He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
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He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
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People often ask me if I always wanted to be a doctor. In truth I fell into a medical degree as I thought it sounded more interesting than a law degree. But I've had a number of jobs on th
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He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 12:44 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1213
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 14/6/2013 |
People often ask me if I always wanted to be a doctor. In truth I fell into a medical degree as I thought it sounded more interesting than a law degree. But I've had a number of jobs on the way to being a doctor: Cinema Usher - great job, if slightly unsociable hours. I had free cinema tickets, and as much popcorn as I could feasibly ingest. Yorkshire Pudding Manufacturer - worst job ever. I would never eat a manufactured Yorkshire pudding now. Glass stamper - hard work, but paid well. Medical Records Clerk - an interesting insight into how a hospital admin system was run. I was sacked after two period of work with them as I finished the work too quickly, and therefore the time at the end of the day was perceived to be me 'slcaking off'. A lesson learned there! What jobs did you have before becoming a doctor? Were they just jobs to pay off your beer bill from the previous term at medical school (like my jobs), or did you do something you'd consider going back to? |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 1:21 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 461
First: 29/4/2011 Last: 31/5/2013 |
I can't beat chicken pluckier, but our former Chairman of Medicine's father was a chicken sexer-an apparently lucrative profession. In my pre-college days I worked as a soda jerk in the era when all drug stores had soda fountains. My favorite concoction was a marshmallow-flavored milkshake made with chocolate ice cream. In college I worked making pizzas; a job that I do not recommend. Pizza ovens are very hot and I showered for 20 minutes after my shift to get the smell off. In one summer I was a lifeguard at a motel. Actually saved a toddler from drowning after he fell into the pool and his mother did not notice. My most lucrative summer job was making portable TVs on an assembly line at the old RCA plant down the street from where I lived. There I learned a couple of life’s lesions. First, I learned that working on an assembly line was mind numbing. I made the handle assembly by putting connectors at each end of the handle assembly and laid them on a table where the guy next to me put them on the TV sets as they came down the line. As I remember, I had 25 seconds to make a handle, but I soon became able to make them faster and would get ahead. That’s when I learned my second lesion from the shop Stewart. At a break he pulled me aside and wisely told me that while I was off to college at the end of the summer and would end up in a white-collar job or a profession, he and his coworkers were there for the rest of their lives eking out a living for their families. So I should be careful not to get too far ahead because management would love to speed up the line and renegotiate how many TV sets we should make each day. It was a humbling experience for a 20-year-old so full of himself.
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 5:06 PM BST
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1492
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 18/6/2013 |
Thanks DundeeChest and diabetesMD - interesting anecdotes! I'm not a doctor but the jobs I've had before going into publishing have been: Newspaper boy Plongeur (i.e. washer upper) at a Bistro-pub Leafleter for a night club Gardener/garden maintenance assistant Music festival steward |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 10:34 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2135
First: 12/3/2010 Last: 18/6/2013 |
I've worked in a supermarket, summer job between O-levels and Sixth form. In the second week the Manager took me to his office and said, " Now lad, I can see you are bright, would you like to think about training in management. Do you have any O-levels?" "Er, twelve. Sir." "Don't mess about, lad, I'm offering you a real chance here!" I had to explain that this was a summer job and I was back to school in September for my As and Uni in two or three years. I hope he wasn't embarased because he really was making me a good offer. Between School and Uni, I worked as a lab-boy, washing glassware and setting up experiments at Rothamstead, still a world centre for bio- and agricultural research, where my Aunt and Uncle were staff researchers. Yes, I know, nepotism rules! The Director, Prof. N.Pirie FRS, had a personal project to extract protein from leaves as a way of alleviating world poverty. His "Mechanical Cow" was supposed to do the same job as a cow, eat leaves and excrete palatable food, But the Cow didn't give milk, it gave a greenish paste that tasted very strange. It was the task of the Lab Women (it was a different world then) to concoct recipes that might make it nice to eat. It is the same world now in that it was the task of the most junior to risk their health or in this case taste buds, for Science. I'm amazed that I still like curries. I also had holiday jobs at a fairground, running the helterskelter, Christmas for the Post Office, helping sort and deliver the Christmas post, and as a London night-delivery van driver but unless you count my times managing a motor racing team (another story) since qualifying I've lead a boring medical career.
John |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 10:52 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1360
First: 25/1/2009 Last: 14/6/2013 |
My best job was when i used to work at a children's museum as an "enabler" - my duties included being a robot, bank manager and general dogsbody. But also included playing a giant gnome, alien and safety cat. If only the pay was as good as being a doctor I'd go back and work there again! I've also been an usher at 2 different theatres and my worst job was as an office cleaner. I lastes 3 days as some of the tasks were so foul and demeaning I deceided I'd rather stay a poor unemplyed student. After that I have incredible respect for anyone who works in the NHS as a cleaner |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 11:38 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 24
First: 19/11/2010 Last: 7/8/2012 |
In Response to Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....: My best job was when i used to work at a children's museum as an "enabler" - my duties included being a robot, bank manager and general dogsbody. But also included playing a giant gnome, alien and safety cat. If only the pay was as good as being a doctor I'd go back and work there again! I've also been an usher at 2 different theatres and my worst job was as an office cleaner. I lastes 3 days as some of the tasks were so foul and demeaning I deceided I'd rather stay a poor unemplyed student. After that I have incredible respect for anyone who works in the NHS as a cleaner Posted by DrS petrol station attendant (got tips too Inland Revenue Painter &Decorator Post Office at Christmas |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 11:50 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 607
First: 8/6/2011 Last: 17/6/2013 |
When I started I was 13 years old . Waiter in the summers and agriculture in the winters. Althought I was a child I was very happy because I had my money and I could help and the family. This untill my 18. After 18 I worked occasionally as a waiter . The last " job" was as a worker in a factory. The last was the easiest work I 've ever had ! I had to unsable some pieces , after some days I could do it automatically without thinking . So I decided to hide my medical book under the table . I was reading a paragraph and I was repeating it in my head while I was working untill I was dominate it after the next paragraph and the next ... And in this way I passed my last medical exams . |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 20/7/2012 11:50 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 607
First: 8/6/2011 Last: 17/6/2013 |
When I started I was 13 years old . Waiter in the summers and agriculture in the winters. Althought I was a child I was very happy because I had my money and I could help and the family. This untill my 18. After 18 I worked occasionally as a waiter . The last " job" was as a worker in a factory. The last was the easiest work I 've ever had ! I had to unsable some pieces , after some days I could do it automatically without thinking . So I decided to hide my medical book under the table . I was reading a paragraph and I was repeating it in my head while I was working untill I was dominate it after the next paragraph and the next ... And in this way I passed my last medical exams . |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 21/7/2012 5:22 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1302
First: 9/12/2011 Last: 12/6/2013 |
I was a dishwasher in a Resturant in high school, and I also was a carpenter, did Decks, stairs, house repairs in high school, and some wiring, took Electrician trade certificate in high school. DuaneF |
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Re: He was only a chicken plucker when I knew him....
posted at 30/7/2012 8:18 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 28
First: 25/9/2011 Last: 7/6/2013 |
I was a Histology lab technician for 5 years after leaving school and the boredom of cutting thousands of slices of preserved anatomical parts drove me to seek a new career hence the transition to medicine. The most interesting thing I did during holidays at med school was working in Texas one summer as a quality control person in an aluminium smelting factory. It was so hot I was parked next to the water fountain all day. Half the workforce were illegal Mexicans and the Immigration Police used to raid the factory once a fortnight and take them all back across the border only for them to be back at work the next day. I was never challenged once as I looked like a regular Caucasian American. Hospital porter and mail delivery boy were other memorable fun times. |
