Gap year job

[paulank@thed0g]

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Hi, I am struggling with deciding which job I want for my gap year. I am lucky enough to have been offered 3 great jobs, but I’m not sure which would give me the best experiences before medical school.

1) Mental health tech at a children’s hospital. 3 12-hr shifts/week. It seems like most of my responsibilities are “milieu” aka I would get to interact with the kids a lot and go along with their daily activities which I love. I am also very passionate about mental health. However, this job pays the least and I have a good deal of mental health and childcare experience already. I’m also not sure how much physician-patient interaction I would get to see from a healthcare perspective. I feel like I might get similar experiences just volunteering at this hospital.
2) Psychometrist at a neurobehavioral group. I would train for a few weeks and then can make my own schedule according to appointments people need. The pay seems good, and I would really like to learn more about how to administer these tests and interact with patients in this setting. I was also told I could have a lot of interaction with the doctors who work there. However, I worry because it is not in a hospital.
3) CRC position with a research company. I’m also not worried about the pay here, but similarly worried about having meaningful experiences. I know a lot of CRC work can be logistical and busywork, but I am really hoping to interact with patients face to face if I can.

I will also be working part time teaching kids and volunteering at hospitals and a text line this year if that helps paint a fuller picture. I think what’s most important to me is having face to face patient interactions, meaningful experiences, and mentorship by healthcare professionals. Any advice would be appreciated!! Thank you in advance 🙂

 

[LindaAccepted]

#2 sounds the most distinctive to me and like you would learn a lot. Is it multiple age groups and populations?

 

[paulank@thed0g]

#2 sounds the most distinctive to me and like you would learn a lot. Is it multiple age groups and populations?

Yes, I was told ages tend to vary from 3-65 years. I feel like I would really enjoy it, but I do worry that it makes me look like I’m more interested in clinical psychology than medicine. All of the healthcare workers are psych, not MD’s. Do you think it will read this way?

 

[LindaAccepted]

do you have lots of other clinical medical experience? You wrote that you are also volunteering in a hospital during your gap year. Have you done so previously?

 

[paulank@thed0g]

do you have lots of other clinical medical experience? You wrote that you are also volunteering in a hospital during your gap year. Have you done so previously?

No, and that is definitely a weak part of my application. During COVID I had a really hard time finding clinical opportunities in the hospital so this will be my first time volunteering in the hospital, but I have already been volunteering with crisis text line (CTL) for a year

 

[LindaAccepted]

HOw many hours do you see yourself spending volunteering in the hospital? What will you be doing?

 

[paulank@thed0g]

I will be volunteering about 10 hours in the hospital per week to start. I’m going to be in different departments because I told the volunteer managers that I wanted to see a lot of different things so I think I’ll be in the ED, trauma unit, oncology, and child life

HOw many hours do you see yourself spending volunteering in the hospital? What will you be doing?

 

[LindaAccepted]

That sounds fantastic. And how many hours do you think the psychometrist job will take?

 

[paulank@thed0g]

That sounds fantastic. And how many hours do you think the psychometrist job will take?

I think the psychometrist job will be fairly busy when I am training, like 40+ hours a week, but they said after that I can cater my schedule to my own needs because the work is by appointment only. Though, I would still like to work 30-40 hours so that I’m getting good experience and practicing my skills.

 

[LindaAccepted]

#2 still sounds like the most interesting option, especially since you will combine it with robust hospital volunteering that will give you roughly 500 hours of clinical exposure interacting with patients and healthcare staff of all kinds, including doctors. If you have time, perhaps increase somewhat the hospital volunteering. Also, it's not clear if you have worked with underserved populations or if your teaching is with underserved populations or if the hospital where you are volunteering serves their needs. That exposure is important, if you don't have it. Try to do something, if you aren't already, with the underserved.