Finding Gap-Year Research Opportunities

[Gregory House 0]

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this. I am hoping to apply for MD/PhD programs, but I need to take at least two gap years as I have not taken the MCAT yet and need more shadowing hours. In late January I began applying to programs like the NIH IRTA and a few labs at my undergraduate institution, but the consensus seems to be that I applied too late/there are no spots open. How screwed am I if I just can't find anything to do next year? Would it be inadvisable to take a year off from research to just get a minimum wage job, study for the MCAT, and rack up shadowing hours, and during that year try finding a one-year research experience (like NIH IRTA)? Are there any opportunities that are still available for applying to now/in March? Is it worth just cold-emailing as many PIs at as many universities I can find that align with my research and interests, or is it too late for that? Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Fencer]

People can enter into NIH IRTA in a rolling year. However, given undergrad academic schedules, peak enrollments occur in the couple of months that follow the academic semester completion. Most people find their lab at 3-6 months prior to starting. Keep pushing NIH IRTA labs or similar level of intensive research experience. Regarding the MCAT, while you are doing research dedicate sustained time to study for MCAT using resources from AAMC, Kaplan, Princeton, or Altius-MCAT. Once you find a lab, and you keep working on it, you can add a letter from the PI in late Sept./Oct.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

First you need a plan. Do you currently have access to a prehealth advising office? Set up a meeting and get a plan together when it comes to shadowing and clinical experience before focusing on the research side. NIH IRTA is great, but they typically want you to focus on your research, not your clinical or volunteering experiences though there are many around DC.

Getting a research job isn't too late. If you hustle, you can find a lot of summer research fellowships (many funded) that could turn into a full-time research assistant position if the PI has the funding for it. There are other med school-hosted postbac programs focused on research (intended for pipelines to PhD programs, though you may need to see if they can get you to an MD/PhD direction provided you have all the clinical and volunteer experience under your belt).

Here's our SDN resource to help you: Activity Finder - Find Extracurriculars for Med School Application | Activity Finder