Help deciding on what to do during gap year

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

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So I've made the decision to take a year off after graduation (I'm currently a senior) and have had some difficulties determining what I should do during the year off. The biggest reason I'm taking a year off is to get away from school for a bit and recharge as I'm pretty burnt out right now and would like to experience other things than just school. As a result, a SMP isn't a real option for me and I don't necessarily need it as I'll graduate with >3.95 cum GPA. I've taken the MCAT and scored a 30 with 10s across as well.

Furthermore, I'll have to start repaying loans during this time so I'll need some source of income. It would be nice to have a job in a hospital or some other clinical setting, but such jobs are difficult to obtain with only a BA in Biology. On the other side of things I can't afford to volunteer all of my time for unpaid research assistance either, which is one option that has been presented to me.

So, having said all of this would it seem unreasonable to work part-time in a non-medical field and continue to volunteer at free health clinic I've been volunteering at for the past few years as well as somewhere new such as the local hospital? I've also considered trying to find a job as a pharm tech as knowledge gained from such a job would be helpful in medical school.

The whole goal of this post is to hopefully find something for me to do during this year that is worthwhile and not seen as me sitting around for a year, while allowing me to take care of my basic financial necessities as well. I just don't want to lose a chance at medical school because of my decision to take a year off. I plan to apply mostly to DO schools.

 

[NotAsking4Much]

It doesn't matter what you do honestly. By the time you apply, you'll barely have begun your job so you can hardly talk about it at all. As I've said in the past, an advisor once told me that he's had students who worked at a bike shop and even at one of those luggage carriage people in the airport (apparently a dream of the applicant's...) who later both got into top 5 schools. Many people in my class traveled, pursued a hobby, etc. If you need money, go find a good job to help you pay your bills.

Of note - rarely will any job / course you take outside of med school really help you for med school. At most it may help with anatomy/physio if you do one of those post-bac programs. Even then, they equalize very quickly. Do a job and perhaps continue working at a clinic on the weekends / after work 1-2x a week. That's plenty.

Note: you will want to find a job that provides flexibility as you might and hopefully will be traveling around.

 

[Lollygag]

I'm a pharm tech so I suppose I may be a bit biased when I say go for it lol I did it because I was in a similar predicament; I needed a job but didn't want to work at shop rite. I also worked on EMS for a long time and felt like I had more than enough clinical experience. Plus ER techs don't get paid as much and CNA is extra schooling.

I on the other hand didn't have a college degree. If you find something that requires a college degree I would suggest doing that since it will most likely pay better. When I was job searching, I found many roles at hospitals, cancer institutes where they are simply looking for someone to manage patients and do some clerical work which I would have loved to do but didn't have that BA in hand.

You could also consider looking for lab assistant jobs that DO pay which could help you kill 2 birds with one stone. The entry level positions often just require a BA in biology and some kind of research experience.

 

[AM4EVA]

So I've made the decision to take a year off after graduation (I'm currently a senior) and have had some difficulties determining what I should do during the year off. The biggest reason I'm taking a year off is to get away from school for a bit and recharge as I'm pretty burnt out right now and would like to experience other things than just school. As a result, a SMP isn't a real option for me and I don't necessarily need it as I'll graduate with >3.95 cum GPA. I've taken the MCAT and scored a 30 with 10s across as well.

Furthermore, I'll have to start repaying loans during this time so I'll need some source of income. It would be nice to have a job in a hospital or some other clinical setting, but such jobs are difficult to obtain with only a BA in Biology. On the other side of things I can't afford to volunteer all of my time for unpaid research assistance either, which is one option that has been presented to me.

So, having said all of this would it seem unreasonable to work part-time in a non-medical field and continue to volunteer at free health clinic I've been volunteering at for the past few years as well as somewhere new such as the local hospital? I've also considered trying to find a job as a pharm tech as knowledge gained from such a job would be helpful in medical school.

The whole goal of this post is to hopefully find something for me to do during this year that is worthwhile and not seen as me sitting around for a year, while allowing me to take care of my basic financial necessities as well. I just don't want to lose a chance at medical school because of my decision to take a year off. I plan to apply mostly to DO schools.

Hey
Why don't you look into medical scribe? Also ems is pretty valuable as well

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