Saturday, January 30, 2010

Ten practical part-time jobs for medical students

When I was a medical student, I didn't work too many part-time jobs. How do you find to work if you're studying all the time? Plus, once you begin your clinical rotations, you lose complete control of your schedule.

Some medical students need to work to survive. What type of jobs should they find? Here are a ten practical suggestions:
  1. Food services. Work in a restaurant. You'd be surprised how much you can make in tips if you work in a high-end restaurant. Of course, it can be difficult to get a job working in a high end restaurant if you don't have any restaurant experience, so it helps to start somewhere. You can even work for a coffee shop like a Starbucks.
  2. Private tutoring. You'd be surprised at how much you can earn by tutoring college and high school students. Whether it's SAT test prep or science tutoring, you can set up a nice little private tutoring business for yourself. Alternatively, you may choose to work for a tutoring agency (but you won't make as much money). 
  3. Test prep. Similar to tutoring, but consider working for a Kaplan or other type of test prep company. You'll be working with groups of students and giving lectures instead of working one-on-one with an individual student.
  4. Medical or scientific research. If you're a medical student, you may find an opportunity to get involved in some basic science or clinical research. You're killing two birds with one stone by gaining valuable research experience and generating income on the side.
  5. Blogging. Yes, if you're a good writer and you're persistent, then you can make money by blogging.  There are two major models of revenue generation: paid blogging and advertising. Some blog publishing networks will pay you $10-25 (or more) per blog post. 
  6. Medical transcription. You're familiar with those medical terms, right?
  7. Medical assistant. Some private physician offices or urgent care centers may be willing to hire you as a medical assistant. Its a great way to gain additional clinical experience.
  8. Library assistant. Every medical school has a library, so you may want to look for some jobs in the library.
  9. Technical support. You've seen those Geek Squad vehicles. If you're a technology expert, maybe you can help people with their computers. 
  10. Retail. If you mainly want a weekend job, consider a retail job. Stores in the mall often have "help wanted" signs. I'd love to work in a bookstore. If you live near a medical supply store or a book store, then you may have more luck. 
Good luck!

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