I graduated in June 2020 from undergraduate but decided to apply to medicine late in college (after experiences at the start of my senior year). As a result I planned to take 2 gaps years, the first to finish pre-reqs and gain clinical exposures and the second for the application cycle (2021-2022 cycle).
Due to the effects of COVID-19 on clinical volunteer opportunities in my area, I have had to change my plans significantly to gain the exposure I wanted to get before applying to medical school. I have continued to pursue non-clinical volunteering that I am interested, but desperately need clinical exposure.
I recently accepted a job as a hospital CNA in the NICU to gain more exposure while I finish classes and study for the MCAT (Finishing pre-reqs this semester, MCAT in January or March 2021). So far, this job has provided great exposure to the medical field. While this job is a great opportunity, I'm not sure if I want to work as a CNA for the next 2 years. I have a desire to work a job that is more intellectually stimulating and research oriented.
Would it look bad to switch jobs around the time of applying (June 2021) to something more research oriented? By that time I would have worked as a CNA for ~10 months and gained ~1000 hours of clinical experience.
