Advice on what to do with year off

[nightowl]

I'm taking a year off, initially because I thought it would be good to have some time to enjoy life before diving into med. Now that it's here though I'm freaking out. I can't decide if I want to pick up and move somewhere with a friend for a year, which would be fun but a drain on the funds, or if I should move home, get a good job, make money, and enjoy it. Or if I should sign up for some kind of service thing, like Americorps. Or if I should try to do one of those work abroad things in a foreign country. I do want to do a good share of traveling, but I'm far from rich and do need money as well. A new car would be really great (I'm driving a 10 year old car with 133,000 miles on it). Any advice on what to do? I feel like I'm not thinking clearly right now at all....

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[tank you]

do whatever you want, but sometime during that year, you have to do something medical related.

 

[Blue Scrub]

I'm taking a year off, initially because I thought it would be good to have some time to enjoy life before diving into med. Now that it's here though I'm freaking out. I can't decide if I want to pick up and move somewhere with a friend for a year, which would be fun but a drain on the funds, or if I should move home, get a good job, make money, and enjoy it. Or if I should sign up for some kind of service thing, like Americorps. Or if I should try to do one of those work abroad things in a foreign country. I do want to do a good share of traveling, but I'm far from rich and do need money as well. A new car would be really great (I'm driving a 10 year old car with 133,000 miles on it). Any advice on what to do? I feel like I'm not thinking clearly right now at all....

Americorps sounds good, although its a pretty big commitment I think....if not that, def do something medically related as the previous poster wrote....shadow a doc or volunteer....if you want to travel maybe go to a 3rd world country with some kind of medical mission volunteers or something

 

[Shredder]

go to japan or do an internship with some great company of any nature in some hotshot position. ill be here and live vicariously. have some fun, make some money preferably a lot, and grow as a person. no americorp or any corp. corporation yes but thats the only kind of corp.

 

[generic]

go to Japan or Korea or Taiwan and teach English. You'll make more than enough to pay your way (so even if you're poor now it won't hurt you), you'll meet interesting people, and you'll mature a lot as a person.

In your spare time you can bum around medical schools and see how things are done in other countries.

 

[CharlieVN]

do whatever you want, but sometime during that year, you have to do something medical related.

Not really unless you have absolutely no medical involvement in the past (volunteer, emt, doctors off etc)...honestly do something that interests you because it could be the last year for you to see whats out there before you step into 7 years of medicine if not more.

 

[skypilot]

go to Japan or Korea or Taiwan and teach English. You'll make more than enough to pay your way (so even if you're poor now it won't hurt you), you'll meet interesting people, and you'll mature a lot as a person.

In your spare time you can bum around medical schools and see how things are done in other countries.

Or you could teach English in Latin America if you aren't worried about making money

 

[backrow]

go be a Nurse's Assistant for a few months so when you're a doc you realize how not to treat your supporting staff. Or be a phlebotomist, always a handy skill to know well.

 

[ju ju zara]

forget all that. Go be a bartender in some paradise like western australia, the algarve, or Thailand. Live it up brotha!! You have your whole life to devote to medicine. When will you ever get the chance to cut it all loose, live out of bounds, but have the safety net of safety nets that medical school offers?? Most people would die to be in our position. Take advantage, forget about getting a job back home or shadowing doctors. my 2 cents. ciao...