Medical Education US

Hello everyone,

I'm currently an undergraduate student working towards medical school. I've been skimming over some of the great information that's on here and it's really been informative, so first off I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has contributed. Currently, my hopeful area of specialization is Psychiatry. As I'm still undergraduate the job options are slim, so I'm working as a pharmacy technician at the moment. It's a decent job, gives me experience with medications, insurance companies, and general customer service. I had went after the job thinking it may provide me with some kind of competitive edge getting into medical school and also the aforementioned experience, but lately I'm not so sure if my time is better spent on my course work. Everyone on here seems fairly knowledgable and experienced, so I'd like to ask some fairly simple questions:

(1) Clearly a job in a pharmacy would make a difference in an application to a pharmacy school, but medical school?
(2) To that end, does medical school look more favorably upon a job or volunteer work; does it matter?
(2) What kind of jobs do people normally work undergraduate and medical school; does it matter?
(3) Is it more preferable to not work a job on focus on studies?
(4) How do you support yourself while in school if you don't have a job? Further, what do you do for disposable income for food, nights out, etc.?

Lately it has been a problem mostly because I find the job very uninteresting and unengaging. I really enjoy working people, solving problems, and analyzation. The job offers next to none, but there are not any foreseeable alternatives. I've always been someone who likes to work because I enjoy being busy, but psychology and psychiatry (or any medical field for that matter) often have no place for people without a post graduate degree, let alone a bachelors. I'd be much more happy filing papers for a psychologist, but you'd be suprised the kind of things they expect from you just to do that it'd seem.

I'd love to hear any experiences or opinions, I haven't been graced with the ability to talk to many people with experience in the medical field about their road to success.

(1) Clearly a job in a pharmacy would make a difference in an application to a pharmacy school, but medical school?

The two most important factors to get into medical school are grades and MCAT scores. Everything else seems to be a relatively distant 3rd. Having a very unique experience may help at some medical schools.

(2) To that end, does medical school look more favorably upon a job or volunteer work; does it matter?

Volunteer work is a good thing to have. I think medical schools look favorably on experience working with patients, showing that you are familiar with working with sick individuals. I think that if you have excellent grades and MCAT scores, job experience and volunteer experience aren't as important to getting into medical school. I don't think I can say one is better than another.

(2) What kind of jobs do people normally work undergraduate and medical school; does it matter?

People work all types of jobs. You can select a job in a medical field which you think will help strengthen your application, or you can select a job you enjoy, or you can select a job you think will make you the most money. There are advantages to each and if you are really lucky you'll find a job that does all three. Unfortunately, those are very hard to come by. Most people do whatever they can to make decent money as an undergrad. Very few people work during medical school because there just isn't time, other than during the summer between 1st and 2nd year.

(3) Is it more preferable to not work a job on focus on studies?

If you need money, you'll need a job as an undergrad, especially during the summers. Studies are what will get you into medical school though.

(4) How do you support yourself while in school if you don't have a job? Further, what do you do for disposable income for food, nights out, etc.?

Loans for most people. Some get grants/scholarships. A few do military work. Financing a medical education is not easy and the loans usually create a challenge for a long time after school. Some people work in underserved areas after residency to help pay back their debts.