Deferring Residency after Match

[MyNameIsOtto]

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So I found some old posts but want to know if anyone here or anyone you know of recently went through the match and then was able to defer residency for one year with agreement from the program?

I'm sure this is a tough scenario with the competitive fields but I don't understand why it should be a real problem with specialties/hospitals that have a difficult time filling their spots with grads, especially american grads.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The match is legally binding. A program cannot simply let you out of your match, that must come from the NRMP. Very few programs will let you defer. You would need to resign your spot (again, only with the NRMP's permission unless you start and then resign) and there would be no guarantee you'd get a spot the next year. In fact, I would suggest that tying to defer like this would make you look unreliable.

Another way to look at it is this: programs get a certain number of PGY-1's each year. If you take a spot and then try to defer, they've lost the chance to get someone else for that spot.

If you want to defer, simply sit out the match for a year.

 

[ranmyaku]

Play time is over. Time to get a job.

 

[MyNameIsOtto]

Play time is over. Time to get a job.

LOL. Playtime is over, you're right.

It's hard to have any motivation though as MS4 is just starting and I have no desire to begin intern year next year.

"It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I don't care."

 

[ranmyaku]

I felt the same way you do it sounds. Beginning of MS4 I just wanted to do nothing...was pretty burnt out. I scheduled the easiest MS4 year possible, took the whole month of December off to interview, traveled all over the US...went overseas in the spring for a rotation, did more traveling....by the time I was toward the end I was ready to 'get a job' and start being a 'real' doctor. I think you might feel the same way if you take it easy this year.

 

[random1]

Yeah, I haven't heard of people deferring a year for its own sake. That said, I do know of catastrophic personal circumstances that force people to take time off. It's not a good position to be in, and you should be careful of jeopardizing your future career.

 

[Museless]

Many medical schools will allow candidates to defer for a year after acceptance - this is just like deferring for a year in college. One more or less person in lecture or lab just doesn't make a big difference, and you're not affecting anyone but yourself.

However residency's a job, and when you interview, you're interviewing for a job from July 1 - June 30 of the subsequent year. You can't defer that any more than you can go on an interview for any other job, get offered the position and accept it, and then ask if you can show up a year later instead.

The program is counting on an exact number of residents, and being off by one is a big deal.

You can defer joining the match - simply don't apply via the NRMP, but once you match, you're showing up July 1.

 

[Qex]

Like everyone has said - you can't defer residency. All you can do is not sign up for the Match, and use the time to do research in a lab, go for a Masters (in Public health or some such) or anything else that will show a residency committee you weren't sitting idle for the year. Apply once you know you are ready.

You might need to explain the gap inbetween in your PS when you do apply for a residency, but it won't hurt your prospects too much.