Medical Gap year advice/what should my next steps be?

[GoSpursGo]

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Hi everyone, I will be taking a gap year or 2 after I graduate in June this year and would like some advice on gap year jobs/next steps!

Stats: 3.56 cpga/3.6 sgpa (upward trend 3.3, 3.5, 3.7, 3.9) MCAT 518

Clinical experience: 50 hrs scribe

Volunteer: Director of Student run Homeless Clinic: ~550 hours over 3 years, Women’s shelter: 50 hours, Homeless health and support services: 100 hours

Research: 3 years (~900 hr) but no publications

Shadowing: Trauma Surgeon 50 hrs, Gynecologist 50 hrs, Ophthalmologist 30 hrs

I'm having trouble deciding between Clinical research coordinator, derm MA, and National Health Corps. My pre-heath advisor told me to consider an SMP or postbacc bc of my gpa but I'm not sure if thats the right choice. I'm the most interested in the Health Corps position and I would get patient care experience working with disadvantaged communities (I think the experience would be amazing and it's something Im really interested in) but I'm not sure if CRC or MA would be better? I know I have low clinical hours and also no publications even though I did research for 3 years so would MA or CRC be better options? Would a more traditional clinical experience such as MA or possibly a publication from the CRC position (do CRCs usually get on publications?) be better for my application? Any advice is appreciated!

You have adequately checked the research box. You certainly could use some GPA help with a DIY post bacc, but with an upward trend and your concurrent need for clinical hours, I think health corps or MA would be reasonable choices

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Don't worry about research. It's overrated. Would do a post-bac and then boost clinical hours with more scribe work, MA or health corps.

 

[Goro]

Thank you for the advice!! I'm leaning towards the health corps position and I'll also look into the postbacc! Would a SMP not be a good choice?

Health corps sounds good. I don't think that you need a post-bac or SMP at this point. When you apply, target these schools:
Columbia
Vandy
Dartmouth
BU
Duke
Pitt
Mayo
Mt Sinai
Keck (maybe)
Temple (maybe)
UCSF
EVMS
Hofstra
Emory
Jefferson
U VM
Miami
Drexel
Albany
Tufts
NYMC
TCU/UNT
Your state schools
Rush
Loyola
Rosy Franklin
Tulane
Wake
MCW
SLU
Creighton
Wayne State
Netter
NovaMD
NYU.LI
Any DO program. Include UNECOM if you’re from the NE, OSUCOM if you’re from the Plains states and PacNW if you’re from that region. I can't recommend ARCOM, RVU, Nova, BCOM, ICOM and LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM? Read up on Larry Nasser and you decide. LMU has an accreditation warning, which concerns me. CUHS is too new and appears to be too limited in rotations sites. Avoid those new schools that haven't graduated a class yet, if at all possible.

NOTE: many of these schools are service loving, so bulk up on those ECs.