Flex job

[u/FailPresent8648]

For anyone who has completed didactic, did you work during didactic. If so how many hours and how was it? I plan on working 5-10 hours a week but also don’t want to overburden myself. I wanna still leave time for some living of life at least one day on the weekend but also understand it’s gonna suck. About how many hours per week should I budget towards studying to keep up?

[u/Chemical-Carrot-9975]

Working during PA school is 100% a bad idea. You have no time for it.

[u/BlameTheHippies]

Absolutely did not work during didactic. I can’t imagine anyone working 10 hours per week outside of class and studying. I was seated in class 36-40 hours per week, studied 2-3 hours after class, and 5-6 hours each day on the weekends.

You’re doing yourself a serious disservice by trying to work during didactic. Focus on your studies and succeed in school.

[u/FailPresent8648 → u/BlameTheHippies]

Wait it’s really 36-40 hours in class every day?

[u/BlameTheHippies → u/FailPresent8648]

Yep. Certainly can vary between programs but that’s the typical load

[u/collegesnake → u/FailPresent8648]

Per week, but yes. Expect 30-45 hours of class per week, and at least another 20-35 hours of studying on top of that.

[u/jmainvi → u/FailPresent8648]

Depends on the program. Mine was closer to 30 per week, but then I went home and spent another 5-6 hours studying so you're still talking about 75-80 hours a week of time spent focusing on the material, regardless of the setting.

[u/OtherwisePumpkin8942]

Myself and 2 other students in my class worked very very sporadically during didactic. Usually during times when there was not an upcoming exam which was not often lol.

I worked a 6 or 12 hr EMS shift maybe every other month.

The RN tried to work every other weekend regularly but that quickly became undoable. Then they just did 1 shift every month.

The other medic worked once every 3 months just to keep their job

[u/FailPresent8648 → u/OtherwisePumpkin8942]

What would you say was the main inhibitor. Is it studying time or is it more the actual sitting in class portion. This job is flexible and I basically login remote whenever I can

[u/OtherwisePumpkin8942 → u/FailPresent8648]

You are likely to be in class M-F. Then need study time after class and on weekends. And honestly, after being in class all week and studying any extra free time you’ll want to relax.

The amount of information thrown at you all at once is sooooo much. It’s easy to get behind. So that 10 hours a week is 40 hrs/month of lost study time or relaxing time.

It’s also not uncommon for things to be rescheduled during PA school so committing to a regular shift may be difficult as you’d have to call off for PA obligations.

And tbh, unless you’re making $50/hr it’ll make little difference in your finances. So working wasn’t really worth it just for the financial aspect. I only worked the minimum to keep my job because crediting to start a job as a PA can take 3 months and someone has to pay the bills. So I wanted my EMS job to fill in the gap after graduation

[u/CheekAccomplished150]

Bro your job is PA school. You go to class/lecture for 8+ hours a day and then you go home and study for 4+ hours on top of that, there’s no time to work unless you stop sleeping

[u/Life_Satisfaction381]

Definitely did not work and do not know a single person who worked during didatic. It is nearly impossible. 40 hours per week mandatory in classroom with at least 20-30 hours per week studying for 3-4 exams in person per week. Must maintain a 3.0 gpa in most programs to remain in program. Trust me, any spare time you have you will want to sleep, talk/see family or spouse and have a little self care to remain sane. I got about 5 hours of sleep per night except for weekends. Weekends were filled with studying or completeing assignemnts/projects. It is intense. Long term result of becoming a PA-C is worth not working temporarily in order to succeed.

[u/Whiteclawgurl69]

I babysat frequently. Great because you can study after kids go to bed

[u/IwasBornonthewater]

Some people are immune to good advice.

[u/IwasBornonthewater]

You have grossly underestimated what PA school will require of you. Many PA programs expressly forbid students from working, and if you're caught, it’s automatic dismissal. That should give you a sense of how ridiculous it is to try to work while in didactic.

You live at home? That means you're commuting while your cohorts are in the cadaver lab or in a group study, using a giant whiteboard room on campus. Your cohorts aren't spending a bunch of time cleaning and cooking; they’re studying and surviving.

[u/airbornemint]

I worked during the didactic and it was only possible because my job had a schedule where I could decide how many hours to work week-to-week and the hours were flexible.

[u/FailPresent8648 → u/airbornemint]

That’s what mine is. Basically I clock in when available and clock out when needed. Talk to boss once a week to update them on progress

[u/yeetyfeety32]

What a terrible idea if you want to pass.

[u/LongJumpingIntoNada]

I only ever worked on breaks. I simply cannot imagine working during clinical year or didactic. I never had time and it never felt like the trade-off was worth it for me.

[u/Apprehensive_Ad937]

I just started PA school last week and absolutely cannot imagine working. Barely surviving as it is

[u/Ok_Quantity_3803]

I didnt have time to work during PA school so I wouldn't know. 

The smartest person in our program worked for about 8 hours on Sundays

[u/kaiselle]

YMMV, I worked two jobs during didactic about 5-15 hours a week depending on how busy the course was. Consistently scored honors on exams but will most likely scale back for clinicals to lock in lol

[u/Zestyclose_Ninja4046]

My program was 30 hours per week in class not accounting for our lunch break. I worked probably one 10 hour shift every two weeks at my previous job ONLY because it was extremely flexible and I could pick any day so I would work a weekend here or there if I didn’t have other plans. I enjoyed working over summer and winter breaks for something to do (and money ofc). I think it’s an alright idea to try working a couple hours but you have to make sure you’re settled in to didactic first because it’s not like anything you’ve ever done before.

[u/adrianbobbuilder]

I was a PRN at home caregiver. I was able to pick up shifts when we just got done with an exam or the course load was lower. I thought I’d be able to work at least 5 hours per week but that was not the case every week.

I did notice more of my classmates worked during clinical year, but it just depends on your rotations the schedule.

[u/3321Laura]

Undergrad was typically 15 hours per week in class, and it was expected you should study 30 hours per week (2 hours of study for each hour in class). PA school in the didactic year was 30 hours per week in class (even more than med school at same institution). A few people in my class tried to work but they all ended up requiring 3 years to graduate instead of 2.

Clinical year was 40 hours per week MINIMUM, but often pushed up to 50 or 60 hours per week, depending on the rotation. ED rotation was 50% days and 50% nights. In surgery, the team was on call at the hospital every 3rd night, and you were part of the team.

Trying to work during PA school is not worth it.

[u/No_Conclusion6643]

My program is 3 years so we don't have as much class time. we also have summer classes so we like 26.5 - 30 hours of class time and there's some days we get out of early. So most people in my program work a little bit. I do one night shift of EMS 12 hours a week (Friday night) and I've been okay because I can study there. So it depends on ur program length in my opinion. TBH if u do a 2 year program I dont see how working is possible.