Free Time In Gap Year

[WeOutHereWaiting]

Hello all,

This question is mainly for current medical students, but anyone with insights is welcome to share. I am in my gap year and in the application cycle (hopefully matriculating in Fall 2023) and have some free time. I know the general advice is to not prestudy for medical school or anything and just enjoy life before medical school starts. I have planned many trips (international and local) for the coming months and am enjoying catching up with old hobbies that were abandoned during undergrad. However, I still have about 10-15 hours a week that I want to put towards something useful. Possible things I can think of are:

1) Learning anatomy: I have never taken anatomy and I have seen on medical school forums that people wish they had taken it before bc they get fu*ked when trying to learn for the first time at the pace of school
2) Learning a coding language: specifically, one that can help with research such as R or even something as multifunctional as python. I know it is more than possible to do research in medical school without knowing these languages (most schools have a stats department + you can always do research that doesn't need that kind of data analysis) do you guys think it is worth the effort?
3) Learn Spanish: I don't speak the language and not only can it help with travel and cultural development, but also perhaps a plus for residencies in Cali
4) any recommendation you have that I can't think of

@current Med Students: If you could go back in time to 10 months before your first year, what do you wish you would have done?

Thanks!

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[EArlyBirdGetsTheWorm]

Im in your situation where I will matriculate next year in 2023. I got an acceptance early which was a relief, but then I felt like I had all this time before school starts. Im currently working, but I plan on traveling a little before I start school.

From my conversations with med students most of them do not study and just choose to relax instead. If you are interested in coding I would do that. I wouldn’t learn Spanish unless you are specifically interested in using it.

 

[gyngyn]

Spanish is the most useful thing on that list (by far).

 

[deleted1130038]

I started getting better at/relearning Spanish personally!! I also am thinking about taking a formal anatomy class in the spring

 

[gyngyn]

I started getting better at/relearning Spanish personally!! I also am thinking about taking a formal anatomy class in the spring

There is really nothing that can prepare you for anatomy as taught in medical school...

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t stress you out. You don’t need to prepare for med school, you just spent 4+ years doing that. I’m finishing residency this year and there’s nothing I value more than having unencumbered free time.

 

[Elite Medical Prep]

Hi OP. Definitely skip any medical school studying! But there are 2 things in that list that I love.

1) Learning spanish - would be amazingly helpful in medical school, you career, and life! Working through an interpreter is a pain and often puts an artificial barrier between you and your patient.

2) Learning coding. I was able to do a bunch of research in medical school since I knew how to use SPSS and Excel before matriculating. This is a rare talent among medical students and makes you much more desirable to work with. Also - once you get a good relationship with a PI, you can often do you own analysis based on your own idea. Makes for great research experience and an even better LOR for residency.