Completing a master’s during gap year(s)?

[nina212]

I am currently taking medical school prerequisites as a part of a DIY post-bacc, however I am taking only one course per year so far (because the classes I want to take concurrently require the classes I am currently taking as a prereq) which obviously is a pretty low course load. I am in Canada and a permanent resident in the U.S., however Canada does not have SMP’s so I am looking to do a 2-year master’s program instead. Will it be worthwhile to take this decision? If so please let me know which master’s program I should complete if my goal is medical school— I majored in psychology. Here are my stats:

Annual GPAs- 1st year: 1.95 2nd year: 3.35 3rd year: 3.94 4th year: 4.0 Cumulative GPA: 3.27.

EC’s:
- 70 hours volunteering as a social media advocate for an online non profit organization.

- Starting volunteering placement in hospital in 2 weeks

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

I would recommend sticking with the do it yourself postbacc and trying to get a clinical job of some sorts. The truth is, many of these SMPs are borderline scams considering that you can take classes on your own for much cheaper while also working in a relevant position.

 

[deleted1017120]

Don't do a Master's unless you actually want a Master's.

Spending a ton of money and time on something for the sole purpose of improving a medical school application is a terrible idea. If you actually have a field that you're interested in and you will use that education in the future in some way, then go for a Master's. Conversely, if you would only do a Master's to try to boost your application, it's a waste of time. Graduate degrees don't look good enough to justify the money and time on their own. Continue volunteering (in something that you actually care about), take classes if you actually need them, and get a job in the medical field.

 

[Goro]

Use the Gap year to get in the volunteering that you need

 

[nina212]

Don't do a Master's unless you actually want a Master's.

Spending a ton of money and time on something for the sole purpose of improving a medical school application is a terrible idea. If you actually have a field that you're interested in and you will use that education in the future in some way, then go for a Master's. Conversely, if you would only do a Master's to try to boost your application, it's a waste of time. Graduate degrees don't look good enough to justify the money and time on their own. Continue volunteering (in something that you actually care about), take classes if you actually need them, and get a job in the medical field.

Thank you guys for your guidance! I think my plan is to do a clinical job while volunteering and taking prerequisites. Are there any clinical jobs that you guys would recommend? I’m sort of in the dark about how to begin searching.

 

[deleted1017120]

Thank you guys for your guidance! I think my plan is to do a clinical job while volunteering and taking prerequisites. Are there any clinical jobs that you guys would recommend? I’m sort of in the dark about how to begin searching.

Being a medical scribe is the go-to, since it is the most accessible (flexible hours and requires no certifications or training prior to starting). That said, it's also probably the least impactful and the worst-paying.

Being a CNA/CMA will actually get you hands-on with patients, though it requires a bit of work to get the certification.

EMT is probably the best in terms of getting you real patient care experience, though it takes longer than the others to obtain this certification. Many EMT jobs are also outside of the clinic/hospital, so it is a very different environment that can sometimes be far away from physicians.

There may be a few others that I haven't mentioned, but these are the most common ones. Most things more involved, specialized, or better paying than these jobs require more time than a single gap year to get a certification and any actual work experience out of.

Also disclaimer: I don't know anything about Canadian certification processes when compared to American ones.

 

[jhmmd]

I am currently taking medical school prerequisites as a part of a DIY post-bacc, however I am taking only one course per year so far (because the classes I want to take concurrently require the classes I am currently taking as a prereq) which obviously is a pretty low course load. I am in Canada and a permanent resident in the U.S., however Canada does not have SMP’s so I am looking to do a 2-year master’s program instead. Will it be worthwhile to take this decision? If so please let me know which master’s program I should complete if my goal is medical school— I majored in psychology. Here are my stats:

Annual GPAs- 1st year: 1.95 2nd year: 3.35 3rd year: 3.94 4th year: 4.0 Cumulative GPA: 3.27.

EC’s:
- 70 hours volunteering as a social media advocate for an online non profit organization.

- Starting volunteering placement in hospital in 2 weeks

Most DIY post-baccs look something like this:
1) 1 year gen chem I and gen chem II
2) 1 year bio I & II
3) (after chem II) orgo 1 and orgo 2
4) Physics 1 & 2
5) Depending on med school pre-reqs: Statistics and/or calc 1 (potentially calc 2 if it is req., but very few med schools require calc 2)
6) Bio electives

Buy a MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirements) book through the AAMC to get a better idea of what you need for each school, then flesh out your school list based on the classes you are going to take/GPA & MCAT that fit your school list. You want to shoot for applying to 25-35 med schools to be safe (10 "safety," 20 "mid-tier, and ~5 "reach").

I am a bit confused about how/why your concurrent pre-reqs conflict with other pre-reqs. Try something like

Semester 1:
1) Bio I
2) Gen chem I
3) Calc 1 or stats

Semester 2:
1) Bio 2
2) Gen chem II
3) Calc 2 or bio elective (most bio electives req. only bio I as a pre-req)

You should be able to take more than one course at a time when it comes to a DIY post-bacc. It won't look good to take only one course per year, just so you know. Med schools want to know that you can handle the stress of a full (11-12 unit) course load, and succeed under pressure.

Good luck <3

 

[jhmmd]

Being a medical scribe is the go-to, since it is the most accessible (flexible hours and requires no certifications or training prior to starting). That said, it's also probably the least impactful and the worst-paying.

Being a CNA/CMA will actually get you hands-on with patients, though it requires a bit of work to get the certification.

EMT is probably the best in terms of getting you real patient care experience, though it takes longer than the others to obtain this certification. Many EMT jobs are also outside of the clinic/hospital, so it is a very different environment that can sometimes be far away from physicians.

There may be a few others that I haven't mentioned, but these are the most common ones. Most things more involved, specialized, or better paying than these jobs require more time than a single gap year to get a certification and any actual work experience out of.

Also disclaimer: I don't know anything about Canadian certification processes when compared to American ones.

Being an EMT is for sure hands-on work, but a lot of times EMTs just get relegated to being "ambulance drivers." The paramedics do the bulk of the clinical work.

And scribing (though you can't smell the pts) is (in most cases) probably still considered clinical experience, especially in the age of the COVID pandemic.

 

[deleted1017120]

Being an EMT is for sure hands-on work, but a lot of times EMTs just get relegated to being "ambulance drivers." The paramedics do the bulk of the clinical work.

And scribing (though you can't smell the pts) is (in most cases) probably still considered clinical experience, especially in the age of the COVID pandemic.

Scribing is definitely considered clinical experience. I never said it wasn't.

Also, what EMT's do largely depends on what region of the country that you live in, but there are some pretty consistent features. I'm a paramedic and EMT's in my neck of the woods can do 1) interfacility transfers, 2) work with paramedics and take BLS calls, and 3) work in hospitals as techs. All of this is fantastic clinical experience. Even when I'm partnered with an EMT and they are stuck as "ambulance drivers" (an insulting term, by the way), they still get far more hands-on clinical experience than other conventional pre-med employed clinical positions, as they can do most non-surgical procedures under my supervision.

Being an EMT really is fantastic clinical experience; one just has to research the service areas nearby to find out what they would be allowed to do.

 

[jhmmd]

Scribing is definitely considered clinical experience. I never said it wasn't.

Also, what EMT's do largely depends on what region of the country that you live in, but there are some pretty consistent features. I'm a paramedic and EMT's in my neck of the woods can do 1) interfacility transfers, 2) work with paramedics and take BLS calls, and 3) work in hospitals as techs. All of this is fantastic clinical experience. Even when I'm partnered with an EMT and they are stuck as "ambulance drivers" (an insulting term, by the way), they still get far more hands-on clinical experience than other conventional pre-med employed clinical positions, as they can do most non-surgical procedures under my supervision.

Being an EMT really is fantastic clinical experience; one just has to research the service areas nearby to find out what they would be allowed to do.

I never said that it wasn't

 

[nina212]

Most DIY post-baccs look something like this:
1) 1 year gen chem I and gen chem II
2) 1 year bio I & II
3) (after chem II) orgo 1 and orgo 2
4) Physics 1 & 2
5) Depending on med school pre-reqs: Statistics and/or calc 1 (potentially calc 2 if it is req., but very few med schools require calc 2)
6) Bio electives

Buy a MSAR (Medical School Admissions Requirements) book through the AAMC to get a better idea of what you need for each school, then flesh out your school list based on the classes you are going to take/GPA & MCAT that fit your school list. You want to shoot for applying to 25-35 med schools to be safe (10 "safety," 20 "mid-tier, and ~5 "reach").

I am a bit confused about how/why your concurrent pre-reqs conflict with other pre-reqs. Try something like

Semester 1:
1) Bio I
2) Gen chem I
3) Calc 1 or stats

Semester 2:
1) Bio 2
2) Gen chem II
3) Calc 2 or bio elective (most bio electives req. only bio I as a pre-req)

You should be able to take more than one course at a time when it comes to a DIY post-bacc. It won't look good to take only one course per year, just so you know. Med schools want to know that you can handle the stress of a full (11-12 unit) course load, and succeed under pressure.

Good luck <3

I’ve taken bio 1 and 2, stats, and many upper year bios already as a part of my undergrad degree.

 

[jhmmd]

I’ve taken bio 1 and 2, stats, and many upper year bios already as a part of my undergrad degree.

Then I would keep rounding it out w/more upper level biology classes

 

[Xyzcannon18]

I got my masters at an “SMP” (true SMPs are usually accompanied by linkage acceptance) to better my application. My GPA is similar except the reverse trend (4.0>3.5>2.5> ending somewhere around 3.2).

When post interview feedback was allowed at schools I did, they were well aware of my graduate degree from the SOM that housed it and specifically mentioned that it alleviated concerns regarding me handling the rigors if medical school or not being too far removed, but it was not a replacement. How I performed in undergrad was still very much under consideration. It was also in consideration that although I did well, the volume was not the same as medical school (I think my program did 32 hours per semester). I’d imagine you can equally also assume this about someone that is doing a post bacc.

It matters that you do well because if you’re taking an undergraduate course or graduate course with all the life obligations you’ll have in medical school but without the insane volume, it sort of brings into question if you can do it all.

most inportantly, I think you should take this time to bolster your application outside of academics though. Volunteering, experiences, clinical exposure. These are checkmarks that everyone else who are ahead of you will likely already have.

 

[LizzyM]

scribing (though you can't smell the pts) is (in most cases) probably still considered clinical experience, especially in the age of the COVID pandemic.

The key to my definition of clinical experience is if you are close enough to smell the patients. That's not to say that the patients have to smell bad, or smell at all, but that you are in close proximity to them. For in-person scribing, you are in the same room with the patient and physician which is certainly "close enough" proximity.

 

[Morningnight]

OP, currently in the 2nd year of a Master's program in Biological Sciences so I'll talk about why I did it! I cannot comment on what would be a better use of your time for the upcoming year.

Pursuing an MS program allowed me to:

(1) Gain formal training in research. I have an interest in going into academic medicine, and my research experiences as an MS student have allowed me to develop my analytical skills and broaden my repertoire of lab techniques.
(2) Teach! My home institution allows its MS students to TA in undergraduate courses, and they waive our tuition + pay a living stipend.
(3) Take more upper-division biology courses. I have a similar upward trend in GPA as you do, and I wanted to create a longer history of academic success for medical schools to see. Important to note that these courses will fall under your Graduate GPA and have no influence on your Undergraduate GPA.

 

[YCAGA]

Being an EMT is for sure hands-on work, but a lot of times EMTs just get relegated to being "ambulance drivers." The paramedics do the bulk of the clinical work.

And scribing (though you can't smell the pts) is (in most cases) probably still considered clinical experience, especially in the age of the COVID pandemic.

I can assure you that I had the honor of smelling many patients when I scribed in the ED before medical school. And this was well before Covid so we didn't have an excuse to put on 3 masks and some vick's to hide our noses like we can now.

 

[catcatcat45]

I got my masters at an “SMP” (true SMPs are usually accompanied by linkage acceptance) to better my application. My GPA is similar except the reverse trend (4.0>3.5>2.5> ending somewhere around 3.2).

When post interview feedback was allowed at schools I did, they were well aware of my graduate degree from the SOM that housed it and specifically mentioned that it alleviated concerns regarding me handling the rigors if medical school or not being too far removed, but it was not a replacement. How I performed in undergrad was still very much under consideration. It was also in consideration that although I did well, the volume was not the same as medical school (I think my program did 32 hours per semester). I’d imagine you can equally also assume this about someone that is doing a post bacc.

It matters that you do well because if you’re taking an undergraduate course or graduate course with all the life obligations you’ll have in medical school but without the insane volume, it sort of brings into question if you can do it all.

most inportantly, I think you should take this time to bolster your application outside of academics though. Volunteering, experiences, clinical exposure. These are checkmarks that everyone else who are ahead of you will likely already have.

Hey! I know this is old, but did you get interviews and acceptances with a 3.2 SMP GPA? If you don't mind me asking, what were your undergrad GPA's? MCAT? URM/ORM?