Working part-time while in vet school?

[Caterpillar]

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Just curious to see if anyone has any experience with working part-time while in vet school. Those loans are scary and I want to offset costs anyway I can.

 

[dvmhopeful2018]

We have 2 people that work in my class. One works once a month at a restaurant she worked at over the summer to stay in payroll, and the other works some Friday and Saturday nights at another restaurant because she had a fur baby get sick and she needs some extra income. The consensus from our class is that you don't have time. You don't believe me now, but your life will be going to class, then going home to study, with a few dinners with friends thrown in now and then. We have people that worked 2-3 jobs during undergrad that fully expected to be able to work, but there just isn't time without grades suffering. It's better to scrape by on loans than potentially failing a few classes and having to repeat the year. The best advice I can give is to at least wait until after your first semester to see how your schedule works out before finding a job, and plan to work during summers. Good luck!

 

[LetItSnow]

We have 2 people that work in my class. One works once a month at a restaurant she worked at over the summer to stay in payroll, and the other works some Friday and Saturday nights at another restaurant because she had a fur baby get sick and she needs some extra income. The consensus from our class is that you don't have time. You don't believe me now, but your life will be going to class, then going home to study, with a few dinners with friends thrown in now and then. We have people that worked 2-3 jobs during undergrad that fully expected to be able to work, but there just isn't time without grades suffering. It's better to scrape by on loans than potentially failing a few classes and having to repeat the year. The best advice I can give is to at least wait until after your first semester to see how your schedule works out before finding a job, and plan to work during summers. Good luck!

2? That's it? How big is your class?

We have tons of people that had part-time jobs in the first 3 years.

But, most of them tend to be 8-14 hours or so a week. Nowhere near 20 hrs/wk, much less more. I tended to work 13-18 hrs/wk, but it was super convenient and flexible, so whenever workload got high I could easily cut back (I worked in our teaching hospital ICU ... we had a group of student techs, a schedule of shifts, and we could just pick 'n choose what we wanted).

I think it's good advice to wait until after your first semester. Or at least a couple months into it. But once you've got things under control - yeah, sure, you can work a part-time job. Just have to find one that's flexible and fits your school/study schedule.

 

[dvmhopeful2018]

2? That's it? How big is your class?

We have 95. I believe we have a couple of others that sell 31/Miche/etc on the side, but most people don't work. We also don't have a big town that has part-time job availability. Next year, several of us will be tutors and TA's, if that counts.

 

[LetItSnow]

We have 95. I believe we have a couple of others that sell 31/Miche/etc on the side, but most people don't work. We also don't have a big town that has part-time job availability. Next year, several of us will be tutors and TA's, if that counts.

Wow! Seems so weird that so many people in my class worked (I'm guessing, but I think it's got to be at least 1/3rd of my class, if not more) and so few in your class work.

Ah well. Different schools, different cultures, I guess?

OP: I should add - you won't want to work 4th year. I do know one classmate that's still pulling ICU shifts, and I've pulled a couple, but ..... in general, it's a bad plan.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

I think about 10 people or do work in my class, including me. It's possible

 

[KCgophervet]

Maybe it's the availability of part time work around UMN but we definitely have quite a few people who work part time. Personally I have 2 part time jobs, but one is a 6 hour shift every-other Sunday and the other is random evenings whenever I want to go in. So long as the job is flexible and fully understands that vet school is your #1 priority so you can't work a shift the night before a big exam (or at all during finals), its not so bad. And my jobs are both vet-related so its nice to get away from the books and back to some hands-on stuff every once in awhile (and super bonus that I get paid to do it).

 

[DVMDream]

Yeah, it is possible to work a little bit, 10ish hours or so a week. I wouldn't expect it to fully pay for living expenses or anything like that. Probably just enough for food and maybe a bill here or there. But every little bit helps, right? 🙂

 

[PepperMcTipper]

I think it completely depends on you. But it is absolutely doable. I am a second year working roughly 15-20 hours a week between two jobs one veterinary and one not. For me working has been a mental life saver. I struggled a bit my first year. I think it was because I wasn't able to see the light at the end of the tunnel (I was only working the one not veterinary related job). Once I got a job at an emergency clinic last May, I found myself to be much more motivated to study and an overall happier person. It has also really helped solidifying information when you see a case you talked about in class happen in real life 🙂.

It is important to work somewhere that is really flexible and thankfully both of my jobs are. I am able to cut back my hours when I have really heavy test weeks which works out perfectly 🙂. I am however going to echo previous advice that experiencing the work load of school for a semester is really good idea.

 

[HorsesRLife]

I work at the school's large animal hospital a few weekend overnights a month. Pays crap, but better than nothing and nice to get hands on and work with residents.

 

[Rainheart]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't have a job who has posted on here so far. I'd definitely recommend waiting until at least that first semester down, or even after that first year (but I can only speak for Mizzou). I certainly could work, but I choose to really focus on school and other things in life instead. Just not worth it to me... But everyone is a little different. I will sometimes do some pet-sitting jobs here or there but that is about it.

 

[SocialStigma]

I also did not work during vet school, I only worked in the summers. It's definitely doable but I made a conscious decision not to in an effort to maintain a high GPA since I knew coming into vet school that I was interested in an internship and residency down the road.

 

[dyachei]

I had 2 jobs in vet school. food rep for one of the companies and technology assistant for professors that didn't know how to use powerpoint. Both were low demand jobs.

My only issue was I couldn't skip class with the one position.

 

[orca2011]

I sort of have a job...but there are quite a few people at Penn who work. Some work in the library (paid to study!), some work as nurses in exotics or other departments/offices. I've also known a few who keep their vet assistant jobs at other practices. I know of a first year who I met at my externship who comes in and work's Saturdays.

My job requires like 3 Saturday's out of the semester and I just help run a spay/neuter day at a local shelter. It pays decently for a day's work, but I chose not to commit this semester since I was entering clinics. I also pick up petting sitting things here and there for classmates. Instead of working during the school year though, I just work during breaks. I can't sit at home and do nothing for long periods of time, so it gives me something to do.

 

[BirdsinMyHouse]

It depends. I would wait a semester to see how you handle the courseload, etc, but it is doable provided your job has flexibility and limited hours. Working over the summers may be the best option for some.

Now, for all the future Rossies out there, you simply can't work while on the island. I know a lot of people there and the country's laws do not allow foreigners to obtain jobs. There are rare exceptions for spouses, but the only one I know of was a girl whose husband teaches scuba diving.

 

[Chocl8luva]

Auburn: there's student jobs available in the small and large animal ICUs, as well as on call positions for surgical support team, tour guide positions, and a student-run supply store that hires cashiers and managers. At large animal ICU (and I believe small animal is similar), we sign up for 6 hour long shifts on the weekend to work as sorta-technicians. I really like the experience...totally worth budgeting the time for. I generally work 3 shifts a month, paid of course. You can sign up for up to 20 hrs a week (nobody does) or no shifts that weekend if you're going home or need to spend every minute studying. I would definitely recommend working within your school if possible, because you're never going to get the same flexibility outside. Hope that helps!

 

[chickenlittle]

If you have high enough SAT or GRE scores, I'd recommend teaching test prep classes. I worked 5-10 hrs/wk through most of vet school for The Princeton Review. Flexible scheduling, pay was about $20/hr (and this was 10 years ago), and I loved it - definitely the most enjoyable job I've ever had!

It has been a while since I graduated, but I only knew a few other people with jobs. All of my friends thought I was nuts for working, but I never had any trouble with it. Like I said, flexible scheduling is key. (Princeton Review posted a list of courses at the beginning of the semester and you'd sign up for the courses you wanted to teach. So I could teach more in semesters that I thought would be easier, and not teach at all while on clinics.)