Does internship leave doors open?

[adam73180]

I'm not sure if clinical medicine is right for me, but I'm not 100% sure it's not either.

Will doing 1 year of internship give me an advantage if I decide to pursue a full residency later, or is it negligible? Either way, can I kiss competitive specialties goodbye? Will I have to repeat the year?

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[Winged Scapula]

I'm not sure if clinical medicine is right for me, but I'm not 100% sure it's not either.

Will doing 1 year of internship give me an advantage if I decide to pursue a full residency later, or is it negligible?

Depends on how much later you decide to finish a residency. In general, medical school graduates have a lower rate of matching than 4th year medical students. If you are still involved in medicine during your year(s) off or are doing something "interesting" for a year, then that would be better.

Either way, can I kiss competitive specialties goodbye?

Not necessarily. It depends on what you are doing when you are off and how long you are off.

Will I have to repeat the year?

Perhaps. Depends on how long you are gone. I would expect if you are gone more than a year, it would be likely.

 

[Smurfette]

It can give you an advantage in that you can apply for a permanent license if you have done some residency training...take step 3 to complete the boards (since you have a 7 year time limit) and apply for a license to minimize pain later on if you may leave medicine and come back a few years down the road.

Some programs may count that one year for a transitional year or even as one year of medicine, depending on the program and specialty. But doing an internship will certainly not hurt you in that respect. Sure, you may have to repeat it later on, but if you don't know if you want to do clinical medicine, another year may help you decide sooner than later.

Personally, I think it's easier to continue on right after med school than to take time off and then later on try to get back in. Especially with getting LORs and such. IMHO, taking time off will make it more difficult to do something competitive, more so if you are not a very competitive applicant to begin with. And, you will have to explain what you did during your time off to programs to which you are applying, and also likely the licensing board (at least in many states, from the time you earned your medical degree, you have to document any "gaps" in your medical employment on your applications).

 

[adam73180]

Depends on how much later you decide to finish a residency. In general, medical school graduates have a lower rate of matching than 4th year medical students. If you are still involved in medicine during your year(s) off or are doing something "interesting" for a year, then that would be better.



Not necessarily. It depends on what you are doing when you are off and how long you are off.



Perhaps. Depends on how long you are gone. I would expect if you are gone more than a year, it would be likely.

What counts as 'interesting' or related to medicine?
Play out the following scenarios for me.
interning at the World Health Organization for 1 year
management consulting at McKinsey for 1-2 years
working for a health care startup for 1-2 years
founding a clinic / hospital in Kenya for 1-2 years

Also, what are the criteria for repeating intern year or not? Why does it seem so nebulous and not more cut and dry?

It can give you an advantage in that you can apply for a permanent license if you have done some residency training...take step 3 to complete the boards (since you have a 7 year time limit) and apply for a license to minimize pain later on if you may leave medicine and come back a few years down the road.

What is the 7 year time limit?

Some programs may count that one year for a transitional year or even as one year of medicine, depending on the program and specialty. But doing an internship will certainly not hurt you in that respect. Sure, you may have to repeat it later on, but if you don't know if you want to do clinical medicine, another year may help you decide sooner than later.

Again, under what circumstances do you have to repeat it?

And, you will have to explain what you did during your time off to programs to which you are applying, and also likely the licensing board (at least in many states, from the time you earned your medical degree, you have to document any "gaps" in your medical employment on your applications).

What implications does it have for the licensing board? Are you seriously saying it would cause a problem? In this case, is leaving before or after doing an intern year worse, or does it matter?

 

[Winged Scapula]

What counts as 'interesting' or related to medicine?
Play out the following scenarios for me.
interning at the World Health Organization for 1 year
management consulting at McKinsey for 1-2 years
working for a health care startup for 1-2 years
founding a clinic / hospital in Kenya for 1-2 years

I think all of those, with the exception of McKinsey, would qualify as being at least peripherally related to medicine.

As for interesting, well that is in the eye of the beholder. Some programs don't really care what you do with your time off, others prefer you do something clinically oriented to keep your skills up and others just like to see you weren't laying on your mother's couch for 7 months.

Also, what are the criteria for repeating intern year or not? Why does it seem so nebulous and not more cut and dry?

It seems nebulous because it is. There are no hard and fast rules about this. Some programs require anyone out a certain length of time to repeat the year (in almost all cases it would be more than 2 years away from medicine), others do not. Its judged on a case by case basis.

Accept that you may have to repeat your intern year, especially if you do something non-clinical and that there are no answers to these questions.

What is the 7 year time limit?

You have 7 years (unless in an MD/PhD program) to pass all 3 USMLE steps. The clock starts ticking when you first take Step 1.

Again, under what circumstances do you have to repeat it?

Again, there are no hard and fast rules. Some programs will make you repeat if your intern year was significantly different from what they offer, if it was sufficiently long ago, if you have been out of clinical medicine, etc. There is no one answer to this question except to say that if you do not complete your intern year, fail to meet requirements set by your specialty board or do so in poor standing, then you will always have to repeat it.

What implications does it have for the licensing board? Are you seriously saying it would cause a problem? In this case, is leaving before or after doing an intern year worse, or does it matter?

Any time away from training after graduation from medical school must be accounted for and proof of your activities must be provided when you apply for a license, for a job, for hospital credentials/privileges. It is generally not a problem, only a PITA, unless you cannot account for your time or if you are licensed and let it lapse.

 

[Blade28]

I'm not sure if clinical medicine is right for me, but I'm not 100% sure it's not either.

Will doing 1 year of internship give me an advantage if I decide to pursue a full residency later, or is it negligible? Either way, can I kiss competitive specialties goodbye? Will I have to repeat the year?

Are you still considering another degree (grad school? MPH?)? Are you still thinking about a year abroad in lieu of an internship year?