doing nothing during a gap year

[rodain]

I graduated this year in May, studying for the August MCAT over the summer. Since then I've been abroad visiting relatives, and have been relaxing then. I'm planning to return to the US this November to fill in my clinical hours (of which I have minimal) and to get a job. Would it make a significant difference if I were to stay for another month abroad and postpone my return until December? Do adcoms frown upon prolonged idleness, especially before applications? (I will be applying the upcoming May)

Thanks in advance for your advice.

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[Chansey]

As long as you get a job and some clinical experience when you return, I think you'll be fine.

Traveling abroad is not doing nothing. You can say you traveled abroad and experienced another culture, gained cultural competency, and learned how to adapt to new environments. It's all about how you spin your experiences. It's not uncommon for new graduates to travel abroad after finishing college.

 

[mimelim]

You have approximately 120 hours of waking time each week. Assuming that you are a full time student, you have class and are studying each week somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 hours/week. What do you do with the other 80 hours/week? You need to eat, you need to shower, you need to maintain relationships, you need to have fun, you need to do XYZ hobbies etc. When I look at someone's application and look at their ECs, I am trying to answer the question: who is this person when they aren't studying? How do you fill that 80 hours? Nobody is looking for the next mother Teresa. We just want to know if you spend 10% of those 80 hours goofing off, or 90% or somewhere in between.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/i-have-never-volunteered.1092556/#post-15583164

Modify that to not studying. A well balanced life/schedule is important for anyone who is busy. But, there can't be large, unexplained time gaps. May - December is 8 months. What have you produced in that time frame? It is one thing to travel abroad for a month. It is another to spend close to a year 'goofing off'. We aren't stupid. We know what "traveled abroad and experienced another culture, gained cultural competency, and learned how to adapt to new environments" means.

You clearly think that you know that medical school is right for you, so why are you, "filling in my clinical hours"? What is the purpose of it? Just to make an application look good? It is illogical to get an extensive clinical experience (in isolation without other benefit) just prior to applications which is why most adcoms will see that on an application and flag it.

 

[rodain]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/i-have-never-volunteered.1092556/#post-15583164

Modify that to not studying. A well balanced life/schedule is important for anyone who is busy. But, there can't be large, unexplained time gaps. May - December is 8 months. What have you produced in that time frame? It is one thing to travel abroad for a month. It is another to spend close to a year 'goofing off'. We aren't stupid. We know what "traveled abroad and experienced another culture, gained cultural competency, and learned how to adapt to new environments" means.

You clearly think that you know that medical school is right for you, so why are you, "filling in my clinical hours"? What is the purpose of it? Just to make an application look good? It is illogical to get an extensive clinical experience (in isolation without other benefit) just prior to applications which is why most adcoms will see that on an application and flag it.

er wow... well for one thing i decided to commit to medical school around graduation; before i was a bit uncertain, if that's any excuse for lack of clinical exposure. may- august was devoted to studying for the mcat and gaining clinical experience.

would gaining extensive clinical experience from now on for some five months or so be seen as last minute? i used the expression "filling in my clinical hours" because i know the average med school applicant has 50+ hours and i feel obligated to do the same.

 

[mimelim]

er wow... well for one thing i decided to commit to medical school around graduation; before i was a bit uncertain, if that's any excuse for lack of clinical exposure. may- august was devoted to studying for the mcat and gaining clinical experience.

would gaining extensive clinical experience from now on for some five months or so be seen as last minute? i used the expression "filling in my clinical hours" because i know the average med school applicant has 50+ hours and i feel obligated to do the same.

#1 Taking 4 months dedicated to study for the MCAT is a lot. This circles back to, what do you do with your time? Are you inefficient and spending 12+ hours a day studying or are you studying a normal amount and then goofing off with the rest of your time? I'm not really looking for an answer. I'm trying to explain how applications are read/considered.
#2 From your post you don't mention any clinical experience between May and August.
#3 The purpose of clinical experience is to be able to convincingly tell an adcom, "I know what going into medicine entails and what I'm getting myself into, but want to anyways". It is one thing to say it. It is another to have the experience on paper to justify one's stance. Having clinical exposure after you've decided that medical school is it doesn't fit. It doesn't hurt and if it is a part of something else, a job, volunteering, etc, it is fantastic. But, isolated 'clinical exposure' for the sake of 'clinical exposure' in the last year prior to applying is worth noting. Don't get me wrong, this isn't something that will sink an application. But, it WILL magnify other problems with an application if there are any, especially in the EC realm.
#4 Yes, there are adcoms that don't really read application packets. Yes, there are adcoms that really just don't go through the details. Getting more hours for the sake of hours will help with those people (kinda sorta maybe). But, yes this is last minute and reeks of box checking.

 

[rodain]

graduation was mid- late may so realistically, studying was june- august. and to my knowledge, many pre- meds commonly devote their entire summers (3 months) exclusively to mcat studying. and yes, i gained a bit of clinical exposure during that interval volunteering at an emergency room. during undergraduate years i had a couple of shadowing experiences and volunteered at a nursing home, which i hear doesn't count as clinical experience.

i don't know, is spending half a year gaining more clinical experience before application really such a huge red flag? and it will most definitely not be isolated clinical experience; i will be coupling it with a regular job and hopefully, research at my alma mater.
am i supposed to have devotedly, unwaveringly wanted to go to med school for my entire undergraduate career?
how do other non- traditional applicants deal with this problem?

 

[Zelda840]

I think that volunteering at a nursing home absolutely counts as clinical experience.

 

[estanton]

What will you be doing for your second gap year?

 

[Catalystik]

What will you be doing for your second gap year?

. . . and possibly even a third one?

 

[Catalystik]

I think that volunteering at a nursing home absolutely counts as clinical experience.

It could. It depends on one's role. Probably not if one is playing board games with the residents or performing music in the common room.

 

[rodain]

. . . and possibly even a third one?

hmm, is my condition really so unsavory? i have decent stats, research, volunteer experience (both clinical, nonclinical). i had no idea that working and getting more clinical exposure would be such a critical flaw.
i'll be working during what will hopefully be only two gap years.

i don't know; what else am i supposed to be doing, other than work and get more exposure to the medical profession?

 

[Catalystik]

hmm, is my condition really so unsavory? i have decent stats, research, volunteer experience (both clinical, nonclinical). i had no idea that working and getting more clinical exposure would be such a critical flaw.
i'll be working during what will hopefully be only two gap years.

i don't know; what else am i supposed to be doing, other than work and get more exposure to the medical profession?

Keep in mind that your application will be judged primarily by the experiences you've already had, not by those you plan to engage in during the application year. If you'd like to discuss the EC listings you plan to have completed by early next summer, I invite you to make (or return to) a more detailed What Are My Chances thread in that subforum. Perhaps our conceptions of what constitutes a "decent" application are more in accord that currently seems to be the case.