High School Physics teacher during gap year(s)- good idea or no?

[TimmyTurner]

I'm a somewhat non-trad applicant. Graduated in 2013 w/ B.S. in Biology, but I took a year off due to medical leave of absence.

GPA 3.4
sGPA: 3.2
MCATs: Took June 21st, awaiting results (last 3 AAMCs were 26-29 before test date)

I'm applying chiefly to D.O. Schools.

I took a job as an elementary school specialist science teacher during my first 'gap' year. I don't work for the public school system. I'm employed by a third party company, so I didn't need the masters degree. My pre-health advisor was really high on the experience for my application.

Recently, a position as a physics teacher at my former high school (all boys private catholic school) became available. Again, private school, so no masters degree needed. I spoke with a few administrators at the school- I still need to interview, but they seem high on me for the position. They also desperately need to fill it, since it is July already, so I may be the benefactor of circumstance here.

I spoke with a current MD student about the position as it relates to my aspirations to become a physician. His advice stunned me; If you are serious about becoming a physician, under absolutely no circumstances should you take this position.

I reached out to this current MD student, as he too was a non traditional applicant, who had filled two gap years teaching at my former high school. After that, he went on to get an MPH from a top tier program, ran across the country to raise money for cancer research, and smoked his MCAT.

Even after all of this, in his interviews they questioned him as to why he didn't spend those two years teaching high school in a more clinical fashion (candy striping in the ED, medical scribe, etc.) This blew my mind.

He was so adamant that I should not take this position. I was really excited at the prospect of the position until I heard from him. Does anyone have any opinion on this? I will be meeting with my Pre-health advisor tomorrow to ask him directly, but wanted to throw it out to SDN as well.

Thanks all in advance.

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[2Pints]

What's your current clinical experience? Would you be doing anything like volunteering, shadowing, etc. to boost your clinical experience while teaching high school physics? I'm with your friend though that this isn't the best option. This is a time to prove you want to be a physician which means showing you want to be a physician. It's also a time for you to figure out that you really want to be a physician. How does being a high school physics teacher prove that to yourself or to an admissions committee?

 

[hizziaips]

I'm really surprised about your friend's story, because my experience has been the exact opposite. My medical school class has a number of students who took time between undergrad and medical school to work in other fields, and I was never given the third degree about my original career choice in any of my interviews. Not everything you do has to relate directly to medicine, and at the end of the day, you have to pay the bills. Furthermore, I would argue that teaching involves several skills / attributes that can translate well to medicine.

Having said that, I wonder whether you have enough time and flexibility to get more meaningful clinical experience during your gap year(s). I agree that some volunteering would be at least beneficial, if not necessary.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I spoke with a current MD student about the position as it relates to my aspirations to become a physician. His advice stunned me; If you are serious about becoming a physician, under absolutely no circumstances should you take this position.

As a DO student I will say If you are serious about becoming a physician, you should absolutely take this position. Don't believe me that it benefits you? Go look at the WesternU secondary. It asks explicitly if you have teaching experience, and if I recall correctly, they ask about grade level.

 

[QofQuimica]

As someone with former teaching experience (college-level chemistry in my case), I am passionate about teaching, and I always liked interviewing candidates who were also passionate about teaching. So to me the more important question is, are you passionate about teaching, and do *you* want to take the position? If you do, then take it. You have to support yourself somehow this year, and I agree with Albino that teaching experience is invaluable for a physician. Yes, you will be asked about it at interviews, because it's not the traditional kind of gap year job, and it's not medically related. That's ok. No law stopping you from doing clinical volunteering in the evenings/on weekends when you're off from work, right? So get some clinical experience in your off time then, and spend this year doing a job you (hopefully) love and feel passionate about. Hard to see where you could go wrong with that combo.

 

[UTsksk]

This was my plan if I didn't get accepted this past cycle. The issue with bio majors is that teaching is the main alternative that actually makes decent money compared to being a scribe or some other job. If asked during an interview, my response would've been along the lines that I needed to provide for my family and pay back loans. I think you should take the job and just do additional volunteer work.

Of course, I'm assuming you have some clinical experience and shadowing.

 

[2Pints]

As someone with former teaching experience (college-level chemistry in my case), I am passionate about teaching, and I always liked interviewing candidates who were also passionate about teaching. So to me the more important question is, are you passionate about teaching, and do *you* want to take the position? If you do, then take it. You have to support yourself somehow this year, and I agree with Albino that teaching experience is invaluable for a physician. Yes, you will be asked about it at interviews, because it's not the traditional kind of gap year job, and it's not medically related. That's ok. No law stopping you from doing clinical volunteering in the evenings/on weekends when you're off from work, right? So get some clinical experience in your off time then, and spend this year doing a job you (hopefully) love and feel passionate about. Hard to see where you could go wrong with that combo.

There's no doubt teaching is an invaluable skill but the first year of teaching high school is really stressful in unexpected ways. Classroom management, discipline, lesson planning, writing tests, designing/choosing experiments took a lot out of me especially without any formal training in teaching. Sure I had experience as a Supplemental Instructor/coach but those don't equate. Looking back I might have been able to find extra time to volunteer and gain more clinical experience but I put significant amount of time outside of the classroom that first year preparing for each lesson.

Really take a look at the program if you decide to take the position. Will administration back you up if you catch kids cheating? How will you handle parents yelling at you? What about when kids just don't want to learn? Just things to think about. Teaching high school is way more than teaching concepts.

I wouldn't give up the lessons I learned in the classroom because I love patient education as a nurse and am really passionate about making that a big part of my profession as a physician.

 

[TimmyTurner]

Thanks to everyone for their input- a quick update and a response to a few questions posed.

I had the interview today. It went extremely well. The feeling I got was that I already had the position, and it was mine to lose at the interview. I was told what my salary would be, and it was $5k more than the number I calculated it would take for me to be enticed enough to leave my current position, which I am very comfortable. I still have to interview with the president of the school regarding the mission (since it is a Catholic school), but they told me they would be making a decision shortly afterwards.

Responding to a few of the questions/thoughts posed;

What's your current clinical experience? Would you be doing anything like volunteering, shadowing, etc. to boost your clinical experience while teaching high school physics?

The bulk of my clinical experience is from nursing school; I had nearly enough credits to graduate with a B.S.N. when I had a change of heart. I completed several clinical rotations, during which time I performed procedures such as changing G tubes, administering insulin, treating bed sores, observing a number of operations, patient interviews/assesments, etc. Last year I shadowed a doc once a week for about 2-5 hours, depending on how busy he was. He wrote one of my LORs. So, what I lack in quantity I believe I made up for in quality during my nursing clinical rotations. I was allowed to do more than most Med scribes/CNAs given my status as a nursing student.

I'm with your friend though that this isn't the best option. This is a time to prove you want to be a physician which means showing you want to be a physician. It's also a time for you to figure out that you really want to be a physician. How does being a high school physics teacher prove that to yourself or to an admissions committee?

I'll concede that it doesn't necessarily prove to myself or an admissions committee that I really want to be a physician. If presented with this question in an interview, I would contend that I have already made the decision to become a physician, as evidenced by x,y and z. The experience gained from taking this position will allow me to be a better physician because I had to do/adapt to/overcome x, y and z.

As a DO student I will say If you are serious about becoming a physician, you should absolutely take this position. Don't believe me that it benefits you? Go look at the WesternU secondary. It asks explicitly if you have teaching experience, and if I recall correctly, they ask about grade level.

Very encouraging. My friend only applied to top MD programs, and perhaps this is an experience more desirable for a DO applicant than an MD.

As someone with former teaching experience (college-level chemistry in my case), I am passionate about teaching, and I always liked interviewing candidates who were also passionate about teaching. So to me the more important question is, are you passionate about teaching, and do *you* want to take the position? If you do, then take it. You have to support yourself somehow this year, and I agree with Albino that teaching experience is invaluable for a physician. Yes, you will be asked about it at interviews, because it's not the traditional kind of gap year job, and it's not medically related. That's ok. No law stopping you from doing clinical volunteering in the evenings/on weekends when you're off from work, right? So get some clinical experience in your off time then, and spend this year doing a job you (hopefully) love and feel passionate about. Hard to see where you could go wrong with that combo.

I love teaching- I also feel the best way I learn is by teaching. Win-win. I plan on picking up a candy stripe gig at the local ED, and then selling it as 'Although I did not work in a medically related field, I made a commitment to spend at least 2 hours weekly in a clinical environment'

There's no doubt teaching is an invaluable skill but the first year of teaching high school is really stressful in unexpected ways. Classroom management, discipline, lesson planning, writing tests, designing/choosing experiments took a lot out of me especially without any formal training in teaching. Sure I had experience as a Supplemental Instructor/coach but those don't equate. Looking back I might have been able to find extra time to volunteer and gain more clinical experience but I put significant amount of time outside of the classroom that first year preparing for each lesson.

This is the biggest deterrant for me. Sure I'd be getting a raise but the workload will be far greater than what's expected of me at my current position. I am still awaiting my MCAT scores to see if I need to retake, and taking this job would proclude me from preparing in the fashion that I would prefer to/need to on a retake.

 

[Fedaykin]

I reached out to this current MD student, as he too was a non traditional applicant, who had filled two gap years teaching at my former high school. After that, he went on to get an MPH from a top tier program, ran across the country to raise money for cancer research, and smoked his MCAT.

Even after all of this, in his interviews they questioned him as to why he didn't spend those two years teaching high school in a more clinical fashion (candy striping in the ED, medical scribe, etc.) This blew my mind.

I don't sit on an ADCOM but I've interviewed people for academic programs before. This question wasn't to inform him of a weakness in his application. This question was to see how he responds when presented with adversity and when someone challenges a strength in his application. You don't challenge an interviewee's weakness because that's something they'll have a prepared answer for. Challenging their strength is a far more effective way to test their mettle. Frankly, they gave him a fantastic chance to discuss his strengths and he blew it.

 

[2Pints]

Thanks to everyone for their input- a quick update and a response to a few questions posed.

This is the biggest deterrant for me. Sure I'd be getting a raise but the workload will be far greater than what's expected of me at my current position. I am still awaiting my MCAT scores to see if I need to retake, and taking this job would proclude me from preparing in the fashion that I would prefer to/need to on a retake.

Best of luck to you this year if you end up getting an offer and taking the position. I recommend buying "The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher" by Harry and Rosemary Wong. It was a great resource. Take what you want from it. Nothing will truly prepare you for the classroom outside of being in a classroom and high school kids are just a different breed. Hope you have thick skin and a good sense of humor. 🙂

 

[EMDO2018]

I taught chemistry and physics for a while. In my opinion, teaching is way to stressful and time consuming to do as a gap year job. 60hr weeks are the norm. If you are looking to beef up your resume for med school, teaching will not leave much time for that.

 

[EMDO2018]

There's no doubt teaching is an invaluable skill but the first year of teaching high school is really stressful in unexpected ways. Classroom management, discipline, lesson planning, writing tests, designing/choosing experiments took a lot out of me especially without any formal training in teaching. Sure I had experience as a Supplemental Instructor/coach but those don't equate. Looking back I might have been able to find extra time to volunteer and gain more clinical experience but I put significant amount of time outside of the classroom that first year preparing for each lesson.

Really take a look at the program if you decide to take the position. Will administration back you up if you catch kids cheating? How will you handle parents yelling at you? What about when kids just don't want to learn? Just things to think about. Teaching high school is way more than teaching concepts.

I wouldn't give up the lessons I learned in the classroom because I love patient education as a nurse and am really passionate about making that a big part of my profession as a physician.

Agree. Teaching as WAYYYY more time consuming and emotionally draining than people realize.