Deferring medical school for a year

[yyd]

---

Members don't see this ad.

-

 

[BaylorGuy]

Hi all,

Here are some questions for current medical students: has anyone started medical school after deferring admission for a year? When did you ask for a deferment and is it always granted?
How detailed of an explanation did you give regarding the reasons?
I know for sure I want to defer, but don't know whether to wait till May or do it now (I have an acceptance already).

Thanks a lot!

I deffered from last year...some schools are easier to defer than others. If you are allowed to defer you definitely want to give a good reason to do so. As for me, i mentally wasn't ready to start med school (i got off of a waitlist late in the game and wouldn't have been prepared to make the move across country, get apartment, furnishings, financial aid, etc.). Check with the school to make sure first. Also, in case if you wondering whether you can apply to other schools or not next year, you are going to have to check with the school as well...some will have binding deferals and some will happen non-binding. Good luck

 

[mendel121]

Hi all,

Here are some questions for current medical students: has anyone started medical school after deferring admission for a year? When did you ask for a deferment and is it always granted?
How detailed of an explanation did you give regarding the reasons?
I know for sure I want to defer, but don't know whether to wait till May or do it now (I have an acceptance already).

Thanks a lot!

I think that it depends on the school, but from what I know most schools will grant you one deferral without much question. Some schools will grant you more for good reasons. I was lucky enough to get three deferral years while I finished my PhD, but I think I was very very fortunate.

 

[yyd]

-

 

[mendel121]

And even if everything goes as planned and I defend on time, I will probably be completely burned out by the time med school starts.

My predicament is how to phrase my request for deferment and when to do so. I wonder whether to say that I need more time for my PhD or to say that I'd like to defer for family reasons.

OK, so I have a point of view for most of this -

1. Definitely get the deferral - You're right, you'll burn yourself out trying to cram it all in. I defended long before I started med school, but I did try to rush a paper out the door in the last few weeks before school started which spilled over into the first month of school - I'm still paying for this, I got so fried that month, I still have zero motivation and energy. Also, it may sound crazy, but I look back on the time that I defended as a good time, in retrospect, I enjoyed it that's partly because I was able to do it relatively leisurely.

2. Do the extra experiment, it's the mark of a good scientist, and it will help you tremendously in the long run. I had a similar thing near the end of my dissertation work, and I am sooo happy that I listened to my PI and did the extra work, it paid off with a national meeting platform talk, a good journal pub, and more to come, I hope.

3. I have two kids (I'll turn 30 in a few weeks) I (actually, my wife) had the second one during my last deferral year, and that worked out pretty well, having one before med school is not a bad idea (it doesn't make med school any easier, but you'd be amazed what you can handle).

4. I'd use the PhD as a point in requesting the deferral, most schools will jump at the chance to graduate an MD/PhD (especially one that they don't have to pay for 🙂 ) because it likely means that you'll have publications coming out, and that can only be good for their rep, but I don't think there's a need to be dishonest or hide the other motivations, contrary to popular belief adcoms have hearts (and yes even souls) too.

Please PM me if you have more questions, I'm happy to give any advice that I have to give. Good Luck.