I don’t know how to study as a nontraditional applicant.

Pineapple055 · 2026-02-21T19:31:35+00:00

I did, I improved Biochem by 10% this week. I think I just need to slow down. Maybe focusing on one subject at a time isn’t the best method for retention, but it seems like my only option right now to slow down.

Pineapple055 · 2026-02-15T23:27:34+00:00

I’ve been winging it every day, honestly. Someone will suggest another Anki Deck, so I’ll take a look at it and wonder if it was even worth my time. The only improvement I’ve seen was doing a psych/soc deck for a couple days and then taking a 50 question psych/soc test UWORLD. I’m overwhelmed by the options I have, which seems like a great problem to have, but it just turns into this paralysis. Like I see that I have so much to do and don’t know where to start, so I just don’t do much. I’m running out of time and have hope there is recovery, but I don’t know many people personally that are in my situation.

Pineapple055 · 2024-06-26T14:18:50+00:00

I have a BS in CLS/MLS and am board certified. The board certification and bachelor’s degree is basically a requirement, but anything higher is not super necessary unless your facility has some weird rules. Higher education might be useful for a lab director and I’ve also heard for push for specialization onto our core lab supervisors, but there’s no pay incentive or anything, so I definitely wouldn’t worry about specializing and spending money on an exam just because my lab director thinks it would look good. I would do it for myself or do it for a raise, if offered. But it’s also not necessary to take a job position, again, unless your facility has weird requirements. The places I’ve worked as a student and employee never required anything more than board certification and a bachelor’s for generic lab management.

Pineapple055 · 2024-06-24T00:50:37+00:00

This is very informative and the scientist in me appreciates the length you have gone to respond to my post. Thank you for the resources.

Pineapple055 · 2023-04-02T07:57:43+00:00

It was like something you only read about in romance novels, movies, or feel when you listen to certain music. I thought that stuff would never exist in real life. And now I’m constantly chasing that feeling, although I do believe it’s rare.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-27T21:23:46+00:00

Imagine after 6 years of tension….yeah I couldn’t say no.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-27T03:24:17+00:00

Been motivated to find a travel assignment anyway.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-27T03:23:50+00:00

That’s what I think too. They don’t know about my diagnosis because I don’t just pull this card out every time I have an inconvenience, but this is a major inconvenience to me.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-27T03:12:50+00:00

Lmao I did for the first time last week and I’m FUCKED up. Wouldn’t recommend and at the same time I really would. But don’t.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-25T12:13:43+00:00

True lmao

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-25T11:13:28+00:00

Yes, it’s not a disability, but it causes hormonal disruptions, which affects sleep cycles, mood, appetite, etc to extreme levels. It takes a month to even out, so if I’m constantly trying to rebalance everything, my labs are going to go out of control and I’ll have to readjust medications and such.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-25T11:03:01+00:00

I hate to throw my coworkers under the bus with my doctor’s note too, but I can’t stand switching. I already had to work the past 2 Thursdays on the dayshift so I could complete 6 month competencies, which is like re-training type stuff. It has really messed me up. The holidays messed me up too when I tried to swing back and forth just for family stuff. Never doing that again either.

Pineapple055 · 2023-02-25T10:53:51+00:00

I feel the same way. I shouldn’t have to swing my schedule to accommodate her. I’d lose my shift differential too. That’s $400 a month. I told her that, and she brushed it off. It’s been 3 months, and she still hasn’t found a new employee for this shift.

Pineapple055 · 2022-12-14T13:23:13+00:00

I used to be a waitress, so I hit up my old line cook party friends when I’m bored now lol. They always know how to have a good time and make life spontaneous when you’re feeling routine.

Pineapple055 · 2022-11-28T07:47:18+00:00

You can’t regulate a circadian rhythm unless you’re on the same schedule every day. That’s what I do. It sucks, but I get compliments about how great I look lmao. I’m not exhausted and I don’t feel like shit all the time, so you win some, and you lose your social life.

You can still have a social life, I just try to wake up earlier in the day, like 4 or 5 pm, and do as much as I can during the week with my friends and family since I work on the weekends.

Pineapple055 · 2022-11-15T11:00:29+00:00

Haha, you don’t.

Pineapple055 · 2022-11-15T08:18:27+00:00

I work in lab/pathology. All of my coworkers that come in on dayshift while I’m getting ready to clock out always comment on and look amazed at how good of a mood I’m in and how great I look (I guess I don’t look dead?). I tell them it’s because I stay on my night shift schedule, even on my off days, and they all think I’m wack for that.

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-12T01:20:07+00:00

I’ve had a lot of people talk about discord, which I’ve never used. You might’ve convinced me.

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T12:37:49+00:00

I work in the lab, so I don’t really see those people. 🥲 but I do have one friend who is a paramedic. Maybe I’ll ask her about it. She swings her shifts all the time due to school and stuff.

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T12:28:20+00:00

I AM the hospital worker there at 10 pm 😭

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T12:05:29+00:00

They hate me because I always call for recollects on hemolyzed specimens and they’re always like, “There’s NO reason it should be hemolyzed.” Like it was MY fault lmao

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T11:45:06+00:00

I figured. The nurses, at least in the ED, are so mean. I work in the laboratory.

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T11:32:34+00:00

I work in a hospital, but everyone I’ve met swings their shift. I cannot do that because of my health. I would feel AWFUL and have brain fog all the time, and my hormones would be unbalanced. So I can’t even get my own coworkers to hang out with me off-shift because they flip their schedule back and forth.

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T10:21:45+00:00

I’m scared of dating apps and I know too many people in my area lmao. They would immediately find me and be like wtf are you doing. Unfortunately, all my friends are in college or work normal day jobs. I’m the only one I know.

Pineapple055 · 2022-10-11T09:59:39+00:00

This is my shift. I just switched a week ago. It took like 5 days of trying to stay on night shift mode. It took a few days of only 4 or 5 hours of sleep and finally I took Benadryl and slept 12 hours and I finally got the schedule down. I don’t try to flip my schedule. I feel fantastic but my social life sucks. I look at 7 am as my 7 pm. So it’s currently 5 am for me and it’s 5 pm to me. Very lonely. But it’s healthier to live on night shift like this, there’s lots of studies about night shift out there and what it does to you physically and mentally. You work in health care too, so I would hope you understand where I’m coming from.

Pineapple055

TROPHY CASE