How I Earned Money in Med School

October 2025 | Vol. 69, No. 3
Written by Ted Eisenberg, DO

I got married just before the start of my second year at PCOM, 1973. We had no income and needed to earn some money. I got a nighttime job doing arterial blood gases through the Pulmonary Lab at a local hospital. When I got a call in the middle of the night, I’d turn on the bedroom light and stomp on the floor to scatter the water bugs that lived in our second-floor garden apartment with us. I didn’t mind this wake-up because at $15 a blood gas, it meant possible rent money. And, because the Internist needed these values to adjust the ventilator, it usually meant that at least several blood gases were ordered. Six blood gases weren’t good for the patient, but for me, it was a really good night. As a bonus, I also got a better understanding of blood gases, ventilator adjustments, and some ICU medicine in general.