Gap year(s) M2-M3: seriously hurt applicant?

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fluoropHore

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Hi there, I know there are quite a few threads discussing gap years, and I've gleaned what I can from them. But are there any personal experiences with this Acgme vs. ogme residency PD's giving the side-eye? Not to get personal, but I hurt my back and in the throes of boards studying and it has seriously derailed my schedule (our school requires us to have step1 done mad early) and plummeted my grades. I'd be working, not sitting around with a finger up my ass. Part of it is stress and the other part is physical but honestly, I *could* push through but I'd rather not flub up my exam after pushing out the biggest crap of a semester. Selfish? Stupid? The gap year looks judging by the 2014 figure 1 that it ranks kinda highly....

))<>((

Sorry for all the ass references.

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Just make sure to do something productive (usually research, graduate degree, or medicine related work/volunteering).

You need to have something to show for the gap year when PDs ask you about it during interviews.

Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much.
 
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Hi there, I know there are quite a few threads discussing gap years, and I've gleaned what I can from them. But are there any personal experiences with this Acgme vs. ogme residency PD's giving the side-eye? Not to get personal, but I hurt my back and in the throes of boards studying and it has seriously derailed my schedule (our school requires us to have step1 done mad early) and plummeted my grades. I'd be working, not sitting around with a finger up my ass. Part of it is stress and the other part is physical but honestly, I *could* push through but I'd rather not flub up my exam after pushing out the biggest crap of a semester. Selfish? Stupid? The gap year looks judging by the 2014 figure 1 that it ranks kinda highly....

))<>((

Sorry for all the ass references.

Medical leave of absence isn't really considered a "gap year" as far as I'm concerned. Alternatively, if your back injury isn't worthy of a medical leave of absence, then you should think twice about mentioning it as your reason for taking a year off.
 
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Medical leave of absence isn't really considered a "gap year" as far as I'm concerned. Alternatively, if your back injury isn't worthy of a medical leave of absence, then you should think twice about mentioning it as your reason for taking a year off.

Right, a "gap year" is usually time off to do something productive and is actually a boon to your application. A medical leave of absence may raise eyebrows
 
Right, a "gap year" is usually time off to do something productive and is actually a boon to your application. A medical leave of absence may raise eyebrows

I was actually coming at it from a different perspective. I think a "medical leave of absence" wouldn't be a bad thing. I don't think any residency director would dock an applicant if their profile was "medical loa between MS2 and MS3 for spine injury/surgery". Along those lines, I was trying to say that if OP just has a back strain or something that isn't a serious/emergent medical problem, but is still hindering their studying (i.e. moderate persistent pain) so much so that they opt into a gap year then I don't think OP should mention that minor health issue ever (especially in an attempt to justify the gap year). In that situation they should just make the year as productive as possible and then spin it to something like "I was offered this amazing research opportunity and here are my 5 first author pubs in NEJM, JAMA, Nature, etc".
 
I was actually coming at it from a different perspective. I think a "medical leave of absence" wouldn't be a bad thing. I don't think any residency director would dock an applicant if their profile was "medical loa between MS2 and MS3 for spine injury/surgery". Along those lines, I was trying to say that if OP just has a back strain or something that isn't a serious/emergent medical problem, but is still hindering their studying (i.e. moderate persistent pain) so much so that they opt into a gap year then I don't think OP should mention that minor health issue ever (especially in an attempt to justify the gap year). In that situation they should just make the year as productive as possible and then spin it to something like "I was offered this amazing research opportunity and here are my 5 first author pubs in NEJM, JAMA, Nature, etc".

at the same time though, wouldn't you be concerned about someones future working ability if they had a severe injury to the point where they couldn't be in school?
 
at the same time though, wouldn't you be concerned about someones future working ability if they had a severe injury to the point where they couldn't be in school?

If someone got in a bad car accident and needed spine surgery, but then published a bunch of stuff in a gap year and then did well in MS3 and MS4? Nope, would not worry about their working ability. Versus someone who had traumatic head injury, had some brain damage and didn't recover full functioning intellectually.. yes I might worry about their ability to care for patients.
 
I was actually coming at it from a different perspective. I think a "medical leave of absence" wouldn't be a bad thing. I don't think any residency director would dock an applicant if their profile was "medical loa between MS2 and MS3 for spine injury/surgery". Along those lines, I was trying to say that if OP just has a back strain or something that isn't a serious/emergent medical problem, but is still hindering their studying (i.e. moderate persistent pain) so much so that they opt into a gap year then I don't think OP should mention that minor health issue ever (especially in an attempt to justify the gap year). In that situation they should just make the year as productive as possible and then spin it to something like "I was offered this amazing research opportunity and here are my 5 first author pubs in NEJM, JAMA, Nature, etc".
at the same time though, wouldn't you be concerned about someones future working ability if they had a severe injury to the point where they couldn't be in school?

I definitely agree that if the injury is mild enough that you can do something productive like research during the year, then you don't have to further justify the year off.

If you take the medical LOA without producing something else worthwhile then you are in the weird position of explaining "it was so bad I had to take a whole year off, but so mild that I made a full recovery and am 100% good to go". Ideally an injury would be a non-factor to a PD, but I imagine the thought would cross their mind. I certainly wouldn't mention the stress/mental health aspect... that might come across like you couldn't hack it.

So if you have something resumé-friendly to do, then a gap year shouldn't hurt you. The question for OP is whether you really need the year off? I don't think we can answer that for you.
 
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I definitely agree that if the injury is mild enough that you can do something productive like research during the year, then you don't have to further justify the year off.

If you take the medical LOA without producing something else worthwhile then you are in the weird position of explaining "it was so bad I had to take a whole year off, but so mild that I made a full recovery and am 100% good to go". Ideally an injury would be a non-factor to a PD, but I imagine the thought would cross their mind. I certainly wouldn't mention the stress/mental health aspect... that might come across like you couldn't hack it.

So if you have something resumé-friendly to do, then a gap year shouldn't hurt you. The question for OP is whether you really need the year off? I don't think we can answer that for you.

Some illness or injuries put you out of commission for a few months. Then you slowly get back up to speed over the next few months. Medical training is fast paced. You need to keep up or you don't make it. If someone had a severe enough acute illness, they won't be able to be productive while recovering but could still be fully recovered and good to go a year later.

Not sure that PDs care enough- some might screen for any LOA. Less competitive fields will obviously be more likely to listen to your reason.
 
Right, a "gap year" is usually time off to do something productive and is actually a boon to your application. A medical leave of absence may raise eyebrows

Thanks. Are school's obligated to document a medical LOA or can you essentially give a different reason for documentation purposes (like research)?
 
I was actually coming at it from a different perspective. I think a "medical leave of absence" wouldn't be a bad thing. I don't think any residency director would dock an applicant if their profile was "medical loa between MS2 and MS3 for spine injury/surgery". Along those lines, I was trying to say that if OP just has a back strain or something that isn't a serious/emergent medical problem, but is still hindering their studying (i.e. moderate persistent pain) so much so that they opt into a gap year then I don't think OP should mention that minor health issue ever (especially in an attempt to justify the gap year). In that situation they should just make the year as productive as possible and then spin it to something like "I was offered this amazing research opportunity and here are my 5 first author pubs in NEJM, JAMA, Nature, etc".

Erm, so it's JAMA, Nature or bust for a research year?..
 
Erm, so it's JAMA, Nature or bust for a research year?..

I think the point is just that you should actually get something accomplished during the year or it will hurt you
 
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Thanks. Are school's obligated to document a medical LOA or can you essentially give a different reason for documentation purposes (like research)?

No you wouldn't have to say anything about a medical LOA if you did a research year. It's pretty common to take a gap year for research anyway. If you happen to be considering one partly because it would give your back some time to rest, that's your business.
 
I did a year off for a research fellowship between M2-M3. On the interview trail, I'd say about 1/4 to 1/3 of us had done so. For some of the competitive specialties/programs, its slowly becoming more the norm than the exception.
 
I did a year off for a research fellowship between M2-M3. On the interview trail, I'd say about 1/4 to 1/3 of us had done so. For some of the competitive specialties/programs, its slowly becoming more the norm than the exception.

1/4 to 1/3?
 
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