Job hunting... while interviewing for residency
November 13, 2019 8:47 AM Subscribe
I'm a med student currently interviewing for residency. I'll be graduating med school in December, but won't be working as a doctor until July. My folks have been supporting me for the past six months, since I'm no longer supported by loans,* and understandably would like it if I could get some sort of job in the meantime. I'm pretty burnt out on job hunting, as I have effectively been doing a version of it (the residency application process) for the past 14 months.** How do I get myself fired up to find a part time job that will last me from now until May? What kind of jobs can I even get? Will places like Starbucks hire a weird baby MD like me for a 6 month stint?
*It's a long story.
**Again, the same long story. Just trust me on this, or go back and read my posting history.
I'm on Long Island, NY, fyi.
*It's a long story.
**Again, the same long story. Just trust me on this, or go back and read my posting history.
I'm on Long Island, NY, fyi.
I was in a similar situation the summer before starting grad school back when the economy crashed in 2001/02, and there were no jobs in my field, or really, anywhere. I found a receptionist job at a fancy VC firm, then left when school started. The turnover for these jobs is high; no one really expects you to stay for years or anything. I wouldn’t tell them of your plans in advance, though; why disqualify yourself? You should also try a temp firm so they can do the looking for you. You may be able to tell them your plans for school, but I probably still wouldn’t.
posted by Atrahasis at 8:58 AM on November 13, 2019
posted by Atrahasis at 8:58 AM on November 13, 2019
Retail and service jobs are full of people who have Reasons for an alternative job. Non-chain small business retail or service would probably be most receptive. It's really stressful, though.
posted by jgirl at 8:59 AM on November 13, 2019
posted by jgirl at 8:59 AM on November 13, 2019
When I needed a random job ASAP I lied about my education basically putting some college and a story about trying to get back on my feet to finish going to school.
It worked, I puttered along in random job and never mentioned it to anyone ever.
This was... 2008 or so? Not sure how much things have changed .
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:22 AM on November 13, 2019
It worked, I puttered along in random job and never mentioned it to anyone ever.
This was... 2008 or so? Not sure how much things have changed .
posted by AlexiaSky at 9:22 AM on November 13, 2019
Many retail places are still hiring seasonal staff for the holidays. Some will keep you on after the holidays. In retail there is no stigma to leaving for a different position, so you don’t have to worry about planning to stay for just a few months ( but you don’t need to tell them that). Bonus—getting a seasonal job at a retail place where you like the product means you can use the employee discount!
This is exactly what I did last year—Took a seasonal retail job, stayed until April, left to take a more permanent position. Don’t know if you’ve ever worked retail, but yes, it can be stressful... but easier to deal with if you know you’re only doing it for a relatively short period of time.
Good luck!
posted by bookmammal at 9:31 AM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is exactly what I did last year—Took a seasonal retail job, stayed until April, left to take a more permanent position. Don’t know if you’ve ever worked retail, but yes, it can be stressful... but easier to deal with if you know you’re only doing it for a relatively short period of time.
Good luck!
posted by bookmammal at 9:31 AM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
2020 is a census year, and there are a lot of temporary jobs associated with census work.
It's meaningful work that we need done, and the pay is not bad, at least in my region.
posted by Laetiporus at 9:40 AM on November 13, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's meaningful work that we need done, and the pay is not bad, at least in my region.
posted by Laetiporus at 9:40 AM on November 13, 2019 [7 favorites]
Also, forgot to add: My experience was that office jobs paid better and had better fringe benefits, such as catered lunches, than retail, which paid little, never had enough hours, and was exhausting.
posted by Atrahasis at 9:49 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Atrahasis at 9:49 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
I just finished my medical degree and do not start my residency until July,so PI need temp work.
Starbucks usually has decent benefits for retail/ food.
Temp agency, and be fussy.
Every school system in my area badly needs substitute teachers, and you have biology & chemistry and more to offer.
posted by theora55 at 9:56 AM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Starbucks usually has decent benefits for retail/ food.
Temp agency, and be fussy.
Every school system in my area badly needs substitute teachers, and you have biology & chemistry and more to offer.
posted by theora55 at 9:56 AM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I should also add that I have to have flexibility to attend residency interviews (currently have four more scheduled through early February).
posted by ocherdraco at 10:14 AM on November 13, 2019
posted by ocherdraco at 10:14 AM on November 13, 2019
Yeah, you aren't required to disclose all of your degrees to any employer in an application, so I'd leave off the MD (and it sounds like you don't officially have it yet anyway!).
Here's my pitch: doctors aren't always known for having an excellent bedside manner, but retail/service runs on good customer service. Can you think of this as a customer service rotation? You'll learn how to deal with friendly people and grumpy people and mean people and confused people and will likely pick up some things along the way. You'll learn how to work as part of a team. You'll also really appreciate that people typically treat doctors a lot better than retail workers. This seems like it could be a good opportunity to learn some excellent skills and get a good perspective on what working life is like for people who are your future patients.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:18 AM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Here's my pitch: doctors aren't always known for having an excellent bedside manner, but retail/service runs on good customer service. Can you think of this as a customer service rotation? You'll learn how to deal with friendly people and grumpy people and mean people and confused people and will likely pick up some things along the way. You'll learn how to work as part of a team. You'll also really appreciate that people typically treat doctors a lot better than retail workers. This seems like it could be a good opportunity to learn some excellent skills and get a good perspective on what working life is like for people who are your future patients.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:18 AM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Starbucks doesn't care if you're overqualified, and can be a fun, high energy place to work. They give health benefits to even part time employees (don't know about how good these benefits are in the US). I worked there with a master's in an academic discipline that didn't lend itself to easy job finding.
You can also teach MCAT/SAT classes at Kaplan etc., depending on where you live.
posted by unstrungharp at 11:34 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
You can also teach MCAT/SAT classes at Kaplan etc., depending on where you live.
posted by unstrungharp at 11:34 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
You are a shoo-in for academic editing (american journal experts, etc.).. Also feasible, temp lab work.
posted by Dashy at 11:47 AM on November 13, 2019
posted by Dashy at 11:47 AM on November 13, 2019
Tutoring! High school math and science tutors go for big bucks - $50/hour not unreasonable. Qualified ACT/SAT tutoring? Over $100/hour, though less without experience. MCAT?
posted by RoadScholar at 1:07 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by RoadScholar at 1:07 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you can type, look for medical secretary/admin jobs. Physicians love having admins with a) proven intelligence and b) higher-than-average domain knowledge. And it will be useful experience in the nuts and bolts of how different specialties work in practice.
I put myself through med school temping as a med sec, and in a roundabout way that is how I ended up with my staff physician job (worked in the dept as a med sec, decided on that specialty as a result, came back for my PhD, ended up here as staff).
Failing that, phlebotomy/nursing assistant/care home worker (these are unqualified roles where I work, obviously this will depend on your local regulatory system). Again, being a physician is often a bonus for these types of jobs because you can hit the ground running, the experience of doing these jobs will genuinely help when you are actually working as a physician, and there is usually high enough turnover that they won’t care if you leave in six months.
posted by tinkletown at 1:33 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
I put myself through med school temping as a med sec, and in a roundabout way that is how I ended up with my staff physician job (worked in the dept as a med sec, decided on that specialty as a result, came back for my PhD, ended up here as staff).
Failing that, phlebotomy/nursing assistant/care home worker (these are unqualified roles where I work, obviously this will depend on your local regulatory system). Again, being a physician is often a bonus for these types of jobs because you can hit the ground running, the experience of doing these jobs will genuinely help when you are actually working as a physician, and there is usually high enough turnover that they won’t care if you leave in six months.
posted by tinkletown at 1:33 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
“Doctors aren't always known for having an excellent bedside manner, but retail/service runs on good customer service”
Just to push back gently on this, as somebody who has done plenty of bar/waitressing work prior to qualifying as a doctor, having a good bedside manner is very different to providing good customer service. It’s not harder particularly, but it’s a very different approach (in the same way that being good at waitressing doesn’t make you a good salesman). I didn’t find there was any crossover at all, unfortunately. Teaching/tutoring might be closer.
posted by tinkletown at 1:54 PM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
Just to push back gently on this, as somebody who has done plenty of bar/waitressing work prior to qualifying as a doctor, having a good bedside manner is very different to providing good customer service. It’s not harder particularly, but it’s a very different approach (in the same way that being good at waitressing doesn’t make you a good salesman). I didn’t find there was any crossover at all, unfortunately. Teaching/tutoring might be closer.
posted by tinkletown at 1:54 PM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
How about working an Instacare? They use advanced nurses as doctors that report to MD's. You should stay in medicine as much as possible, every thing you do looks good.
posted by Oyéah at 1:55 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by Oyéah at 1:55 PM on November 13, 2019
When you apply to practices, just tell them the dates of your planned tripled during the interview process. In the event that they ask what the trip is FOR, say as much as you can without saying ‘job interview.’
Also, reach out to your network. Know any new private practice physicians who need a medical assistant or front desk? Maybe not directly, but they’re in your network somewhere. Shake all the trees. Spin it as wanting more experience with patient care while you prepare and interview for your residency.
posted by bilabial at 2:09 PM on November 13, 2019
Also, reach out to your network. Know any new private practice physicians who need a medical assistant or front desk? Maybe not directly, but they’re in your network somewhere. Shake all the trees. Spin it as wanting more experience with patient care while you prepare and interview for your residency.
posted by bilabial at 2:09 PM on November 13, 2019
Agree with tutoring MCAT maybe most remunerative option.
How about medical school admission counseling?
posted by Pantalaimon at 2:47 PM on November 13, 2019
How about medical school admission counseling?
posted by Pantalaimon at 2:47 PM on November 13, 2019
Yes to tutoring for the MCAT. $100/hr seems steep to me (that's more than my clinical fee as a subspecialty trained attending physician, and about 10x what you would be making as a resident...) but if that's what the market will bear, go for it. There are formal programs like Kaplan etc, but if there is a university near you, you could also strike out solo. I interviewed a residency candidate the other day who founded a tutoring company; it was impressive.
posted by basalganglia at 2:58 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by basalganglia at 2:58 PM on November 13, 2019
Response by poster: Thank you all for this wealth of options! You've included a number of things I hadn't thought of before (per diem substitute teaching) or hadn't occurred to me recently. (I taught an MCAT class before med school. Duh, I should totally look into that again.)
This feels less fraught and daunting now. Thank you.
posted by ocherdraco at 3:34 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
This feels less fraught and daunting now. Thank you.
posted by ocherdraco at 3:34 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Dang. I should quit my day job and move to LI.
posted by basalganglia at 4:27 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by basalganglia at 4:27 PM on November 13, 2019
Please find something easy and flexible - you really will need it for interviews, but also for finding a place to live if you have to do a long distance relocation. Make sure that whatever you decide to do gives you enough time to enjoy life a bit. Can’t stress that enough - the six months before residency were necessary for me, so that I could breathe a bit before starting intern year. I haven’t read as many books in the eight years that I’ve been out of school as I did the last six months of Med school.
See if you can get in as a unit clerk at a hospital, maybe?
posted by honeybee413 at 7:03 PM on November 13, 2019
See if you can get in as a unit clerk at a hospital, maybe?
posted by honeybee413 at 7:03 PM on November 13, 2019
I was a barista for almost 4 years. I would advise against barista work and similar things in this situation because you can get repetitive stress injuries. If it's not urgent, look for something that will be easier on your body so you don't chance starting residency with your body in less-good shape than it is now.
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:42 AM on November 14, 2019
posted by needs more cowbell at 4:42 AM on November 14, 2019
I would look into research assistant gigs. Most major academic medical centers have capacity to take on a research assistant, and it wouldn't be hard to reach out to a couple of labs or research heavy docs from your med school. The jobs tend to be flexible and already accommodate the grad school/med school interview process. It'll also potentially benefit you later on down the line in terms of developing research skills and/or publications.
posted by ghostpony at 5:14 AM on November 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ghostpony at 5:14 AM on November 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bilabial at 8:57 AM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]