate a good grasp of the info-beyond simple memorization
10% advanced concepts that show you truly know the topic
10% minutia-ridiculous, often unnecessary knowledge designed to separate good from great students. Unlikely to ever have any practical applications after the test is over

If you are a student wanting to be top of your class you’ll learn even the minutia. If you work you will almost always stop at the 90% (or the 80% or the 70%) and hope that you get lucky on some of the minutia. These are reasonable and practical choices you have to make when balancing limited resources (time).

 

[drbatsandwich]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

So my buddy and I are both M1s at the same school. He had been a paramedic for a decade before applying and decided not to stop working. Goes to work Friday afternoon and leave Monday morning. Lives at the fire station the whole weekend and gets a lot of studying done. To be fair, we live in a small city in the Midwest and he works in a pretty rural county so it’s not super busy. He also has a wife and three kids to support. Is doing just fine in our pass/fail preclinical curriculum.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

You haven’t started medical school yet so how do you know what ‘ample free’ time looks like? Further, are you sure that your school won’t have you sign an agreement promising not to work? This is a thing at some schools. Additionally, how do you know that your school won’t have some required activities on weekends (i.e., volunteer events)? At my school, we have to accumulate xxx hours of volunteer/community service activities before graduation and many of the activities are on weekends…

Its 100% not advisable that you work while in school. That said, some of us do work. I am an online adjunct faculty and I spent quite a bit of time searching for a situation that literally only takes four hours of time (i.e., grading & class prep for the next week; I typically do everything early Sunday morning) on Sat/Sun and maybe an hour during the week to respond to emails. Because of the structure of the curriculum at my school, I really do have ample study time but as I said, I took a long time searching for the appropriate opportunity. So far, its not compromised my class performance but I have seen other classmates fail exams and have to repeat classes because the outside work that they were doing took more time/energy than they thought.

 

[Redpancreas]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

Nope. Weekends are prime unwinding/study time. You need to focus on studying. The job's not going to let you study.

 

[StrawHatPillow]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

Totally relate to the financial struggles coming from someone been through poverty and has had a job since high school. My program has a P/F preclinical, and for my first two years, I got by without running into too many obstacles and so I did consider getting my old job at the clinic back to offset my expenses. I ultimately didn't, and looking back as an M3 applying this cycle, I'm glad I didn't. The way I look at it is this. My end game is matching into a great residency program and my spare time in medical school should be spent on that goal. So I ended up doing research in the specialty I wanted to go into and making connections with my home program and beyond while applying for different scholarships I found online (based on income/location/ethnicity/interests). Not to mention I tried to make time for my hobbies and chores. All of which are really serving me well with my knowledge about this specialty, my CV, and likely my application.

Your spare time in med school is valuable. Capitalize on it. The time you plan to work you can find a great mentor, start a club, hone your leadership skills, research, or do community service. Literally anything that you enjoy that you can add to your application and make you a competitive applicant. It's hard not to look back at your old paying job. But you're at the beginning of your real lifelong career. Start early

 

[OneOfMy50Accounts]

Whatever you will be making in that time you work, you will make in 3 months as an attending. Not worth it at all. Even a few potential grade slips may cost you getting into a higher paying better lifestyle specialty.

This is what I came here to convey. I am a PT beginning a 2nd career via med school. I worked while in PT school. My grades suffered and it tended not to matter at the time since PT school performance doesn’t have (or didn’t have) the same residency implications. But regardless, I look back now having paid off my loans and wonder what the point was of getting those “little checks” (compared to PT salary) that you (OP) note can be covered by cost of living loans.

If you skip the work I predict you’ll go through the following upon graduating. 1) Doubt upon seeing those initial loan repayment statements then 2) beginning to see how it will all play out within a year of working full time and 3) ultimately seeing those loans go away and appreciating having had weekends during med school for both uninterrupted study and also for invaluable down time.

The timeframe for #3 will depend heavily on early lifestyle choices, but it is inevitable.

I recognize those folks who have said they did it and were fine. That’s what I would say about PT school. But I would ask each of them to look back 10 years out from a strictly financial perspective and identify whether the money that came in had any true big picture impact.

 

[SharonShares]

So my buddy and I are both M1s at the same school. He had been a paramedic for a decade before applying and decided not to stop working. Goes to work Friday afternoon and leave Monday morning. Lives at the fire station the whole weekend and gets a lot of studying done. To be fair, we live in a small city in the Midwest and he works in a pretty rural county so it’s not super busy. He also has a wife and three kids to support. Is doing just fine in our pass/fail preclinical curriculum.

I agree that it can be done and it really depends on so many factors. If you HAVE to live on the income, that's a bigger challenge than those who have the opportunity to quit if they find they can't make the balance work. I agree with talking to your admissions dept for options regarding cost of living. If you are able to hold a medical related job, you can add this to your residency application and potentially have an opportunity to turn something you experience into research. Everyone has a valid opinion but you have to determine what is going to work for you. Best of Luck!!!

 

[neurodoc]

I worked part time while in med school, but that was back in the 1980's and the jobs were: 1) flexible in terms of when I worked; and 2) paid fairly well for the amount of time I put in. The pay went a long way to covering tuition (at my public school in NYC it was around $3000 per year at the time), but I still took out student loans. I managed to graduate with Distinction in Research on my diploma, and the part-time work I did had nothing to do with research. If tuition were as high then as today, I doubt the work I did back then would have made a dent in it.

 

[Minnesota17]

If you do this, you will get super burned out. You need that time to rest, relax, and see your loved ones.

 

[parapremedic]

Everyone says don’t do it, and that is clearly the most sound advice. That said, I worked in medical school and don’t regret it. I admit that my class ranking suffered, but I never was anywhere near falling. Because I worked I was always right in the middle of my class rankings wise, rather than competing for the top spots. I was also competing with classmates from affluent families who had advantages I didn’t. I had a wife and a job (sometimes 2 jobs) and 2 children, something none of my classmates could claim. This type of responsibility either helps you be better rounded and prepared for residency, or it breaks you. I saw a lot of residents get divorced due to the strains of residency, but I already had the balance and coping skills they lacked. I graduated medical school with less debt, but zero chance of going into derm (something I wasn’t interested in anyways). It was a worthwhile trade.

Anyone who works in med school will suffer at least a little academically, because you make practical choices. Test questions tend to break down something like this:
70% basic knowledge: practical info everyone should know. Minimal acceptable level
10% questions that demonstrate a good grasp of the info-beyond simple memorization
10% advanced concepts that show you truly know the topic
10% minutia-ridiculous, often unnecessary knowledge designed to separate good from great students. Unlikely to ever have any practical applications after the test is over

If you are a student wanting to be top of your class you’ll learn even the minutia. If you work you will almost always stop at the 90% (or the 80% or the 70%) and hope that you get lucky on some of the minutia. These are reasonable and practical choices you have to make when balancing limited resources (time).

I appreciate this honesty. The wife and kids is a factor many don’t understand this early in the process. Mind if I ask what specialty you ended up in?

 

[parapremedic]

You haven’t started medical school yet so how do you know what ‘ample free’ time looks like? Further, are you sure that your school won’t have you sign an agreement promising not to work? This is a thing at some schools. Additionally, how do you know that your school won’t have some required activities on weekends (i.e., volunteer events)? At my school, we have to accumulate xxx hours of volunteer/community service activities before graduation and many of the activities are on weekends…

Its 100% not advisable that you work while in school. That said, some of us do work. I am an online adjunct faculty and I spent quite a bit of time searching for a situation that literally only takes four hours of time (i.e., grading & class prep for the next week; I typically do everything early Sunday morning) on Sat/Sun and maybe an hour during the week to respond to emails. Because of the structure of the curriculum at my school, I really do have ample study time but as I said, I took a long time searching for the appropriate opportunity. So far, its not compromised my class performance but I have seen other classmates fail exams and have to repeat classes because the outside work that they were doing took more time/energy than they thought.

By ample study time, I’m speaking of course from the perspective of a job. Of the 48 hours, I would say I have at least 6 hr per day to study.

 

[PhD_to_DO]

By ample study time, I’m speaking of course from the perspective of a job. Of the 48 hours, I would say I have at least 6 hr per day to study.

You may very well find yourself needing 8, 10, or 12 hours studying depending on the topic snd your strength in the class. I’m not sure what kind of work you are seeking to do but if you need to work, I strongly urge you to find something that imposes the most minimal drain on your time possible. Giving up a weekend is too large a chunk of time IMO (I’ve got firefighter paramedic classmates who have tried the weekend thing and several are now having to repeat a class and one is repeating the entire OMS1 year). If you have a masters, look for online teaching gigs. I’m earning 30k-35k while only having tonput about 5 hrs week, max.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Consider the military or the National Health Service. I would discourage working during med school unless yiu are an elite student. My wife probably could. She went to class to socialize and graduated in top 10% without stress. Should you falter academically, chances at competitive residencies could be dashed.

 

[oldman]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

During the 1st two years I went to class and straight to a quiet room on campus to study after class, went to the gym about 10pm to work out for an hour went to bed and back to class. On the night before an exam I skipped the gym. On the weekends I woke up and went to a quiet room on campus to study until about 5-6 pm to work out and then maybe try to do one fun thing for the week like see a movie. By keeping up this constant pace I found medical school to be low for stress much different from undergrad where I did more of a cram style for studying. Anything that cuts into the study time will likely create a scenario to increase stress. You'll have to decide if that increase in stress is worth the money made.

 

[Dr Meow]

No. No work. Just dont.

 

[aldol16]

No one will be able to answer for you because they don't know the details. Everything depends on the details. The first 2 years of medical school requires a lot of studying but you also have ample free time if you're good with time budgeting. It also helps if you're at a school that's P/F only. If you have grades, you might want to make sure you're not at the bottom of your class. Since Step 1 is P/F, this also frees up time. It also depends on what you want to go into. If something competitive, then research and networking will eat into your free time as well. So you have to be smart about budgeting for all those things. I know people who have worked during med school and matched into competitive specialties. But they also were good with time management and sometimes missed things because they had to finish something at work or study.

 

[Phloston]

Hi all,
I know the general advice is to not work during Med school. However, I have the opportunity to work full time by only working Sat-Sun every week with ample study time at work. My salary is high enough to cover all living expenses and keep loans to tuition only. Does this sound feasible or reasonable? Why or why not? Currently accepted MD student.

The way you make it sound, it seems fine. Concern I observe with students is work interfering with Step prep (namely 2CK now that Step 1 is P/F). Just be sure you make enough time to study for 2CK and to not tank your classes.

 

[anarchymed]

Personally, I would not do this when you start med school as you are not yet sure how much time you'll need to put into school. If possible, start school and if you have extra time then add the job. Med school is a lot different from undergrad and a learning curve for sure, just based on the sheer volume of material you have to learn in a very short period of time. For me, undergrad was much more difficult, but the amount of material in med school is beyond anything I've ever done and can be overwhelming sometimes. I study a lot on the weekends, and sometimes during the week you will have a bunch of required activities that cut into your study time, so studying on the weekends is how you catch up. Some people are able to manage to do lots of extra things while in school but based on what I've seen these are usually the most exceptional students who don't have to study very much. You should also consider the possibility of burnout when being in school and also doing a job - some weekends you really just need to take off and relax. Best of luck to you!

 

[Acapedia]

For those who have asked where I work in my post above, you can find it here. I started in January working for them--its an online job. The job is basically reading medical journals, I've already learned a lot and I'm making about $250 a week doing very little. Hope this helps someone who needs some extra $$ with little time commitment.

 

[njtrimed]

Agree with many of the above posts. I wouldn’t work unless you actually need more money than you can borrow in loans. I worked throughout med school, but I had little kids and needed some extra income. Fortunately it didn’t hinder my career goals; I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing and being efficient with my time. That being said, once you adjust to the firehose of information, med school really is similar to college, just with higher stakes and much more volume of information. The majority of my classmates seemed to have lots of time for clubs, nights out in the city, hiking, partying, etc. I found that once I got into my own groove, I had an hour a day to exercise, a few hours with my kids (certainly more than surgical residency!), and got in enough studying that I could work weekends. I had a per diem clinical job that I could easily turn down, so it was low pressure; I just took it month by month and said no if I had too much on my plate.

Would I have been a better med student if I didn’t work at all? Maybe. Or maybe I would have spent that extra time with my kiddos anyway. It worked out. Regardless, I still echo what others have said: don’t do anything but focus for the first month or two of med school, at the very least. Get used to the workload and make sure you’re on solid ground before introducing any new commitments.