Would this be seen as uprofessiona, cause a problem, or worse?

[Alpha Scorpii]

I'm and MSIV and I just finished my last rotation. There's nothing for me to do except watch my bank account balance dwindle to 0 and the interest on my loans grow while I sit around waiting for residency to start in the last week of June. I don't want to take out a Residency and Relocation loan, I'm already up to my eyeballs in student loans, so I've been trying to get a temp job. Nothing is biting, I'm overqualified, or they need someone for a longer period of time, etc. etc.

The only job offer I've gotten is to work as a phone sex operator (this is not a joke). It's a legitimate job with an established company from what I've managed to find out, and they pay a decent hourly wage. It's anonymous, I've been assured by the company, nobody will know my name and my identity will not be revealed under any circumstances. But I'm still worried.

I'm wondering if this can somehow come back to haunt me. There was a news story of a teacher getting fired when somebody found out that she had worked in the sex industry, a long time before she became a teacher. Granted there is no nudity involved here, it's just phone sex (no cameras, nothing, just talking on the phone), but I don't want to lose my residency spot over a few thousand $. What do you guys think?

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[mycatishuge]

I don't have a solution for you, but I feel sad that you are in this situation.
With regard to your question: nothing is ever anonymous. It would most likely not be an issue unless you become famous/run for political office or someone wants to blackmail you/wants to be vengeful. If you live really frugally for a couple of months and dont buy furniture etc as soon as you move, can't you stretch a small amount of loans a bit?

 

[whonotwhatnot]

Hello OP, I concur with mycatishuge; there is no real solution we can provide, only suggestions.

First off, imo, there is no job that is unworthy. Imagine if everyone was a doc, who'd grow our food? Who would police us when in need? Who'd build roads and buildings? Who'd engineer and deploy basic services such as power, water & gas to your home? All jobs are worthy and one should consider his/herself lucky to have one.

With respect to such line of work (phone sex operator), if you need to pay bills, then take it. If you don't want it to be an issue in the future than disclose that information from the get go and only when necesssary... it will take seconds, perhaps minutes but will save you an eternity of shame.

The overqualified card has been thrown at me many times and quite frankly in the ideal world it shouldn't be an issue but in our contemporary society, sometimes what glimmers isn't gold. I believe your eagerness to obtain a position will make the difference when you're according to them overqualifed. Tell them you don't care, and you're there to work. One can safely say "there are no jobs available for me" only when you've gone to every employment option in your area.

Again I feel for your situation and wish you the best, but for this instance live by the rule of 100. As a single guy who is looking for a girlfriend, I can ask 100 girls out, 99 can say NO and even slap me in the face, but if one says yes, then mission accomplished. Do the same thing in your job search, go door to door, show your qualifications and sell yourself if need be.

Lastly, go back to your family if that's an option. Mom, Dad, A bro or sis usually love unconditionally -- shoot, even an uncle, aunt, old friend, at times do so also!

Goodluck.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think its fine.

Its not illegal and you haven't signed any morals clause with your school or residency which prohibits you taking money from men for talking dirty to them.

 

[Bartelby]

While I don't think you would be kicked out of your residency program for this I don't think you should do it either. Let's say this job earns you $5000, thus reducing your total loan burden (to make up numbers) from $225k to $220k. The difference is pretty small, and the price you may pay is listing "phone sex operator" in the middle of your medical school/residency years for possibly the rest of your life if you want to go with straightforward disclosure as suggested above.

Is it worth a few thousand to be associated with that going forward?

 

[Alpha Scorpii]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am wondering what the disclosure you are mentioning is all about. To whom do I have to disclose all the jobs I've had? I filled out the paperwork for my state license for residency and there was no section where I had to fill out every job I've ever had. I also didn't include all my jobs in my ERAS application. I worked a lot of different jobs at the end of high school and through college, but I didn't think waitress, legal secretary, retail store clerk, restaurant delivery person, were something I should include in my ERAS application or any other professional forms/applications. I'm probably unaware of something that may be ahead, so can anyone please let me know what disclosures I should anticipate and when?

So far it seems like most of you are advising me not to do it. I'm also leaning away from it, but at the same time I feel really stuck. I'm probably just going to vent or at least try to get my thoughts out below. Sorry if I'm annoying anyone.

As far as applying to 100 places, I think I'm way past that number. I have applied for everything from housekeeper and pizza delivery person to secretary and copy editor, I also signed up with a couple of temp agencies. It seems nobody wants to hire someone for just 6-7 weeks, except for one day or one week manual labor jobs like moving or truck unloading (and those people won't even look at me because I'm a girl).

I know in the grand scheme of things an extra $5K in loans isn't that big a deal, but unlike the regular student loans these residency loans can't get consolidated, they are at a much higher rate, etc. etc. I also don't even know if I'll get approved for one without a cosigner (and I don't have a cosigner), because my student loan debt is so huge. I worked through college and paid for my undergrad and for my master's out of pocket, but I didn't get into my state med school and ended up at a very expensive school on the east coast, and couldn't really work much at all during med school, so I have ~$330K in student loans right now (with interest compounding every minute it feels like). I'm an only child, come from a very small family, and only have my elderly grandparents at this point, who can't really give me any financial support.

I guess the question I have is: has anybody done something similar or known of someone who did something similar, and did it create a problem?

 

[whonotwhatnot]

As mentioned above, if you need the money, then do it. It's not like what you plan to do is illegal and for the support of an immoral cause. At least you're looking for employment and seem to be ready to work at all costs. I believe that's a much better source of income than lieing, stealing, scamming or robbing someone for their hard earned cash.

P.S Only list medically relevant jobs in your ERAS or any application. You don't want to say you were a line cook at your local steak house (as was I) if it holds no value.

Goodluck, thank you for sharing your story.

 

[Hoju]

Can you steel yourself and respond in an aroused manner to some of the twisted stuff you will hear from your customers? It may not be all that easy.

 

[Alpha Scorpii]

Since there were no responses telling me I'm doomed if I do this, I decided to call the company back and tell them that I will accept the job. This is when some additional details came out. Basically I will have to go through a 2-3 week unpaid "training" period, during which I would have to talk to one of their "recruiters/trainers" daily. While I'm generally a generous and very helpful person, and my middle name could be "Volunteer," I don't think I'm going to volunteer to get some guy off on a daily basis for free for the next 3 weeks. This is definitely not worth it for a month's worth of pay. Plus, as all of you mentioned, I don't have to worry about being associated with this for the rest of my life, even if it is not illegal.

Thanks for all your responses, and I'm sorry if I wasted your time. This job is definitely a no go. I will keep looking for other jobs, and I'm going to try to apply for a residency loan and/or a credit card. Please wish me luck.

 

[michaelrack]

As mentioned above, if you need the money, then do it. It's not like what you plan to do is illegal and for the support of an immoral cause.

Definitely not illegal.

It's not something you would want to have to list on a job application in the deep South.

 

[michaelrack]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am wondering what the disclosure you are mentioning is all about. To whom do I have to disclose all the jobs I've had? ?

Some job applications request all jobs within a certain number of years (often 5 years). I have seen this at some hospitals (they will usually have you fill out a generic application that all perspective employees fill out along with an app for staff privileges specific to doctors).
I think the VA will have you list all jobs within a certain time period.

 

[OBMDMPH]

Have you thought about babysitting? Get an attending or resident you know to put your name out on their listserv and send an email out. Get those attendings to tell their friends. You can have neighborhood listservs send out your info as well. I did this my first year of med school and had way more requests than I even new what to do with! People are always looking for babysitters, especially ones they view as trustworthy.

 

[Bartelby]

Have you thought about babysitting? Get an attending or resident you know to put your name out on their listserv and send an email out. Get those attendings to tell their friends. You can have neighborhood listservs send out your info as well. I did this my first year of med school and had way more requests than I even new what to do with! People are always looking for babysitters, especially ones they view as trustworthy.

Not a bad idea. You could also consider MCAT or step tutoring if you have experience with that kind of thing, and seasonal work like landscaping, house painting, etc that you can do on your own are possibilities if you know how to do them. Unfortunately in the time frame you are thinking of (six weeks) almost no job would be worth pursuing because employers will not want to train you and then start over the employee search in a few weeks and (if self-employed) you will spend most of that six weeks building a customer base that you then have to leave.

I think the babysitter thing may be your best shot, if worst comes to worst move in with your grandparents and relax, you don't have long before you will get to work all you want!

 

[deleted116380]

As noted above, try to find side jobs like babysitting. Have you considered tutoring? Posting up a local ad on whatever parents use may help. A buddy of mine used to tutor kids in his area for $30/hr and would make twice that when tutoring two kids at once. He got leads through his mom that knew other parents in the area so it was more word-of-mouth.

If you can drive a stick shift car, consider valeting. I don't think you even need to know how to drive stick, but some places may require it rather than just 1 person on the shift having to know it. A couple friends did that back in high school and made $150/shift, but they did the big hotels at Universal Studios.

I don't know anything about formal tutoring like Kaplan, etc, but I've head the hourly wage is okay, but not that great. $13-20/hr at most???

Although I wouldn't really recommend it, a girl in Palm Beach FL used to ask for change/cash at a major intersection during morning and evening rush hours. Said to have made $1,500 minimum a day. However, she was attractive and dressed decently + it's Palm Beach where it's almost impossible to go on a small drive and not see a Porsche 996 or newer Turbo.

Edit: Maid services seem to charge a decent amount, around $30-50/hr, but they have their own supplies and associated overhead like transportation as well.

I have no clue how local car wash places pay, but that may be an area to look into as well given the weather is improving for those services. Detailers are a completely different area in that regard and not really a temp job unless you have experience and know buffing, clay bar, etc. They pay well, but it's a skill unlike regular car washes.

Edit #2: If you have some experience already, you may be able to bartend, but hours are terrible outside of hotels/restaurants.

 

[ioh]

Please wish me luck.

I don't have any new advice to offer, but I empathize with your feeling of being burdened with debt coming out of school. Congratulations on graduating and best of luck.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I think that kind of job lacks integrity. I think you would come out of it feeling ashamed (at best) or your own sense of morality would be quietly eroded (at worst). Better take that extra bit of loan or do a different job (tutor Kaplan or Princeton Review MCAT prep, babysit, etc.) until residency starts.

 

[VenusinFurs]

You wouldn't lose a residency spot because of it. That teacher was fired because her face was all over the internet, it was easily recognizable, and she was working exclusively with adolescent-aged children who watched online porn. Teachers are under much more scrutiny in their online presence than doctors. Even so, many members of the general public supported her right to teach and thought the school board was being ridiculous. Your patients wouldn't ever find out who you were, and if they did, they'd hardly be like "THIS DOCTOR MUST BE REMOVED FROM PRACTICE BECAUSE SHE GOT ME OFF BY TELLING ME SHE WANTED TO WRAP ME IN SAUSAGE LINKS AND POUR MAPLE SYRUP ON ME."

 

[mycatishuge]

SHE GOT ME OFF BY TELLING ME SHE WANTED TO WRAP ME IN SAUSAGE LINKS AND POUR MAPLE SYRUP ON ME."

You really are imaginative, aren't you?

 

[DIce3]

I relate. My wife and I had negative money June and July of intern year. We had no money even to buy a few simple groceries. It was a scary and miserable time that has probably changed me some to this day. I would take out a small loan to carry you for two months instead of doing the phone sex thing.

 

[danielmd06]

My grandmother says: "When in doubt, don't."

You're in doubt about it for very legitimate reasons. I wouldn't do it if I were you. There are other, better ways to make money. I think the job suggestions above are all good.

I was a teacher for Kaplan for both the SAT and MCAT. I forget the exact pay, but is was over $20 per hour. This was around 2002. So my point is you can always teach standardized tests beyond just the MCAT if you want. They'd love to get their hands on someone with a doctorate. It makes their program look better.

 

[Trifling Jester]

Just FYI - Some states require a CV for their medical license application, and require you to list exactly what you did for each month since graduation from medical school. I'm sure you could get around this by listing just the name of the company and put "telecommunications" as the position or something like that. But better you know up front.

 

[ssttrrbbk]

I don't see the big deal. I did promo modeling and i don't tell anyone i gave out free alcohol during medical school. Honestly though I usually got hired by sports companies so I really gave out free Power Bar stuff then alcohol.... regardless it was good money and its not at all on my CV. My friends been a personal trainer for most of 4th year, but really don't you have about a month til orientation at this point?

 

[fishsnack]

What you do with your time is absolutely nobody's business. The only thing they can require you to disclose is if you've done anything illegal, and whether you actually went to one or more medical schools. I would do it just given the novelty. It will make a great story you can one day use to show your kids how hip you were...