How much time off between UG and DO school would be acceptable?

[x3rebeccalynnx]

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I'm a nutrition major atm and will be graduating when I'm 20. I've always wanted to have kids young and be able to raise them myself as opposed to having a nanny take care of them while I work during the day, *until* they go off to school. Would it be feasible to take time off after my BS to raise my first for 4-5 years and then go to med school? It doesn't seem to make much sense to start med school and then take time off in the middle, and I don't want to wait until I'm 27 and done with my residency to start having kids. Since I want to be with my child during the day, I don't see how I could do a whole lot of CR building, which I've noticed is what many people suggest doing if you take time off.

Thoughts???

I know things don't always go according to plan, but my boyfriend and I are planning on getting married and he's on board with having kids once we're both out of our ug, so I'm just trying to get a general idea of how this will work with med school....

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I would consider any credible online programs that are available at the time, such as an online Master's. Only problem with these is they sometimes don't seem terribly credible. Anyone have experience with these?

 

[islabear]

I graduated UG in 2002, I'm starting a DO program this fall. I also wanted to have all of my babies before starting school, and I accomplished that over the past 4 years. It's not really a problem to take several years off, but you will probably have to take some refresher courses before you apply to med school to show that you are still able to perform well in school. I did a one year post-bacc before applying, that seemed to do the trick.

 

[CpGisland]

I'm a nutrition major atm and will be graduating when I'm 20.

It doesn't seem to make much sense to start med school and then take time off in the middle, and I don't want to wait until I'm 27 and done with my residency to start having kids.

Acceptance to medical school depends on your situation. I think most medical schools would prefer you do some graduate course work if your going to be out for 4 to 5 years or do something that shows your continued interest in medicine.

I know many females who had children in medical school and did completely fine. The longer you postpone medical school the harder it will be to get in, but that doesn't mean it will be impossible.

NOTE MCAT scores are only good for a limited number of years (varies from school to school). I think 3 years is the average.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I graduated college in 1994
Had first child 1995
Did post bacc year 97-98
Had second child 1999
Matriculated in 2001

So 7 years between graduation and medical school. But as the other posters have stated, you need to have some coursework close to applying so you can show you can handle the load.

 

[Belmonter]

I graduated in 2002 UG, I DO program starts this fall. I also want to have all my kids before school, and I realized that over the last 4 years. No problem for a few years off, but you probably will have to take some refresher courses before applying to medical school to prove that you can still perform well in school. I did a year before applying for post-BACC, which seems to do the trick. 😍