How much of a red flag is a year off?

[riskybizness]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I decided to take a year off from medical school to cope with personal issues that I was having. A medical student told me that this was a potential red flag. Now I don't put any weight at all into what this person said but I couldn't help but to get a more trustworthy opinion, preferably from residents or program directors (if they comment), from SDN to reassure myself.

I took a year off because right at the beginning of school my father got morbidly sick and he had a slow uphill recovery from there. Soon after my grandfather also got extremely sick. This plus my parents' marriage breaking apart amongst a few other personal issues made it especially difficult to cope. I feel like these are all strong reasons (esp the health of dad) to take a year off but wanted to know what some experts on here think. Thoughts?

 

[xffan624]

I decided to take a year off from medical school to cope with personal issues that I was having. A medical student told me that this was a potential red flag. Now I don't put any weight at all into what this person said but I couldn't help but to get a more trustworthy opinion, preferably from residents or program directors (if they comment), from SDN to reassure myself.

I took a year off because right at the beginning of school my father got morbidly sick and he had a slow uphill recovery from there. Soon after my grandfather also got extremely sick. This plus my parents' marriage breaking apart amongst a few other personal issues made it especially difficult to cope. I feel like these are all strong reasons (esp the health of dad) to take a year off but wanted to know what some experts on here think. Thoughts?

Any time off is a possible red flag as it will go on your ERAS as time off and you will have to provide an explanation for it. Worse is doing poorly in school because you can't cope with your personal issues. Was this an issue? I will point out that likely you will have similar issues arising during your residency. Your parents or grandparents are not getting any younger and life doesn't really get easier when you have pay your own bills out of a salary. An LOA during residency is not really an option outside a extreme occurrence so please keep this in mind when making your decision.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Any time off is a possible red flag as it will go on your ERAS as time off and you will have to provide an explanation for it. Worse is doing poorly in school because you can't cope with your personal issues. Was this an issue? I will point out that likely you will have similar issues arising during your residency. Your parents or grandparents are not getting any younger and life doesn't really get easier when you have pay your own bills out of a salary. An LOA during residency is not really an option outside a extreme occurrence so please keep this in mind when making your decision.

Showing up to work is much easier than the constant stress of exams and learning new material. I know many people think it keeps getting harder, and while that might be true, we get better at dealing with it (and it's a different kind of difficulty).

Of the last 9 nine years of training, second year of medical school (with step 1) was by far the worst 12 months yet. I have a lot less free time now as a resident, but I'm a lot less stressed too. While I don't have hard numbers, a lot more people take time off in medical school and extend it by a year than in residency.... A lot few people quit medicine once in residency too.

 

[riskybizness]

Any time off is a possible red flag as it will go on your ERAS as time off and you will have to provide an explanation for it. Worse is doing poorly in school because you can't cope with your personal issues. Was this an issue? I will point out that likely you will have similar issues arising during your residency. Your parents or grandparents are not getting any younger and life doesn't really get easier when you have pay your own bills out of a salary. An LOA during residency is not really an option outside a extreme occurrence so please keep this in mind when making your decision.

So far grades haven't been an issue. I've passed everything but realized that I was at my breaking point and couldn't possibly finish up my first year without damaging my grades so I decided now, rather than later (when i could have potentially failed my last classes of the year), to take a year off.

Showing up to work is much easier than the constant stress of exams and learning new material. I know many people think it keeps getting harder, and while that might be true, we get better at dealing with it (and it's a different kind of difficulty).

Of the last 9 nine years of training, second year of medical school (with step 1) was by far the worst 12 months yet. I have a lot less free time now as a resident, but I'm a lot less stressed too. While I don't have hard numbers, a lot more people take time off in medical school and extend it by a year than in residency.... A lot few people quit medicine once in residency too.

You're right. I have the option to take a year off now so hopefully I can become stronger at coping when bigger issues happen in residency. I'm really looking to use this time to better myself physically and mentally and try to get in some good experiences as well to bolster my cv during this off time. Thanks.

 

[saudades]

If you thing you can't be successful in school given your current situation, I say go for it. You'll have to explain on ERAS and will get asked about it in interviews, but it's better to take care of yourself while you have the chance than to risk failing a class, step exam or the like. Just make sure you go all in once you come back, because I took a LOA due to a newly diagnosed medical condition in third year then when I came back failed Step 2 and it f*cked me over. Be sure to get some counseling in your time off and make the most of it. As long as you do well in the future I think you will be fine.

 

[Danbo1957]

Taking a year off is problematic. Life does intervene though, and you gotta' do what you gotta' do, especially in family issues. But it is a risk...

 

[spicysoup55]

A few more questions about a non-medical LOA as a red flag:
-Can you overcome the red flag with good clinical grades, letters of recommendation, step 2 scores, and research after returning? Will this convince residency programs that whatever caused you to take a LOA is no longer a problem?
-Does any time off count as a red flag or does the amount of time matter? For example, one or two rotations off versus a whole year?
-Do all residencies care about the LOA or only the competitive ones?

 

[mymembernames]

/

 

[prettylittlebird]

Any time off is a possible red flag as it will go on your ERAS as time off and you will have to provide an explanation for it. Worse is doing poorly in school because you can't cope with your personal issues. Was this an issue? I will point out that likely you will have similar issues arising during your residency. Your parents or grandparents are not getting any younger and life doesn't really get easier when you have pay your own bills out of a salary. An LOA during residency is not really an option outside a extreme occurrence so please keep this in mind when making your decision.

What are you basing this statement on? I've done quite a bit of research into this lately and it's actually getting a lot easier to take a leave of absence during residency. Obviously not all residencies will be accommodating but there is a significant shift toward being flexible and allowing interns/residents to take time for all kinds of reasons (side projects, having children, research, sick family members etc.). I know it's the tendency for everyone on SDN (especially medical students who honestly know very little about anything at this point in our careers) to hand out advice like candy but it's really important to be able to back up what you're saying instead of offering an opinion as fact.

 

[cbrons]

I've done quite a bit of research into this lately and it's actually getting a lot easier to take a leave of absence during residency.

dont bring this up at any interviews.
Its actually very difficult to take a LOA when you are a resident.
They will absolutely not take anyone who is going to be at risk of taking significant time off

 

[intheworkings]

Interesting... So if someone gets sick, has a baby...

 

[evilbooyaa]

What are you basing this statement on? I've done quite a bit of research into this lately and it's actually getting a lot easier to take a leave of absence during residency. Obviously not all residencies will be accommodating but there is a significant shift toward being flexible and allowing interns/residents to take time for all kinds of reasons (side projects, having children, research, sick family members etc.). I know it's the tendency for everyone on SDN (especially medical students who honestly know very little about anything at this point in our careers) to hand out advice like candy but it's really important to be able to back up what you're saying instead of offering an opinion as fact.

Says the medical student.

Taking a LOA from residency is not impossible, but definitely not nearly as easy to do as it was in medical school. Unless you are on maternity leave or doing a year or more of research, taking a LOA in residency for "side projects" or "sick family members" is not feasible or reasonable to expect.

I'd listen to the residents currently ITT.

To OP - Take it off if you need to. I agree that it's better to take a LOA than fail a class or two because you didn't. You can talk in your personal statement why you took the LOA. Try to make it productive too (as you shouldn't need 1 year to get over a medical condition or your parents' divorce) with some research so you can show that even with a LOA you didn't just mope all day for a year.

 

[Psai]

What are you basing this statement on? I've done quite a bit of research into this lately and it's actually getting a lot easier to take a leave of absence during residency. Obviously not all residencies will be accommodating but there is a significant shift toward being flexible and allowing interns/residents to take time for all kinds of reasons (side projects, having children, research, sick family members etc.). I know it's the tendency for everyone on SDN (especially medical students who honestly know very little about anything at this point in our careers) to hand out advice like candy but it's really important to be able to back up what you're saying instead of offering an opinion as fact.

wait what? lol
You've done research? We're living it.

 

[Brorthopedic]

wait what? lol
You've done research? We're living it.

do you even first author bro

 

[username456789]

What are you basing this statement on? I've done quite a bit of research into this lately and it's actually getting a lot easier to take a leave of absence during residency. Obviously not all residencies will be accommodating but there is a significant shift toward being flexible and allowing interns/residents to take time for all kinds of reasons (side projects, having children, research, sick family members etc.). I know it's the tendency for everyone on SDN (especially medical students who honestly know very little about anything at this point in our careers) to hand out advice like candy but it's really important to be able to back up what you're saying instead of offering an opinion as fact.

And yet here you are, offering your opinion is fact.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Whether programs will see a year off as a negative or not really depends upon the details:

Do you explain the reason for the LOA, or just call it for "personal" reasons? It is absolutely your right to leave it vague, and some people do for privacy. But remember that a "personal" LOA could be to care for an ill parent, or it could be to fight legal charges in court. Programs may assume the worst if you leave it vague.

Do you get something done with your LOA? Do you really need all of your time to address your personal issue? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. If not, then can you do some research, or something clinical that adds to your application?

Did you take the LOA in good standing, or withdraw from courses when failing? The former is much better.

Are the issues that caused your LOA resolved?

Upon your return, was your performance at least as good as when you left?