Can gap years ever look unfavorably?

[itsgonnabeok]

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I'm asking because I took 3, although I was premed all through college and had great grades, ECs and research and may have been able to get into med school straight out of college. After graduating undergrad, I was just feeling a little burnt out and wanted to be in the real world for a little bit.
I worked for 2 years and also got an MPH (wanting it to supplement an MD or DO, not because I wasn't committed to medicine but I do have a strong interest in public health). Does this show a lack of commitment to medicine?

 

[ndafife]

No... the only time it looks bad is if you don't do anything during them. You clearly have kept yourself busy, so it should be fine. And a lot of schools now have MD-MPH programs so getting the MPH degree certainly wont look like a lack of commitment to medicine

 

[baxt1412]

No... the only time it looks bad is if you don't do anything during them. You clearly have kept yourself busy, so it should be fine. And a lot of schools now have MD-MPH programs so getting the MPH degree certainly wont look like a lack of commitment to medicine

x2

 

[NickNaylor]

Yes, if you sit around toking and playing games all day. As long as you're doing SOMETHING productive - even if it isn't related to medicine (see: most non-trads who have commonly worked in fields completely unrelated to medicine) - the experience won't reflect negatively on you. Whether or not those experiences actually help you, though, is dependent on what you got from the experience and how you talk about it on your application and in interviews.

 

[DielsAlder]

I am sure your MPH would give you lots to talk about during interviews! Nothing to worry about, it's not like you spent the past three years ranking up on xbox live or world of warcraft.

 

[itsgonnabeok]

That's good to hear. If asked about it, is it ok to tell an interviewer that part of the reason that I pursued other things before med school was because I did not at the time feel ready to engage in something as intense as med school, or would this reflect some sort of inability to handle stress?

 

[NickNaylor]

That's good to hear. If asked about it, is it ok to tell an interviewer that part of the reason that I pursued other things before med school was because I did not at the time feel ready to engage in something as intense as med school, or would this reflect some sort of inability to handle stress?

I definitely would not say that.

 

[Goro]

No

I worked for 2 years and also got an MPH (wanting it to supplement an MD or DO, not because I wasn't committed to medicine but I do have a strong interest in public health). Does this show a lack of commitment to medicine?[/QUOTE]

 

[ndafife]

That's good to hear. If asked about it, is it ok to tell an interviewer that part of the reason that I pursued other things before med school was because I did not at the time feel ready to engage in something as intense as med school, or would this reflect some sort of inability to handle stress?

I would leave it at you wanted to explore some other interests - Public Health - and experience the real world (as you say) before committing to 4 more years of rigorous schooling

 

[SN12357]

That's good to hear. If asked about it, is it ok to tell an interviewer that part of the reason that I pursued other things before med school was because I did not at the time feel ready to engage in something as intense as med school, or would this reflect some sort of inability to handle stress?

General rule in interviews (all interviews): Frame everything positively. Always talk about how you want or wanted to do X, not how you don't or didn't want to do Y. So in this case explain your gap years in terms of a positive view towards what you did, not a negative view towards medical school at the time.

 

[NickNaylor]

General rule in interviews (all interviews): Frame everything positively. Always talk about how you want or wanted to do X, not how you don't or didn't want to do Y. So in this case explain your gap years in terms of a positive view towards what you did, not a negative view towards medical school at the time.

Exactly. It sounds cliche and artificial (because it is in some sense), but it's an absolutely critical skill to generating a strong application and having a strong interview.