Working while in med school

[coxzilla97]

I want to know if anyone has or is working while going to medical school. If so how many hours do you work, why are you doing it, and does your learning suffer, and finally is it hell?

I am going into my first year at University fo Missouri School of Medicine and am having trouble making ends meet with my family (wife and son). I especially am having trouble finding health insurance that will provide comprehensive coverage for my wife and son. I have almost come to the conclusion that I will have to get a job working 36 hours/week in a hospital to recieve their health benefits. I am a qualified PCT so getting the job won't be a problem. But can I do it?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[automaton]

your wife can't get a job?

it's possible but 36 hrs is a lot. maybe like 20. i remember i had a lot of free time (relatively) in 1st year, so you can definitely work a good number of hours. that sucks though.

 

[Samoa]

I work about 10-20 hours/week, depending on the week. Lately, it's been more like 20, which kind of eats up my entire weekend. So that sucks. But the flip side is that it forces me to be efficient with my time, and that pays off in better grades. There was even one block where I just worked all the time and never went to class.

However, I'd advise against working the first semester. Med school is an adjustment, and you want to give yourself time to adjust, and to make friends with your classmates. Whatever you might gain from it--the added income, the health insurance, the tax deduction for moving expenses--it's just not worth the intangibles you'll sacrifice by not having free time to bond with your class.

Also, it'd be really difficult to work 36 hours a week and still pass, much less do well. I can understand the need to have health insurance for your family, but is there any way that your wife can work instead? You might also go talk to your dean, and see if they can help. You're probably not the first person to start school there with a wife and kids, and they may be able to help you out quite a bit.

 

[justawonderin]

Working during first and second year is entirely possible IMHO. Similar situation to your here (wife, couple of kids), and thus I sympathize. Currently I'm a third year (almost done!) and during the first two years I spent a bunch of time working, and also taking care of the kiddos while my wife was working. I did not make many classes, but I do not learn much from sitting at a lecture anyway, so my lifestyle just happened to work out well with my learning style.

Third year is another story. There is no way to hold down a 36 hour job and do clinics, unless you have some miracle potion that will prevent you from having to sleep for 12 months.

If you need to work, fine, everything will work itself out. If you do not learn well independently though, you are in for a world of academic disappointment. Make sure that you talk with your financial aid office as to the options for loans and scholarships, etc.. There are often significant budget extensions for students with families, but they are paperwork-ridden and complex for the office to verify. So if you have a good contact that likes you in the office (bring cookies/home grown veggies, etc..) you may be able to get by without working and make up the difference for health insurance or whatever in loans.

Good luck

 

[liverotcod]

Does the school not offer an insurance plan to cover your family? UWisconsin, where I'm matriculating, has a plan that will include the student's family for approximately $7500/year. Which, unfortunately, will mean more loans. I have pretty good earning potential from my first career if I absolutely need to take a job, but I've decided not to chance it, at least at first. And even if it did work preclinical, you're out of luck 3rd year!

 

[sakura181]

Have you looked into your state's Medicaid program? Depending on your and your wife's income, you may be eligible for state-funded health insurance. At the very least, your child should be covered for wellness exams.

Try going on mommd.com and doing a search on insurance. There are many threads on their forum concerning similar issues.

 

[LSUwannabe]

Does the school not offer an insurance plan to cover your family?

It was my impression every school offered health coverage for dependants...albeit at an additional cost.

 

[ms. a]

Does the school not offer an insurance plan to cover your family? UWisconsin, where I'm matriculating, has a plan that will include the student's family for approximately $7500/year. Which, unfortunately, will mean more loans. I have pretty good earning potential from my first career if I absolutely need to take a job, but I've decided not to chance it, at least at first. And even if it did work preclinical, you're out of luck 3rd year!

Are you serious - $7500/year for family medical insurance?!?! I knew that our family's plan through the federal govenment was a decent price at $2500/year, but I didn't think it was that much better than elsewhere. Is that the standard going rate for family health insurance?

 

[coxzilla97]

Thanks for sharing all of the ideas and experiences. I have talked to the financial aid people and here is what the basics are. First of all, if you are getting any federal loans, you are capped at a level determined by them and your school. For me its around 42000/year. That boils down to about 1400/mo for living expenses for which they are only considering the student, not his/her family. Their are two ways around this number. First, you can get it raised for qualified childcare expenses, i.e. I pay 800/mo for my kid to go to some second rate day care and they raise my monthly budget by $800. Second they can adjust your budget due to extraordinary circumstances. This like others have said is a lot of paperwork, risk of audit, and it almost seemed illegal when I was going through the process. Under this second option you are punished for having any income whatsoever so your objective is to be as poor as possible. So say I did get my monthly budget raised so I can afford a health care plan for my wife and son? Well here is where I was blind sided. I looked into plans and they seem like wonderfull deals but look closer and you will find that most of them can not be used for the first 12 months of membership, have a rider for every preexisting condition you have ever had, and you will not be approved if you have every had any medical condition anyway. My wife had a baby equals prexisting medical condition/history equals no approval. Individual health coverage is a scam at best and most likely a fictional entity. The university plan for family coverage is $10500 per year, which is above my 42000 budget so I can't afford it. So it comes down to my wife working like she does now and us sending my son to subpar daycare for a net gain of 150 per month at the end of the balance sheet and healh insurance. I think the benefit of my wife working part time and raising my son far outways the health insurance and extra 150/ month. My gripe is that the loans are capped at all. I should be able to borrow what I need to live. I am going to pay it back. So the take home message is that our health coverage system in this country is really out of sync with our nations needs (mine included) and so is the financial aid system. I don't know if this blog was of any positive effect except airing out some frustration.

 

[iatrosB]

Thanks for sharing all of the ideas and experiences. I have talked to the financial aid people and here is what the basics are. First of all, if you are getting any federal loans, you are capped at a level determined by them and your school. For me its around 42000/year. That boils down to about 1400/mo for living expenses for which they are only considering the student, not his/her family. Their are two ways around this number. First, you can get it raised for qualified childcare expenses, i.e. I pay 800/mo for my kid to go to some second rate day care and they raise my monthly budget by $800. Second they can adjust your budget due to extraordinary circumstances. This like others have said is a lot of paperwork, risk of audit, and it almost seemed illegal when I was going through the process. Under this second option you are punished for having any income whatsoever so your objective is to be as poor as possible. So say I did get my monthly budget raised so I can afford a health care plan for my wife and son? Well here is where I was blind sided. I looked into plans and they seem like wonderfull deals but look closer and you will find that most of them can not be used for the first 12 months of membership, have a rider for every preexisting condition you have ever had, and you will not be approved if you have every had any medical condition anyway. My wife had a baby equals prexisting medical condition/history equals no approval. Individual health coverage is a scam at best and most likely a fictional entity. The university plan for family coverage is $10500 per year, which is above my 42000 budget so I can't afford it. So it comes down to my wife working like she does now and us sending my son to subpar daycare for a net gain of 150 per month at the end of the balance sheet and healh insurance. I think the benefit of my wife working part time and raising my son far outways the health insurance and extra 150/ month. My gripe is that the loans are capped at all. I should be able to borrow what I need to live. I am going to pay it back. So the take home message is that our health coverage system in this country is really out of sync with our nations needs (mine included) and so is the financial aid system. I don't know if this blog was of any positive effect except airing out some frustration.

Hey, good to hear from you. I am in a very similar situation (wife and new baby). We have found ways around every problem you listed. PM if you want to know more. I look forward to seeing you in August!

 

[PiccoloPlaya]

Try to see if you can find a job on Fridays. After all, who wants to study on a Friday night anyway? Saturday you can work a couple hours during the day, and then have free time at night. Don't work Sunday - Thursday though. You'll be slammed with too much studying, especially since first year is an adjustment. I never went to class anyway, but I did miss out on making a lot of friends. Hope it works out. Talk to the financial aid, deans, and then your wife. Later - Ana