Big Scary Gap Year

[About28]

I want to start out by saying that I realize that I am very lucky; if it sounds like I'm complaining, I did not intend for that.

So, I am looking at options for my gap year. I'm going home to live with my parents and they're very understanding and don't really mind at all. Here's what I got:

I hear a lot of people talking about how awesome scribing positions look, but the way I see it, you're working a lot for minimum wage. If my application needed it, I would try to get a position but I'm not sure it does (see the mdapps for more, but if it's tl;dr the stats are 3.65 c/sGPA and a 34 MCAT, adequate ECs for an acceptance plus something that might make me stand out).

That kind of position doesn't look very appealing, and my alternate will be a lot more enjoyable and lucrative. I have worked a trades assistant job for the past 3 years each summer. It's basically simple carpentry, plumbing and HV/AC stuff. I find the job relaxing, the coworkers are great and the pay is amazing. I would do that until September where I would start a research assistant job (I know someone at a local company). This would be 9-5 mon-fri and make me feel like much less of a freeloader.

I talked to my parents and they said they don't mind either way what I do as long as I'm at least somewhat productive or get into school by November. What do you guys think I should do?

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[smithers12]

What do you hope to get out of your gap year?

 

[About28]

What do you hope to get out of your gap year?

Well I do plan on volunteering at a local hospital so I'll have something else to add to my app if I don't get in again. Other than that, it all depends on if I'm accepted. If I am, I'm going to travel for a while. Outside of that, I'm not entirely sure. It's not like my actions can really have an impact on my application, it's going to be submitted a week or two after I graduate.

 

[MidwestLovin]

Well I do plan on volunteering at a local hospital so I'll have something else to add to my app if I don't get in again. Other than that, it all depends on if I'm accepted. If I am, I'm going to travel for a while. Outside of that, I'm not entirely sure. It's not like my actions can really have an impact on my application, it's going to be submitted a week or two after I graduate.

In that case, make money, have fun, and continue some premed stuff. You seem fine and I wish my parents were as accepting.

 

[Stoptheclot]

What do you mean by:

...plus something that might make me stand out...

Personally, it seems like a medical scribe is becoming less "stand out" quality for med applications, unless you mean "theres something else on my application that makes me stand out" and therefore you wouldn't necessarily need more clinical exposure. Your stats are great

Also, my personal input: 3 of the 4 summers of undergrad I worked as a painter for a private paint company. 1 of the 4 summers I was a "hospital intern" and despite my efforts to become involved... it sucked compared to painting, mostly because I had very little clearance to do anything significant. Same with you, my coworkers were a blast, great hours with great pay. In my interviews, I very rarely spoke about my experience during the one summer as a hospital intern - but every interviewer asked me about painting! (EDIT: well, I also wrote about it a little in my PS, so that probably weighed in...)

Do your trade. Make the monies. Change the world, one house at a time. You'll have the time to fill out paperwork in the future.
Good luck!!

 

[RubicStorm]

While I had none, I'm constantly told/have heard that trade job/work/experience/responsibilities are looked upon very, VERY favorably by medical schools and by interviewers. You'll probably get asked about that and since you clearly enjoyed the work, it could really help you out. Since you have years of hospital/clinical experience, you're not going to be hurt by not doing scribe work. I think you have an "easy" choice here. Have a good one.

 

[ace12345]

It's all about the story. If you're sincere about your interest to go to medical school, then it will all work out. Your numbers are fairly strong, probably not strong enough for the top stuff if you don't do something really great during the gap year, but good enough for a lot of schools.

I say this as something that took two gap years. Didn't do the trades, but for certain it was a great decision for me.

 

[Patros]

Well I do plan on volunteering at a local hospital so I'll have something else to add to my app if I don't get in again. Other than that, it all depends on if I'm accepted. If I am, I'm going to travel for a while. Outside of that, I'm not entirely sure. It's not like my actions can really have an impact on my application, it's going to be submitted a week or two after I graduate.

Be careful about this. Most secondary apps ask "Did you graduate? What are you doing now?" It helps to have something relevant on there, and I was occasionally asked about my research job that I got after graduation. However I also mentioned I would do some volunteering which didn't pan out. I was specifically asked about this during an interview at my top choice, and I'm pretty sure I got rejected because I didn't get involved in the activities I said I would. Long story short, your actions CAN have an effect after your application is submitted.

 

[caffeinemia]

HVAC installing hands are the devil's playthings... said no Adcom ever. So might as well save up a little cash, do something productive that you enjoy and then go do your research and volunteering after the summer. There's absolutely nothing reproachable with this approach (able? Lol I couldn't resist.).

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Be careful about this. Most secondary apps ask "Did you graduate? What are you doing now?" It helps to have something relevant on there, and I was occasionally asked about my research job that I got after graduation. However I also mentioned I would do some volunteering which didn't pan out. I was specifically asked about this during an interview at my top choice, and I'm pretty sure I got rejected because I didn't get involved in the activities I said I would. Long story short, your actions CAN have an effect after your application is submitted.

Thanks for this warning/reminder.

@About28, so that "something" is being a tradesman? Hummmm I'll have to tell that roofer guy who's been fixing our roof.

 

[About28]

Also, my personal input: 3 of the 4 summers of undergrad I worked as a painter for a private paint company. 1 of the 4 summers I was a "hospital intern" and despite my efforts to become involved... it sucked compared to painting, mostly because I had very little clearance to do anything significant. Same with you, my coworkers were a blast, great hours with great pay. In my interviews, I very rarely spoke about my experience during the one summer as a hospital intern - but every interviewer asked me about painting!

Wow I'm really similar actually, I did a few summers of hospital work too and aside from the rare/exciting times they let me do/ see awesome stuff, it was unbearably boring. The trades stuff can be great though!

While I had none, I'm constantly told/have heard that trade job/work/experience/responsibilities are looked upon very, VERY favorably by medical schools and by interviewers. You'll probably get asked about that and since you clearly enjoyed the work, it could really help you out. Since you have years of hospital/clinical experience, you're not going to be hurt by not doing scribe work. I think you have an "easy" choice here. Have a good one.

Wow where'd you hear that? I had no idea it was looked on that positively. Maybe I'll mention it a lot more this coming cycle...

@About28, so that "something" is being a tradesman? Hummmm I'll have to tell that roofer guy who's been fixing our roof.

Actually @PROFNL Griefer and @ThisCouldBeYou I had no idea that being in the trades was even considered beyond "this kid had a stable job, good". By something that stood out, I meant that I've put a lot of time into writing for and acting in a comedy group that I also help lead. Theres like 20 people in the group and we make funny videos. Seemed unique enough haha

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

we make funny videos…..

Do you plan to continue this after college? Did you ever do this professionally (i.e.get paid)?

 

[About28]

Do you plan to continue this after college? Did you ever do this professionally (i.e.get paid)?

Unfortunately, if you do this professionally, its a full time career. So no, I never got paid. It's a weird situation though because the first couple years all I did was write scripts and act in the videos. At the beginning of this year I took a major leadership role in the group so it's taking up A LOT of my time. It's really tough to organize meetings and shoots with college level actors along with writing and acting myself. After this year my position will be up, but I'll keep writing. At least I still find it entertaining.

 

[RubicStorm]

Admins on this forum have mentioned blue collar work being looked on favorably in committee discussions etc. I guess it breaks the cookie cutting mold most applicants field. My older non-trad friend did construction work and apparently it was a nice topic of discussion in interviews. I don't want to "overplay" its importance, but doing that kind of work will not be looked down upon by medical school. If you enjoy and take pride in your work, it will probably be a nice plus for you.

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Admins on this forum have mentioned blue collar work being looked on favorably in committee discussions etc. I guess it breaks the cookie cutting mold most applicants field. My older non-trad friend did construction work and apparently it was a nice topic of discussion in interviews. I don't want to "overplay" its importance, but doing that kind of work will not be looked down upon by medical school. If you enjoy and take pride in your work, it will probably be a nice plus for you.

It also shows how you like to work with your hands.

 

[About28]

Admins on this forum have mentioned blue collar work being looked on favorably in committee discussions etc. I guess it breaks the cookie cutting mold most applicants field. My older non-trad friend did construction work and apparently it was a nice topic of discussion in interviews. I don't want to "overplay" its importance, but doing that kind of work will not be looked down upon by medical school. If you enjoy and take pride in your work, it will probably be a nice plus for you.

Wow this cycle I barely included it in my app. I thought ADCOMs would think it is unrelated to medicine and therefore only woth mentioning in passing. I will absolutely talk about it more this coming cycle. Thanks for the advice!

 

[LostinLift]

So basically your clinical experience is shadowing and hospital volunteering?

How do you really know you want to be a doctor? Because you shadowed doctors for roughly a week's worth of time? I'm trying to be harsh here. How old are you? I was in a similar situation and convinced myself medicine was right for me, before having truly explored the life and work of a physician. It wasn't until I started scribing that I knew for sure I wanted to continue, despite seeing many ugly realities.

Scribing is one of the best experiences you can do for your app and yourself. You will learn more about the realities of medicine, a reality that too many pre-meds don't understand. You can also scribe part-time and work the other job still. Trust me, scribing will be worth it, one way or the other.

 

[About28]

So basically your clinical experience is shadowing and hospital volunteering?

How do you really know you want to be a doctor? Because you shadowed doctors for roughly a week's worth of time? I'm trying to be harsh here. How old are you? I was in a similar situation and convinced myself medicine was right for me, before having truly explored the life and work of a physician. It wasn't until I started scribing that I knew for sure I wanted to continue, despite seeing many ugly realities.

Scribing is one of the best experiences you can do for your app and yourself. You will learn more about the realities of medicine, a reality that too many pre-meds don't understand. You can also scribe part-time and work the other job still. Trust me, scribing will be worth it, one way or the other.

If people weren't harsh here, this wouldn't be the amazing resource it is, I appreciate it. I always thought my clinical experience was about par for the course when it comes to an average accepted student, but I could be completely wrong. The way I see it, my application will be complete everywhere ASAP, so by late july. I'll have a very good idea of how successful this coming cycle will be far before my summer job ends. If it doesn't look so bright I'll start looking for scribing positions. Do you think that a part time scribing job along with a full time job is feasible though? I do want to have a life.

 

[LostinLift]

You should apply to scribing positions immediately and if you get hired soon enough you can include it on your app as a future/current thing, that would be best. I'm sure you didn't get good enough advice about applying but you don't want to be "good enough" or have "enough ECs". You want to be outstanding. Competition is increasing significantly and the "average accepted student" has a lot more in their app than you might think.

Yes it's possible to work both those jobs - I did something similar. While you want to have free time and relax before medical school starts, you need to make sure you get in first.

For comparison my app was complete at schools between Sep 25 - Oct 25. I received many interviews with a GPA under 3.2. I did do a post-bacc to raise my GPA but it was still overall below 3.2. I had many extensive ECs, including over 1000 hours scribing which I talked about in my app as one of the most significant activities and during interviews.

I'm not trying to brag or be a dbag, I'm trying to emphasize that numbers and cookie ECs are not sufficient. I took this process extremely seriously and spent my 2 years after graduation gaining more life experiences and making sure my application was as solid as it could be so when I applied, I knew it would work. Do everything you can at this point to ensure that this cycle is successful.

 

[bakedbeans18]

I want to start out by saying that I realize that I am very lucky; if it sounds like I'm complaining, I did not intend for that.

So, I am looking at options for my gap year. I'm going home to live with my parents and they're very understanding and don't really mind at all. Here's what I got:

I hear a lot of people talking about how awesome scribing positions look, but the way I see it, you're working a lot for minimum wage. If my application needed it, I would try to get a position but I'm not sure it does (see the mdapps for more, but if it's tl;dr the stats are 3.65 c/sGPA and a 34 MCAT, adequate ECs for an acceptance plus something that might make me stand out).

That kind of position doesn't look very appealing, and my alternate will be a lot more enjoyable and lucrative. I have worked a trades assistant job for the past 3 years each summer. It's basically simple carpentry, plumbing and HV/AC stuff. I find the job relaxing, the coworkers are great and the pay is amazing. I would do that until September where I would start a research assistant job (I know someone at a local company). This would be 9-5 mon-fri and make me feel like much less of a freeloader.

I talked to my parents and they said they don't mind either way what I do as long as I'm at least somewhat productive or get into school by November. What do you guys think I should do?

Oddly specific, why do they insist November? Alot of people don't get into medical school until the end of the application cycle, even with slightly above average stats.

 

[About28]

You should apply to scribing positions immediately and if you get hired soon enough you can include it on your app as a future/current thing, that would be best. I'm sure you didn't get good enough advice about applying but you don't want to be "good enough" or have "enough ECs". You want to be outstanding. Competition is increasing significantly and the "average accepted student" has a lot more in their app than you might think.

Yes it's possible to work both those jobs - I did something similar. While you want to have free time and relax before medical school starts, you need to make sure you get in first.

For comparison my app was complete at schools between Sep 25 - Oct 25. I received many interviews with a GPA under 3.2. I did do a post-bacc to raise my GPA but it was still overall below 3.2. I had many extensive ECs, including over 1000 hours scribing which I talked about in my app as one of the most significant activities and during interviews.

I'm not trying to brag or be a dbag, I'm trying to emphasize that numbers and cookie ECs are not sufficient. I took this process extremely seriously and spent my 2 years after graduation gaining more life experiences and making sure my application was as solid as it could be so when I applied, I knew it would work. Do everything you can at this point to ensure that this cycle is successful.

I'll look into it then, I hear scribe america is a decent company, is there any way you would suggest going about it?

Oddly specific, why do they insist November? Alot of people don't get into medical school until the end of the application cycle, even with slightly above average stats.

That is actually kinda a weird one. My best friend ships off for special forces training November 30th, so theres a good chance I won't see him more than a few times in the next 8 years. My dad said if I get in early enough that should give me plenty of time to celebrate the acceptance with him and still not be out of work for too long. Weird, I know.

 

[LostinLift]

Google all the scribe companies and look up their locations, apply to ones nearby.

 

[orangeman25]

So basically your clinical experience is shadowing and hospital volunteering?

How do you really know you want to be a doctor? Because you shadowed doctors for roughly a week's worth of time? I'm trying to be harsh here. How old are you? I was in a similar situation and convinced myself medicine was right for me, before having truly explored the life and work of a physician. It wasn't until I started scribing that I knew for sure I wanted to continue, despite seeing many ugly realities.

Scribing is one of the best experiences you can do for your app and yourself. You will learn more about the realities of medicine, a reality that too many pre-meds don't understand. You can also scribe part-time and work the other job still. Trust me, scribing will be worth it, one way or the other.

When you say scribing was so worth it, in what ways? I'm hoping you could give us an inside scoop on why you enjoyed it so much/ found it to be so valuable.

 

[LostinLift]

I made great friends, scribes nurses and doctors - I still talk with one doc regularly. I have a close to perfect idea of what the life and daily work of an ED doc (in my hosp and area) is like. Scribing both confirmed medicine as a profession for me and that I don't want to work in the ED. The doctors were lenient and let me take many histories from patients (they'd go check them after). It was really cool to be behind the scenes in the ED. I was exposed to 10+ specialties through various consults, which led to a surg. spec. connection and I was easily able to observe surgeries, seeing as I was already approved by the hospital and had a badge. Money wasn't great but it's money. I learned a good amount of vocab and I know how to write a really solid SOAP note. I was able to use scribing in my secondary essays and in interview questions.

It is the ultimate pre-med experience and I honestly think it should be required. It is basically an apprenticeship, except you don't get to do as much and the docs aren't directly teaching you all the time.