Medical School and Peace Corps

[ziw]

I would love to do the Peace Corps for 2 years before going to medical school, but I am a bit confused on how it all fits together time-wise since, unlike most people, I will be graduating in December instead of in May.

I have heard that most volunteers leave either in the winter or in the summer (Jan. or July), but would I be able to chose to start around March or April? That way I would still be able to get back before medical school starts in the fall and have time to take the MCAT. I am planning to study and take the MCAT between graduation and the Peace Corps because I am worried about it expiring. I have heard of a 2 year limit, but wasn't sure if it were 2 years till applying, or enrolling. Could anyone clarify?

Also, I have heard that some Peace Corp volunteers save up their vacation time to come back for interviews, but are you able to request that your interview dates be close together?
And would you get your letters of rec before leaving for the Peace Corps or how does that work out?

Any advice from those going through the process or from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers would be much appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[phltz]

I would love to do the Peace Corps for 2 years before going to medical school, but I am a bit confused on how it all fits together time-wise since, unlike most people, I will be graduating in December instead of in May.

I have heard that most volunteers leave either in the winter or in the summer (Jan. or July), but would I be able to chose to start around March or April? That way I would still be able to get back before medical school starts in the fall and have time to take the MCAT. I am planning to study and take the MCAT between graduation and the Peace Corps because I am worried about it expiring. I have heard of a 2 year limit, but wasn't sure if it were 2 years till applying, or enrolling. Could anyone clarify?

Also, I have heard that some Peace Corp volunteers save up their vacation time to come back for interviews, but are you able to request that your interview dates be close together?
And would you get your letters of rec before leaving for the Peace Corps or how does that work out?

Any advice from those going through the process or from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers would be much appreciated.

Different Peace Corps programs start at different points in the year. When you apply to the Corps, you can specify the earliest and latest dates that you would be willing to ship out. You can ask for a March or April start date, but with such a narrow window, it's possible they won't find a position for you.

Keep in mind that the Peace Corps commitment is 10 weeks of training plus 2 years of service. So the total length of time you should expect to be in-country is 27 months, not 24 months.

Any international travel during your service will certainly be counted against your vacation time. If memory serves, you can't travel internationally during your final 6 months of service. And depending on your assignment, you may not be able to walk away from it for several weeks to interview whenever you want - you very well may end up having to work around the schedule of local groups or the specific timeline of your project. If you're lucky, however, it might be possible to come back for, say, the month of October for interviews. If you got your AMCAS application in on the first possible day, and request interviews in October, most schools will probably be willing to accommodate you. Some might not, so you'd need to be prepared to maybe have to miss interviews that simply can't be scheduled.

All that said, I know many returned Peace Corps volunteers who are in medical school. To my knowledge, none of the them applied while they were still serving. I believe they all finished their service, returned to the states, and then applied to medical school. Let me suggest that if you really want to do the Peace Corps, this may be the better option. Serving in the Peace Corps can be a great experience, and if it's important to you, it's one worth delaying medical school another year for.

 

[LizzyM]

My experience as an interviewer has been with returned PCV. Most took the MCAT during senior yr of college, did their 27 mos and submitted the AMCAS application between June and August (i.e. about 1 year before the medical school start date). In one case, I interviewed a guy who had been back in the US for about 3 days and he was still somewhat jet lagged and culture shocked.