Typical Part Time Jobs Held During Medical School

[Simba12]

Hey guys,

 

I'd be interested in hearing about the types of part time jobs that current medical students have held during their time in medical school, as well as the kinds of jobs that incoming students are planning to keep. 

 

Please share  

[Bambi]

Not worth it for so many reasons. Firstly, my time was more valuable than the few dollars I could earn. Moreover, my earnings would effectively become zero as I would lose the equivalent in bursaries. To drain my energy for a zero sum gain was a non-starter. I come from poverty, have survived on student loans, so it is not that money was not important, rather it was a no-brainer strategic decision to use my time to maximum advantage, which included having time to rest and with family. 

[JohnGrisham]

Pharmacist, engineer contractor, comp sci contractor and consultant. Its only worth it if your able to only commit to as many or as little hours as you want to and if you are able to potentially relax while working (pharmacist). And of course if your making at least 50$+ an hr or so.

 

The contracting people I know have done it for the first two years work 5 to 15hrs a week for anywhere between 40-100$/hr so it was well worth it for them.

[Simba12]

Not worth it for so many reasons. Firstly, my time was more valuable than the few dollars I could earn. Moreover, my earnings would effectively become zero as I would lose the equivalent in bursaries. To drain my energy for a zero sum gain was a non-starter. I come from poverty, have survived on student loans, so it is not that money was not important, rather it was a no-brainer strategic decision to use my time to maximum advantage, which included having time to rest and with family. 

 

Thanks- you make some very valid points. I'm just overwhelmed at the loan amount, and am thinking of ways I could maybe offset the burden a little bit by working a few hours here and there.

 

I have a follow up question for you about bursary funding: Would we lose out substantially in bursaries if, say, we pick up a 50-hour per semester TA-ing job paying ~$45/hour?

[Bambi]

Thanks- you make some very valid points. I'm just overwhelmed at the loan amount, and am thinking of ways I could maybe offset the burden a little bit by working a few hours here and there.

 

I have a follow up question for you about bursary funding: Would we lose out substantially in bursaries if, say, we pick up a 50-hour per semester TA-ing job paying ~$45/hour?

 

The LOC is NOT overwhelming. It is NOT a burden. And using perspective, it is easily paid back in due course. You will be earning good money when you pay back and it will be just another routine expense like utilities, rent or mortgage, car lease, etc.

 

In my province, any earnings would result in reduction of my bursary so I would have been going into it with altruism, lol, i.e., zero sum gain. I am assuming the same for you no matter what province you live in. $45/hour is not to be sneezed at and Commons' post #3 makes sense at first blush - but one needs to consider loss of bursaries b/c if you earn $45 (or more) and lose $45 (or more), you shall have worked for nothing. Personally, in my province, I would not have worked for $100/hour as it still would have been zero sum gain. On the basis that you use the LOC reasonably, and I used it to also treat myself for vacations in summer, and I needed a car, paying back will not be a problem, it is not as if you have an undergrad student loan and will be working at Walmart for minimum wage. You need perspective.    

[Simba12]

The LOC is NOT overwhelming. It is NOT a burden. And using perspective, it is easily paid back in due course. You will be earning good money when you pay back and it will be just another routine expense like utilities, rent or mortgage, car lease, etc.

 

In my province, any earnings would result in reduction of my bursary so I would have been going into it with altruism, lol, i.e., zero sum gain. I am assuming the same for you no matter what province you live in. $45/hour is not to be sneezed at and Commons' post #3 makes sense at first blush - but one needs to consider loss of bursaries b/c if you earn $45 (or more) and lose $45 (or more), you shall have worked for nothing. Personally, in my province, I would not have worked for $100/hour as it still would have been zero sum gain. On the basis that you use the LOC reasonably, and I used it to also treat myself for vacations in summer, and I needed a car, paying back will not be a problem, it is not as if you have an undergrad student loan and will be working at Walmart for minimum wage. You need perspective.    

 

 

Haha - thanks Bambi. I DO need perspective This is a helpful way to think about things.

[Bambi]

I think you have gained perspective.

[_ _]

The LOC is NOT overwhelming. It is NOT a burden. And using perspective, it is easily paid back in due course. You will be earning good money when you pay back and it will be just another routine expense like utilities, rent or mortgage, car lease, etc.

 

In my province, any earnings would result in reduction of my bursary so I would have been going into it with altruism, lol, i.e., zero sum gain. I am assuming the same for you no matter what province you live in. $45/hour is not to be sneezed at and Commons' post #3 makes sense at first blush - but one needs to consider loss of bursaries b/c if you earn $45 (or more) and lose $45 (or more), you shall have worked for nothing. Personally, in my province, I would not have worked for $100/hour as it still would have been zero sum gain. On the basis that you use the LOC reasonably, and I used it to also treat myself for vacations in summer, and I needed a car, paying back will not be a problem, it is not as if you have an undergrad student loan and will be working at Walmart for minimum wage. You need perspective.    

Thank you. I just set up my LOC and have been second guessing my school choice (higher living cost) and the debt I will have all day. I'm being pressured by parents to take up a part-time job (minimum wage) and although it feels like a waste of valuable time to me, I've been considering the option more seriously than I need to be, it seems. This was exactly what i needed to realize 

[oshaku]

Thank you. I just set up my LOC and have been second guessing my school choice (higher living cost) and the debt I will have all day. I'm being pressured by parents to take up a part-time job (minimum wage) and although it feels like a waste of valuable time to me, I've been considering the option more seriously than I need to be, it seems. This was exactly what i needed to realize 

DO NOT take on a minimum wage job in med school.  It's just not worth it.  You're better off taking the time you'll theoretically working to relax and hang out with friends/family.  Med school will be busy and stressful.  You need time off to remain motivated and not burn out.  

 

I used to work ~2-12 hr a week making $20-30 an hour for the first few months of med school.  The money was nice, but the extra stress of work on top of school meant I was getting no down time for myself, no time for friends or family.  I was going to school feeling tired, stressed and miserable every day.  I wasn't making enough to cover all my expenses and taking was inevitable.  An extra thousand or two off of a twenty thousand loan barely made a dent, but the effect of work on my personal life was severe.  

[JohnGrisham]

Thanks- you make some very valid points. I'm just overwhelmed at the loan amount, and am thinking of ways I could maybe offset the burden a little bit by working a few hours here and there.

 

I have a follow up question for you about bursary funding: Would we lose out substantially in bursaries if, say, we pick up a 50-hour per semester TA-ing job paying ~$45/hour?

For TAing jobs, i would make sure the hours you are paid for, are the actual hours you will work. I was a graduate TA before, and while I was paid well per hour, i always ended up having to do more hours that i was paid for - think of things like prep work, pre-reading things so your intelligible on the content etc.

[JohnGrisham]

The LOC is NOT overwhelming. It is NOT a burden. And using perspective, it is easily paid back in due course. You will be earning good money when you pay back and it will be just another routine expense like utilities, rent or mortgage, car lease, etc.

 

In my province, any earnings would result in reduction of my bursary so I would have been going into it with altruism, lol, i.e., zero sum gain. I am assuming the same for you no matter what province you live in. $45/hour is not to be sneezed at and Commons' post #3 makes sense at first blush - but one needs to consider loss of bursaries b/c if you earn $45 (or more) and lose $45 (or more), you shall have worked for nothing. Personally, in my province, I would not have worked for $100/hour as it still would have been zero sum gain. On the basis that you use the LOC reasonably, and I used it to also treat myself for vacations in summer, and I needed a car, paying back will not be a problem, it is not as if you have an undergrad student loan and will be working at Walmart for minimum wage. You need perspective.    

Very strong and valid points.

 

 In BC, the bursaries aren't as plentfiul as Ontario from my understanding. So that may be perhaps why those handful of people decided to work instead?  I think they may have determined that even though they would miss out on a couple grand in bursaries, their earning power would ultimately make them much more, so that the zero sum is sort of worth it...   

 

Then again, i know for a fact for some of the contracting/consulting, its more or less done off the books (individual to individual) and not reported. for taxes. While that is "wrong" - it happens all the time, so that may be another reason they decided it was worth it to work? 

 

 

Ultimatley I would say for 90% of people it makes no sense to work, as you have more to lose. But for select few, some do choose to work due to high earning power and perhaps other obligations - or just genuine interest in keeping up skills in other realms.

 

 

 

[GrouchoMarx]

value your time more.

 

holding a part time job during medical school will rob you of your valuable time. you will need all the time you have if you want to be prepared for clinicals and the match.

[_ _]

Very strong and valid points.

 

 In BC, the bursaries aren't as plentfiul as Ontario from my understanding. So that may be perhaps why those handful of people decided to work instead?  I think they may have determined that even though they would miss out on a couple grand in bursaries, their earning power would ultimately make them much more, so that the zero sum is sort of worth it...   

 

 

 

That's my guilt/dilemma. My province gives a max bursary of 10% of the loan, and I qualify for 25K so I get $2500 in grants per year. 

 

In Ontario I would get about 10K more (at least) per year in bursaries, so I'm graduating roughly 40-50K more in debt than my peers who get OSAP. Couple that with undergrad debt, and I'm looking at 200K after all is said and done (140K alone being undergrad+tuition in med)

[NLengr]

You can pay that back without too much trouble once staff.

[JohnGrisham]

Again only if you can make a lot of money per hour is it even worth considering(not automatically doing it). Its definitely not worth it if you're making only 20-30$

[lexiiiluther]

As someone going into first year and paying for this without any other support, this is really reassuring. 

[_ _]

You can pay that back without too much trouble once staff.

I hope so. The rational part of my brain knows I will, but knowing I'll be graduating with a debt that's above average even for med students is intimidating at the moment! I do live frugally, but when you combine tuition, rent, and undergrad it adds up pretty quick

[RedLily]

The potential (and actual) debt appears intimidating, but we're looking at a future where we'll be able to pay it back effectively and reasonably. Life is long, enjoy it

 

I hope so. The rational part of my brain knows I will, but knowing I'll be graduating with a debt that's above average even for med students is intimidating at the moment! I do live frugally, but when you combine tuition, rent, and undergrad it adds up pretty quick

 

 

Pretty sure with what I owe OSAP they have a protective detail on me, so you're not alone.

[JohnGrisham]

I hope so. The rational part of my brain knows I will, but knowing I'll be graduating with a debt that's above average even for med students is intimidating at the moment! I do live frugally, but when you combine tuition, rent, and undergrad it adds up pretty quick

The average indebtness is also probably deflated a bit, as many med students have parents that help pay a fair amount.

[_ _]

The average indebtness is also probably deflated a bit, as many med students have parents that help pay a fair amount.

 I figured as much, once I calculated that my tuition+UG loans alone would be 140k I've realized I'm not going to be one of those people who graduates with only 100k in debt.  There's just no way to avoid it. 

 

I think it was my parents reaction when I told them how much my LOC was that made me start second-guessing

[p0tus]

Hey,

As others have said, don't stress too much about having to pay back such a big loan. When I graduated from medical school I had about $140,000 in student loans. At the time I remember how scary it was to see that I was paying close to $300/month just in interest payments!

 

At the end of my 2 year family medicine residency I was able to make a small dent of about $10,000 to that original amount. By the time I completed my first year as staff, I had already paid off the whole thing.

 

I suppose if I worked and made some extra money in medical school I could have whittled this down a bit more, but it probably wouldn't have made a significant impact on the length it takes to pay it off in the end.

 

Remember that completing the end goal successfully with your health and sanity intact will yield much greater dividends than stressing yourself out with extra work during the most critical learning stages of medical school.