did you take any time off before residency?

[coconut lime]

i am an m2 debating whether to take a year off before i begin residency. i wll be getting married to a med student a year younger than me sometime at the end of 4th year and i think it would be nice to have some time to be married without all the stresses of resident life. did anybody here take a year off? any advice or suggestions? any ideas on what to do for a year? i dont want to just work at the mall or be a labrat. thanks!

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[beyond all hope]

Better to take a year off in med school, where you know you'll have a position to come back to. If you absolutely think you'll need a year off, I recommend taking off between 3rd and 4th years.

Taking a year off before applying to residency doesn't look good to a lot of program directors, unless you're doing research or something else medically related. Also, actually applying to residency takes a good chunk of the winter and spring of that year, so it's not like you'd get the full year off anyway.

Also, don't plan on getting accepted to residency and deferring. This is not med school: in residency you are a workhorse, and if you're not there to do the work it means everyone else has to work harder to make up for it. Your PD may allow it but you won't make any friends doing it.