You have probably heard that working while in PA school is impossible or at least strongly discouraged. For some people, working is absolutely ludicrous and I would not recommend it. If you are raising a child or are responsible for another dependent it would be absurd to work. If you didn't work while in college, now is not the time to start. If you have been out of school for several years, I would advise against getting a job.
However, for some people, working is entirely possible. I know this because I've been doing it all year. For some context, I entered the workforce at the ripe old age of 16 with my job at the public library. I was trying to save up for living expenses in college so I started working a second job at a fast food restaurant when I was 17. I continued working two jobs at a time while in college until my final semester. I was only taking 12 credit hours and was able to switch to a single, full-time job. I did not find working while in school full-time to be challenging so there was little doubt in my mind that I would work while in PA school. I was lucky enough to be paired with a mentor from the Class of 2024 who was also working while in PA school. She gave me some advice (and later got me my second job) that I will pass on to you.
It was recommended to me to pick an easy job that would not be mentally taxing and that had relatively few hours per week. Then, if the first few months of school went well, I could consider increasing my hours. This is almost exactly what I did and it's the path I would recommend to any future students. You really won't know how challenging or time consuming the program will be for you until you start it so don't go wild and start off by working 30 hours per week. Get settled into the program, then go wild.
The first job I started here in Morgantown was as a lab tech in the gross room with an estimated 4-8 hours per week and a starting pay of about $17/hr. It was a devastating pay-cut but much better than other part-time gigs. I started work the first week of class and as time went on I decided I could start working more. The job had limited hours available so I started working for some food delivery apps to fill the gap. The job itself is not the kind of job where you can study but it is also not mentally or physically draining. All I really do is clean up the gross room, load the cassettes onto the processors, and accession some specimens. It was definitely awkward at first working with the PAs who were also my instructors but I eventually got over it.
Around April, I started looking for a different job. I was originally planning to quit my job in the gross due to some unforeseen circumstances. However, several other techs quit which created a staffing shortage and I felt bad about leaving. Now I work two jobs. Whoops. My mentor worked at the same gym where I lifted and helped me get a front desk job there. This job could be up to 20 hours per week with a starting pay of $9.25/hr. After making big boy money at my previous full-time job I vowed to never work for less than $15 but I'll make an exception for this job. I spend 70-90% of my time there studying or reading or watching TV. The rest of the time is spent helping people with memberships and tidying up. I pretty much get paid to study so I can't complain. This is the kind of job I would recommend to future students.
On average, I work about 15-20 hours per week. There were a few weeks over the summer where I was working 30+ but that was a bit much. Believe it or not, I still have time for all the things I enjoy like weightlifting, reading, crafting, and going on adventures. I try to take one day off every weekend from both school and work to either relax at home or go on an adventure. I spent two years of undergrad working every single weekend which was a terrible work-life balance. I was not trying to repeat that mistake here. Working has also not affected my performance in school. Despite my increasing hours over the course of the year, my grades have held steady.
I don't make enough money to pay my rent (that's paid for by savings) but I do make enough to pay for my gas, groceries, hobbies, adventures and other bills. I estimate that I will make about $12,000 this year which is not a lot but that's still $12,000 in loans I don't have to take out. Having an income also makes me feel more secure. I didn't have loans in undergrad so taking them out here intimidated me and I want to minimize the amount of debt I'll be in. I can tell myself that my job is helping with that and it brings me some peace of mind. I haven't decided if I will work next year. The prospect of being unemployed is not appealing but we'll have to wait and see what my rotation schedule looks like.
Here's an example of my work schedule.
tl;dr if you feel like you can work while in school, go ahead and do it
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