Gap Year - Deciding between options

[rotari]

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Hi everyone,

I am a senior this year and am planning to take a gap year before applying to med school. I took my MCAT already. I plan to apply early next cycle and start working in June or July 2015-June or July 2016. I wanted to get your thoughts on my options or any new ideas you might have.

Option 1: NIH IRTA

Pros:

• Good research (Possibility of getting another publication)
• People have told me the NIH name has weight (helps with med school, residency, etc)
• Volunteer a bit on the weekends

Cons

• I've worked at the NIH before, and although my lab mates were great, I found Bethesda to be boring
• Lowish Pay (27k pre-tax is the living wage in Bethesda)
• Obviously, any publications won't be out until after the cycle is over, so it won't help my application
• I already have done a lot of research

Option 2: Biotech/Pharma (Associate Scientist)

Pros:

• Something new
• Good Location
• Good Pay (70k) - I have 20k in student loans, so maybe I can pay a little of it off
• Volunteer a bit on the weekends

Cons:

• Apparent lack of commitment to medicine?
• Bad stigma associated with biotech/pharma

Option 3: EMT

Pros:

• More Clinical Experience, flexible hours

Cons:

• I have been an EMT for a few years now and want to try something new
• Even lower pay than the NIH
• Can't "research a bit on the weekends"

Those are the only three I have on the table right now - I could probably work in the same lab I am already at, but I haven't asked about it. My only concern about the first two is taking time off for interviews. However, the hours have slight flexibility. If I work on the weekends I have interviews, I should be able to take a day off in the week.

Any other options are welcome.

 

[mvenus929]

To clarify, you're not looking to start your job 2 months ago (June-July 2014), but are looking to start it next summer (June-Jul 2015), correct?

It sounds like you already know which one you want to do. You already have experience doing EMT work, and while that would likely give you the most flexibility for interviews, it sounds like you don't want to do it. You already have lots of research experience, including at the NIH, and don't sound very excited about the prospect of working there for another year. You seem interested in the Biotech/Pharma job, but are worried about a possible stigma.It's not going to harm your application.

 

[rotari]

To clarify, you're not looking to start your job 2 months ago (June-July 2014), but are looking to start it next summer (June-Jul 2015), correct?

It sounds like you already know which one you want to do. You already have experience doing EMT work, and while that would likely give you the most flexibility for interviews, it sounds like you don't want to do it. You already have lots of research experience, including at the NIH, and don't sound very excited about the prospect of working there for another year. You seem interested in the Biotech/Pharma job, but are worried about a possible stigma.It's not going to harm your application.

Thanks, I meant 2015-2016. But yes, you got to my dilemma - I want to do the biotech/pharma job all else equal, but I wouldn't mind doing either of the other two for a year if there was some other benefit (I do enjoy research/EMT, it is just a bit repetitive and low paying).

 

[ponyo]

I'm currently a med student and took two years off to work in consulting for big pharma. In addition, one of my LoRs was from a boutique biotech CEO and another was from a manager at a big pharma. I don't think there is much if at all actual stigma against pharma during the application process. If anything, people were curious about how I viewed industry and its relationship with medicine and it helped me differentiate myself from the other pre-meds. Do not drink the pre-med anti-industry haterade! It's true that for-profit can sometimes suck balls in all its harsh, ugly reality but it is an indispensable part of our world and better understanding it is a good thing.

Oh and having money is awesome.

 

[rotari]

I'm currently a med student and took two years off to work in consulting for big pharma. In addition, one of my LoRs was from a boutique biotech CEO and another was from a manager at a big pharma. I don't think there is much if at all actual stigma against pharma during the application process. If anything, people were curious about how I viewed industry and its relationship with medicine and it helped me differentiate myself from the other pre-meds. Do not drink the pre-med anti-industry haterade! It's true that for-profit can sometimes suck balls in all its harsh, ugly reality but it is an indispensable part of our world and better understanding it is a good thing.

Oh and having money is awesome.

Thanks for the reassurance! One of my concerns was scheduling interviews. How did you go about it? Did you find it difficult to schedule convenient times?

 

[ponyo]

Thanks for the reassurance! One of my concerns was scheduling interviews. How did you go about it? Did you find it difficult to schedule convenient times?

I wasn't doing research, so I'm not sure how the lab aspect of it would work. I worked in a really busy office setting but I was putting in an insane amount of hours on a day-to-day basis, and when I took a vacation or sick day nobody really complained. The caveat is that I only applied to like 7 schools and interviewed at 5 of them. But one of my colleagues had interviews in the teens and managed without anybody knowing she was applying, so I'm sure it's doable as long as you're ok with a little bit of stress.

 

[Osteoth]

I'm currently a med student and took two years off to work in consulting for big pharma. In addition, one of my LoRs was from a boutique biotech CEO and another was from a manager at a big pharma. I don't think there is much if at all actual stigma against pharma during the application process. If anything, people were curious about how I viewed industry and its relationship with medicine and it helped me differentiate myself from the other pre-meds. Do not drink the pre-med anti-industry haterade! It's true that for-profit can sometimes suck balls in all its harsh, ugly reality but it is an indispensable part of our world and better understanding it is a good thing.

Oh and having money is awesome.

Working in Pharma right now, currently applying.

I highly recommend it. It gives you ample opportunities to work on your applications after work/on the weekends, as well as money for applications and travel (highly underrated expense during the cycle).

Unlike @ponyo I do not work crazy hours, but do work in an office setting, and have to tell you I could not imagine being in school and trying to find time for secondaries and traveling. People in my office did not seem to mine as much.

 

[road2md]

Hi everyone,

I am a senior this year and am planning to take a gap year before applying to med school. I took my MCAT already. I plan to apply early next cycle and start working in June or July 2015-June or July 2016. I wanted to get your thoughts on my options or any new ideas you might have.

Option 1: NIH IRTA

Pros:

• Good research (Possibility of getting another publication)
• People have told me the NIH name has weight (helps with med school, residency, etc)
• Volunteer a bit on the weekends

Cons

• I've worked at the NIH before, and although my lab mates were great, I found Bethesda to be boring
• Lowish Pay (27k pre-tax is the living wage in Bethesda)
• Obviously, any publications won't be out until after the cycle is over, so it won't help my application
• I already have done a lot of research

Option 2: Biotech/Pharma (Associate Scientist)

Pros:

• Something new
• Good Location
• Good Pay (70k) - I have 20k in student loans, so maybe I can pay a little of it off
• Volunteer a bit on the weekends

Cons:

• Apparent lack of commitment to medicine?
• Bad stigma associated with biotech/pharma

Option 3: EMT

Pros:

• More Clinical Experience, flexible hours

Cons:

• I have been an EMT for a few years now and want to try something new
• Even lower pay than the NIH
• Can't "research a bit on the weekends"

Those are the only three I have on the table right now - I could probably work in the same lab I am already at, but I haven't asked about it. My only concern about the first two is taking time off for interviews. However, the hours have slight flexibility. If I work on the weekends I have interviews, I should be able to take a day off in the week.

Any other options are welcome.

rotari-

As long as you submit a manuscript, that alone will be good enough for getting yourself an interview.

On the most part, there is no bad stigma associated with premeds spending some time in the biotech/pharma industry. It depends on what you're doing there. And it is actually a sign of maturity that you're exploring different environments to challenge yourself and add an additional perspective. It's all about how you spin it during the interview 😉

 

[ridethecliche]

Don't be too pompous about your gap year unless you are doing a fulbright or something big like peace corps or TFA. Just pick the one that will leave you with the least debt/most money, since medical school is expensive, and something that you think you would enjoy doing. You don't need to ask a forum about that.

Peace corps and TFA are big deals? TFA takes just about anyone competent that can talk even half decently about education inequality.