"Gaps after college"

[mwsapphire]

Hi everyone,

I'm a first year DO student. My school requires us first to make an introductory " CV" that we add to along the course of medical school. I am putting mine together right now, while watching a small " lecture" on it that was put together by our faculty.

During my gap year, I went to school part time in the fall of 2019, and worked part time as a medical scribe. I quit the scribe job in the spring before med school ( I put in my end date before I started working), because I wanted to spend one last Ramadan at home before med school, as well as if it weren't for COVID and being WL'd before getting in, I was thinking I may have wanted to travel. I stopped in the spring bc I wanted the estimate to be conservative , and not be too late.

The strange thing is , in the lecture she mentions " any gaps since college should be accounted for" , does that refer to , like, during med school? Or even during my gap year? I know it's super pre mature to ask about this, but since we are working on a draft CV right now and I do have a few months " gap" before med school, it's bothering me a little bit. Can someone please elaborate.

Thanks,
mwsapphire

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[ciestar]

I had a 3 year gap between undergrad and i just listed what I was doing during that time on ERAs

 

[mwsapphire]

I had a 3 year gap between undergrad and i just listed what I was doing during that time on ERAs

The thing is I wasnt really doing anything- just enjoying Ramzan at home with my family, and then figuring out a place to live for med school, etc. I was supposed to travel but didn't bc of COVID. I guess just enjoying time with family until starting med school?

 

[Osteosaur]

The CV template our school gives us is very specific. ERAS wants...

1) education
2) work experience
3) research
4) pubs
5) other stuff

This isn't a damn secondary essay for a med school app. You don't have to be embarrassed about anything. You can't change this. Leave it blank and focus on your accomplishments. You really think they're going to read your MSPE and letters, see your grades and board scores, and then align the dates on your CV and go "Well they had a missing year three years ago!!! What if they were in jail for stealing drugs and doing drugs or worse yet played videogames and bummed around!"

Bull****.

You can't change this and if its really an issue in 2 years when you put together your residency application your advisor can help you spin it. I'm just mad some administrator has the utter gall to stress you about this when you should be learning medicine.

 

[hallowmann]

I think you are overthinking this. What sounds like a few months between a job and med school is honestly never going to be questioned by anyone. If I'm understanding it right, you had a scribe job through like March of 2020 and then went to med school in like July/August of 2020. That's basically like you took the summer off. On top of that it was basically the start of the pandemic, where a lot of people weren't doing anything. No one is going to notice, let alone care.

Now after starting med school, you will absolutely need to explain any gaps from the beginning of med school to the present for state medical board licensing. That's just something you'll have to pay attention to in the future.

 

[ciestar]

The thing is I wasnt really doing anything- just enjoying Ramzan at home with my family, and then figuring out a place to live for med school, etc. I was supposed to travel but didn't bc of COVID. I guess just enjoying time with family until starting med school?

I guess i did the same for months before i started med school. Traveled because covid wasnt a thing. It wasnt a problem.

 

[allin1211]

youre severely overthinking this. When they say "account for gaps" they mean like a 3 year gap between undergrad and med school. Just put in your resume the time periods of when you did everything. Its literally that simple.