Applying to med school after a longish break -- Help!

[nolee]

I'm looking to apply to med school again after about 3 years of being sorta AWOL. About a year after I graduated from college, my mom and I were involved in a car accident, where she sustained pretty bad residual injuries. In our family, my dad is disabled, and my mom was pretty much the only source of income. So I took up the slack and started working while she recuperated. (I have a sibling six years younger who was in HS--and now, starting college--so that was another large factor.) So a couple years passed, and my mom is finally somewhat better, so I'm resuming where I left off.

The problem is, will this look horrible?

I haven't done many ECs over the last 3 years just because I've been so busy. In terms of stats, I graduated PBK from a top ten school, had a 3.9 gpa, and had reasonable ECs, though I'm totally discombobulated now and not sure if anything's up to snuff. I mainly did a ton of research as an undergrad, and have two published journal studies. I didn't have a lot of clinical experience though, although I did work in Taiwan for half a year at a home for the mentally ill. Still have yet to take the MCAT. What should I do at this point -- other than taking the MCAT -- to buff up my resume again?

Any suggestions would be muchos appreciated! Thank you all so much in advance! ~

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[alienwares]

I'm looking to apply to med school again after about 3 years of being sorta AWOL. About a year after I graduated from college, my mom and I were involved in a car accident, where she sustained pretty bad residual injuries. In our family, my dad is disabled, and my mom was pretty much the only source of income. So I took up the slack and started working while she recuperated. (I have a sibling six years younger who was in HS--and now, starting college--so that was another large factor.) So a couple years passed, and my mom is finally somewhat better, so I'm resuming where I left off.

The problem is, will this look horrible?

I haven't done many ECs over the last 3 years just because I've been so busy. In terms of stats, I graduated PBK from a top ten school, had a 3.9 gpa, and had reasonable ECs, though I'm totally discombobulated now and not sure if anything's up to snuff. I mainly did a ton of research as an undergrad, and have two published journal studies. I didn't have a lot of clinical experience though, although I did work in Taiwan for half a year at a home for the mentally ill. Still have yet to take the MCAT. What should I do at this point -- other than taking the MCAT -- to buff up my resume again?

Any suggestions would be muchos appreciated! Thank you all so much in advance! ~

I don't know what else you can do, but this will absolutely not look horrible at all. I took a large break from my ECs and a very light class schedule after my SO became very ill, and it did not hurt me in the slightest. Your situation is very comparable, I think.

 

[aSagacious]

Moving to the 'what are my chances?' forum.

 

[Catalystik]

I'm looking to apply to med school again after about 3 years of being sorta AWOL. About a year after I graduated from college, my mom and I were involved in a car accident, where she sustained pretty bad residual injuries. In our family, my dad is disabled, and my mom was pretty much the only source of income. So I took up the slack and started working while she recuperated. (I have a sibling six years younger who was in HS--and now, starting college--so that was another large factor.) So a couple years passed, and my mom is finally somewhat better, so I'm resuming where I left off.

1) The problem is, will this look horrible?

I haven't done many ECs over the last 3 years just because I've been so busy. In terms of stats, I graduated PBK from a top ten school, had a 3.9 gpa, and had reasonable ECs, though I'm totally discombobulated now and not sure if anything's up to snuff. I mainly did a ton of research as an undergrad, and have two published journal studies. I didn't have a lot of clinical experience though, although I did work in Taiwan for half a year at a home for the mentally ill. Still have yet to take the MCAT.

2) What should I do at this point -- other than taking the MCAT -- to buff up my resume again?

Any suggestions would be muchos appreciated! Thank you all so much in advance! ~

1) If anything, the time off will reflect positively on you.

2) Start gaining clinical experience working directly with sick people via a job or volunteer position; the non-US experience you have can supplement your patient experience, but cannot be the major source of it. Start some hands-on, nonmedical community service for a cause you care about. Plan to shadow physicians. It sounds like you have research that's terrific already. Teaching and leadership are well regarded; hopefully you already have some. Take some classes in upper-level Bio to show you haven't lost your academic edge. Study for the MCAT.

 

[nolee]

Thanks so much for the helpful advice! I agree, some clinical experience would be optimal, but as there's only six months before I start applying, would it look odd if I suddenly had all my clinical experience crammed into half a year? I wish I did more clinical work as an undergrad -- I did, but mainly it had to do with desktop work and not really shadowing or anything.

Thanks again in advance for any replies!

 

[Catalystik]

I agree, some clinical experience would be optimal, but as there's only six months before I start applying, would it look odd if I suddenly had all my clinical experience crammed into half a year? I wish I did more clinical work as an undergrad -- I did, but mainly it had to do with desktop work and not really shadowing or anything.

Yes, it will look odd when the average applicant has 1.5 years of clinical experience. But your time in the mental institution may help, if you interacted with patients in some way (I'm assuming this is where you did the deskwork?). And you might also mention somewhere if you performed any nursing duties during your mom's recovery (listing it under Other, and not as Volunteer). Many would delay their application for another year to gain more solid experience, so adcomms will be convinced you know what you're getting into. If you choose to apply this coming summer, be sure you continue to add hours through the application year for the sake of update letters (where permitted) and interview conversations, and so that you'll be in a better position if you need to reapply.