Gap Years

[Dre_Pathology]

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Hello. I plan on getting out the military next year and finishing out my 3 years to obtain my bachelor's degree. Now I will be a military spouse when I finish my degree. My wife will still be military. There is a slight chance that we might get stationed overseas. I want to go to medical school after I graduate. But..if I am overseas for four years, could I use those years as my gap years to keep myself fresh and build my credentials up by doing clinical hours, working in labs, taking medical graduate classes to stay up to date? Would these things keep me fresh for four years? Four is a long time...

 

[Quizlet04]

I'm not sure if overseas classes will count in any way. I am guessing ECs and research will, especially if you can get a publication. Four years is four years. No classes will expire during that time, though I recommend getting professors to write your letters now before they forget about you. Keep busy and work. The gap isn't much of a concern because many non-trads have decades between their ugrad and med school applications.

 

[Dre_Pathology]

Even online grad courses would not count? It would be courses from a US school, not overseas. If not then, i will focus on other things. What do you mean by ECs? Do many non-traditional students get into medical school after so many gap years? I will definitely be sure to get my name out there to the professors. I want to stand out most definitely. What would you recommend to do to get a publication? That would be pretty nice.

 

[familyaerospace]

Even online grad courses would not count? It would be courses from a US school, not overseas. If not then, i will focus on other things. What do you mean by ECs? Do many non-traditional students get into medical school after so many gap years? I will definitely be sure to get my name out there to the professors. I want to stand out most definitely. What would you recommend to do to get a publication? That would be pretty nice.

1) Some schools don't love online. Some don't care. But really I think it might depend on what the classes are. No one is going to say anything one way or the other about courses I took out of a school in Israel.

2) ECs are all that fun stuff like community service, medical volunteering, research, teaching, shadowing, etc

3) This forum is full of them.

4) It depends on what you want to publish and how your current research is looking. If you are sitting on a buttload of data or have experience writing peer reviewed articles (which I assume you don't) it doesn't take much to get another publication. I have 3 journal articles, like 8 presentations, and a book chapter. The hardest one was the first journal article where I was a complete noob but I did get it done as a sole author with ample advice from a boyfriend who had a PhD. If you don't have a lot of experience, find someone like a mentor who will help you. If you are able to get into research, you might be able to get your name on an article if you contribute extensively to the experiment.