Working during medical school

[EMTB2MD]

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Does anyone plan on working during medical school? Is it possible to work weekends while you are an MS1 or MS2 (16-18 hours a day)? During the 3rd and 4th year of medical school do students have clinical obligations on Saturdays and Sundays?

I currently have a business in which a lot of my work is done on the weekend planned about a year in advance. If I could keep working during school it would help financially.

Thanks

 

[Bluesun]

The general consensus (from about everyone that posts on these forums and everyone I have spoken to personally) seems to be that working while in medical school is not really feasible -- at least not a job that matters.

The most some people seem to be able to do is work minimally on the weekends. Like anything else in life, I imagine it's a compromise. Given the risks associated with doing poorly in medical school, I can't see the reward from working a few hours on the weekend being worth it unless you are making a significant amount of money for very little time/stress invested.

The closest exception I have seen to this is someone I know that is a PhD/MD student that works at the school.

 

[EMTB2MD]

I could probably net $1000-$1500 working on a Saturday (16-18 hours) and then maybe an hour or two during the week). I've been working 60-80+ hours per week for the past 10 years and the thought of quitting cold turkey is very hard. Bringing in some money for the family might also be good for me psychologically!

 

[DrMidlife]

What I've seen with people who have obligations like a job or a family, and are able to stay out of trouble, is that they have great discipline for studying and time management.

I suggest you want to be very honest with yourself about is whether you would study like crazy during the week and on Friday night, to get ready for a test on Monday, knowing you'll be working all weekend, also knowing that if you had those extra 16-18 hours to study you'd do better on the test.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Iwillhealyou]

What I've seen with people who have obligations like a job or a family, and are able to stay out of trouble, is that they have great discipline for studying and time management.

I suggest you want to be very honest with yourself about is whether you would study like crazy during the week and on Friday night, to get ready for a test on Monday, knowing you'll be working all weekend, also knowing that if you had those extra 16-18 hours to study you'd do better on the test.

Best of luck to you.

3 posts away from number 4,000, congratulations. As far as working during med school, unless you HAD to, I gotta agree with midlife here, especially if you have a family and kids. If not and you only had to worry about yourself and not about keeping a happy family then a part time job might be in the realm of possible and still keeping your sanity. You are gonna be working for the rest of your life, so imo, make med school as unstressful for yourself as you can.

 

[phltz]

I would recommend against it. The main exceptions would be: 1) If you can get a job doing research/TAing at your school, which would further your career and in which case your boss would presumably be looking out for your education, 2) You can get work in which a small amount of time results in a large amount of money. Tutoring rich kids, consulting, and modeling could meet this requirement if you have the right contacts and skills. 3) You either physically do not need sleep or emotionally do not need down time. Expect that you will need to do work on the weekend for school, but could often have a day off if you're responsible and plan ahead. Having to spend 16-18 hours working each weekend sounds like a terrible idea, though.

 

[isoquin]

I've been working 60-80+ hours per week for the past 10 years and the thought of quitting cold turkey is very hard

Your mistake is thinking that going to med school means you are quitting 60-80 hours per week of work

On a more serious note, the best way to go is to start low and go slow. I did weekend work for the first two years sporadically. It's a lot harder in third year when you're working 6 days a week, sometimes 16 hours at a time. This isn't a topic that has a definitive answer. You gotta figure it out for yourself. However, it is a very bad move to sacrifice your real job (med school) for something that's gonna make you some easy part time cash. The easiest way to keep your wallet plump in the short run is not going to med school. Don't go chasing part time dollars at the expense of wasting your tuition dollars.

 

[drdan83]

Why would you even take that risk when you are in medical school?

You came this far and you want to jeopardized your grades and board scores?

I don't get it.

 

[Helen Wheels]

I'm starting my fifth week of med school and I don't think I could work. We carry 28.5 credits this semester and this is a full time job. Most of the day is classes and labs and reading/studying in the evening. My school is fond of having exams on Monday mornings so I have been spending every weekend studying... and I mean the whole weekend. I wouldn't recommend working while in med school but I suppose if you were super smart, careful with time management, and did not work more than 8-12 hours per week you might be able to pull it off. But would you be making enough money to be worth it? It would not only cut into study time but even downtime/relaxation.

 

[Law2Doc]

Does anyone plan on working during medical school? Is it possible to work weekends while you are an MS1 or MS2 (16-18 hours a day)? During the 3rd and 4th year of medical school do students have clinical obligations on Saturdays and Sundays?

I currently have a business in which a lot of my work is done on the weekend planned about a year in advance. If I could keep working during school it would help financially.

Thanks

It's not a realistic plan for about 90% of med students. You may not have classes on weekends during the first two years, but most people are going to be chronically behind each week due to the volume of material coming at you and will need a large portion of those weekends to be spent in the books. It's not like college, the volume is higher and the competition is smarter and the expectations are greater. In 3rd and 4th years, you will have many rotations where you get 4 weekend days off a month, a taste of what your life is going to be like in residency. You won't want to spend them working, and may have shelf exams and step 2 exams and various things to read up on in that "spare time", so I wouldn't plan on going to work those years at all. And depending on the residency path you are seeking, you may already be trying to squeeze in a research project into all that spare time. Forget about a job once med school starts. You need to be "all in" at least initially. If after the first 4-6 months you are doing well and have free tine, you are one of the rare few and can go ahead and add a few hours of work to the weekly schedule. Until that point you are being extremely unrealistic.

 

[QofQuimica]

It's not a realistic plan for about 90% of med students. You may not have classes on weekends during the first two years, but most people are going to be chronically behind each week due to the volume of material coming at you and will need a large portion of those weekends to be spent in the books. It's not like college, the volume is higher and the competition is smarter and the expectations are greater. In 3rd and 4th years, you will have many rotations where you get 4 weekend days off a month, a taste of what your life is going to be like in residency. You won't want to spend them working, and may have shelf exams and step 2 exams and various things to read up on in that "spare time", so I wouldn't plan on going to work those years at all. And depending on the residency path you are seeking, you may already be trying to squeeze in a research project into all that spare time. Forget about a job once med school starts. You need to be "all in" at least initially. If after the first 4-6 months you are doing well and have free tine, you are one of the rare few and can go ahead and add a few hours of work to the weekly schedule. Until that point you are being extremely unrealistic.

Agree with this.

OP, you should not plan on being able to work at all during medical school, not even one hour per week, let alone 16-18. For budgeting purposes, assume that all of your expenses will be paid for by loans and/or savings. Then if you do manage to do a little work here and there, you will come out ahead, rather than unnecessarily adding additional stress and pressure on yourself to work a certain number of hours per week.

 

[EMTB2MD]

Thanks everyone for your input! It looks like working during medical school isn't the best idea. Having some money to pay bills during the year would be nice but it isn't worth the expense of doing poorly in school.

 

[vc7777]

Indeed, I agree 100% with Q and L2D. Note too that you will need some mental down-time. If you win the race, but lose your mind in the process - what's the point? Reserve some of your free-time for unexpected contingencies and vegging-out even. In the long run the money you make will not offset the potential (mental and academic) damage you may incur.

Financially brace yourself for the worst, and push through it without "working" (beyond school and family obligations).

Good luck!

 

[ejw5075]

.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'm not sure I'd ever try it, but I have seen a few people make this work. A couple people with a degree already in health care i.e. PA, NP, clinical lab scientists. It required some or all of the following: Very flexible boss and schedule or it was an "as needed" type position, very high pay, high level of discipline, or job with a whole lot of down time. A couple shifts a month at $50/hr or more would add up pretty quick.

I have a side job that's pretty much a call position, I sign up for what days I want to work for the month, pay is great when I get called and I can study at home if I don't. I can see where that type of thing might work, although it's not a guaranteed income.

I'd think if you did have the time and discipline it might be more worth your while to do something to add to your resume for residency like research or volunteering at free clinic or something.

 

[primadonna22274]

So far I have to agree with other posters. I'm into my 5th wk of med school and it is INTENSE...the volume is easily twice what we had in PA school--and that was no cakewalk. If numbers are to be believed we carry 40 credits in this first 20-wk semester. We too have had a Monday exam most Mondays and last week had 2 big exams, 2 quizzes and an anatomy lab practical and oral exam...no slacking here. I too thought I could work "some" but really have been grateful that I haven't had to--yet. I'll be OK as long as I don't go shopping. Of course I'm too busy studying.... 😉
I will be teaching an H&P lab for the local PA program beginning next week. Only 3 hr/wk for the semester and decent pay--will pay 2 mos rent for relatively little work, and I don't have to do any of the course planning as it's been done by the course director. A nice benefit of prior teaching experience and much less stressful than clinic or ED work. I will work a few shifts at Christmas when I'm home...but 4 shifts would pay the rest of my med school rent and a chunk of utiliies for spring semester or I wouldn't do it as the cost-benefit ratio wouldn't be favorable.
For now it's a nice change just being a student after working 2-3 jobs and almost every weekend for the past several years. I can't remember the last time I had this much free time.... 😉

 

[Law2Doc]

...

I'd think if you did have the time and discipline it might be more worth your while to do something to add to your resume for residency like research or volunteering at free clinic or something.

for residency purposes the only resume building activity that's prized is research. Its usually nonpaying or low paying. The volunteering at a free clinic is something youd only do for yourself - it won't help you for residency. You might however spend some time shadowing in specialties you potentially might be interested in, since you rarely get good exposure to everything you'd want to see during third year. Plus if you do this it makes finding mentors and networking within the specialty much easier.