Working while in med school?

[pmpharmtech]

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Okay, so I'm sure there are some people out there who have worked, at least a little as a med student. I've been accepted to start med school in August. I also currently work as a certified pharmacy tech and am working on getting my I.V. certification to be able to prepare I.V.s. So my thought is possibly working in a hospital a few hours a week to 1.) help out with expenses 2.) stay current with medications and treatments 3.) get aquainted with some medical personel. I figure maybe I can get a job on the weekend working in the evenings and hopefully find an environment where it won't be too busy all the time so I might be able to do some studying as well. I'm still getting aquainted with the whole med school thing (first gen undergrad and grad student) and I'm kinda thinking I might be able to do it the first two years. But I guess the last two years, during rotations, I won't be able to. Anybody had any similar thoughts or experience with working while in med school? Thanks!

 

[deuist]

I've known a few classmates who have worked as physical therapists or high school tutors during the first two years.

 

[mendel121]

I'm an M1, and I've been working (doing research) about 20 hrs a week since the start of school. It's an adjustment, but it can certainly be done.

 

[tupac_don]

Okay, so I'm sure there are some people out there who have worked, at least a little as a med student. I've been accepted to start med school in August. I also currently work as a certified pharmacy tech and am working on getting my I.V. certification to be able to prepare I.V.s. So my thought is possibly working in a hospital a few hours a week to 1.) help out with expenses 2.) stay current with medications and treatments 3.) get aquainted with some medical personel. I figure maybe I can get a job on the weekend working in the evenings and hopefully find an environment where it won't be too busy all the time so I might be able to do some studying as well. I'm still getting aquainted with the whole med school thing (first gen undergrad and grad student) and I'm kinda thinking I might be able to do it the first two years. But I guess the last two years, during rotations, I won't be able to. Anybody had any similar thoughts or experience with working while in med school? Thanks!

What's up dude. I would only reccommend that you work if you are dirt broke and really really need the money. Maybe you can work 4x a month but it'll be tough, plus dividens are small, but if you need money, I guess you need money. As far as meeting medical personell, and knowing med names, you are wasting your time, you won't really meet anyone significant really, plus you are not gonna learn that much. It's good to keep that job, so that you can make some extra cash during vacations and maybe work here and there, just so you have some money for yourself. But you wont' be making any significant dent in your loans.

Preparation of IV's is intense, and you wont' have too much free time to study. You'll be working in there like in a dungeon. But it also depends how busy of a hospital you are in.

If you got any q let me know.

 

[Law2Doc]

Okay, so I'm sure there are some people out there who have worked, at least a little as a med student. I've been accepted to start med school in August. I also currently work as a certified pharmacy tech and am working on getting my I.V. certification to be able to prepare I.V.s. So my thought is possibly working in a hospital a few hours a week to 1.) help out with expenses 2.) stay current with medications and treatments 3.) get aquainted with some medical personel. I figure maybe I can get a job on the weekend working in the evenings and hopefully find an environment where it won't be too busy all the time so I might be able to do some studying as well. I'm still getting aquainted with the whole med school thing (first gen undergrad and grad student) and I'm kinda thinking I might be able to do it the first two years. But I guess the last two years, during rotations, I won't be able to. Anybody had any similar thoughts or experience with working while in med school? Thanks!

The smartest thing would be to at least plan not working immediately when you start, and wait until you get used to the pace of med school. There are folks who work (very small numbers of hours, though) or who have time to work, and folks who struggle with their classwork and simply don't. It would be a mistake to assume what kind of student you are until the ride starts. After your first couple of tests, if you are doing adequately and find that you have plenty of free time in your schedule, then by all means line something up. That's my two cents.

 

[emtji]

it's definately doable during the 1st year and most of 2nd year as long as you're not working too many hours. Don't do it for the money (it should negligible. if not, you're working too many hours). Do it for the satisfaction of having a non med school interest.

 

[deleted29780]

it's definately doable during the 1st year and most of 2nd year as long as you're not working too many hours. Don't do it for the money (it should negligible. if not, you're working too many hours). Do it for the satisfaction of having a non med school interest.

well in actual fact, u can combine both med school and work. Its all about scheduling ur time well. Well i have a non med sch interest. It gives me satisfaction in 2 ways - i make good money. It feels great to be doing something people take years to earn a living from. The good thing is, i kinda have a double profession. Great thread though, wish more people could contribute. 😍

 

[lorelei]

I agree with Law2Doc - wait until you get into the swing of things to make sure it'll be OK. But I think it's totally reasonable to work a few hours per week.

Since the second semester started, I've been teaching for Kaplan and tutoring privately a few hours a week. Actually I probably should've started partway through the fall, but I was lazy. I really like having something going on outside of school, I like feeling that I can earn extra income and don't have to economize SO much all the time, and I work better with a fair amount of structured time (i.e. if I didn't have places I had to go, I'd sit on the couch and stare at the walls all day and get depressed).

I think the key is to do something flexible, and listen to yourself, not to people who are telling you that there's no way you have time for it or you could work a lot more. You're the only one who knows what works for you.

 

[Bandit]

similar thread in another forum. As a PA I work 30-35 hours per week in med school

 

[omgwtfbbq?]

akuffo, what's your double profession?

everyone keeps telling me i'm crazy that i'm planning on continuing to write throught med school. But I have an oliver sacks complex. My entire life I've written about things - fiction, essays, nonfiction. It was a book that first made me interested in bio, biochem and then medicine! without writing doctors i'd probably be.... um..... well, probably teaching english since i was reading a lot of other books as well.... but the point is i want to write about what i'm interested in because good writing inspires people. even if its nonfiction (there are some great science nonfic's out there lately...)
And even though this post is terribly bad writing (no sleep no sleep , too many shifts at work back to back) i feel that writing will make me a better doctor and a better person. So i'm with you, Akuffo. Naysayers, out of the way!

 

[Scrub MD]

I am starting med school next year but work in the IV room now at a hospital with about 150-170 patients. I am the only one in the IV room so some days it is crazy and you don't have a chance to eat, sit or piss. Then the other day I sat down and nothing happened for an hour or two. The med names and uses can be figured out in about one month of working in there. I will not going to work during medical school.

 

[supa]

similar thread in another forum. As a PA I work 30-35 hours per week in med school

Yow Bandit...that's crazy cuz I'm a PA who just got accepted to med school for Fall '06. I plan on working 40 hours/wk, and EVERYBODY thinks I'm nuts. The physicians at my job, my mom, the other PAs. Hell even a janitor pulled me to the side one day to extoll the virtues of focusing on school. I half expect my medical director to erect a billboard outside the hospital deriding my decision.

I've been having serious doubts ever since. Even with a full scholarship to med school, and no undergrad loans, I can't imagine being able to survive without working. I have a mortgage, car, baby on the way, and an addiction to sports tv packages (all the NFL games on Sunday? I'll take 2 of those please!)

Being a PA affords us a luxury that few jobs can. I figure that if I manage my time just right, I can squeeze 8 hour shifts 2 days/week, and two 12 hour shifts on weekends. That way I have 3 days during the week to study. Push comes to shove i can even do 16 hour shifts on weekends and one 8 hour shift during the week. That's all while doing work that can hadly be considered back breaking. And like another poster said...if I had *too* much free time, I know I wouldn't spend it wisely. There's no paucity of distractors at my house ( ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN Deportes, (sure mi habla just enough espanol to order a burrito at Taco Bell, but gotta love those home run calls), ESPN Classic, ESPN.com, ESPN mobile phone, ESPN the magazine, and last but not least...ESPN radio.

So you're my hero. Though not in a Barbara Streisand theme-song-from-Beaches-way. It just feels good to have someone out there just as crazy as me, and actually knows what it feels like to make $80,000/yr working an easy 40 hour week, and me not having the heart, guts, or fiscally savvy wife to turn my back on that.

 

[tupac_don]

Yow Bandit...that's crazy cuz I'm a PA who just got accepted to med school for Fall '06. I plan on working 40 hours/wk, and EVERYBODY thinks I'm nuts. The physicians at my job, my mom, the other PAs. Hell even a janitor pulled me to the side one day to extoll the virtues of focusing on school. I half expect my medical director to erect a billboard outside the hospital deriding my decision.

I've been having serious doubts ever since. Even with a full scholarship to med school, and no undergrad loans, I can't imagine being able to survive without working. I have a mortgage, car, baby on the way, and an addiction to sports tv packages (all the NFL games on Sunday? I'll take 2 of those please!)

Being a PA affords us a luxury that few jobs can. I figure that if I manage my time just right, I can squeeze 8 hour shifts 2 days/week, and two 12 hour shifts on weekends. That way I have 3 days during the week to study. Push comes to shove i can even do 16 hour shifts on weekends and one 8 hour shift during the week. That's all while doing work that can hadly be considered back breaking. And like another poster said...if I had *too* much free time, I know I wouldn't spend it wisely. There's no paucity of distractors at my house ( ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN Deportes, (sure mi habla just enough espanol to order a burrito at Taco Bell, but gotta love those home run calls), ESPN Classic, ESPN.com, ESPN mobile phone, ESPN the magazine, and last but not least...ESPN radio.

So you're my hero. Though not in a Barbara Streisand theme-song-from-Beaches-way. It just feels good to have someone out there just as crazy as me, and actually knows what it feels like to make $80,000/yr working an easy 40 hour week, and me not having the heart, guts, or fiscally savvy wife to turn my back on that.

You can do it, at least for first 2 years, but your grades will suffer. If you won't to do IM who cares do it. If you want something more competitive I'd think twice about it. You'll be tired all the time. but you can dooooo it.