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[txpremed2020]

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[Dro133]

Do what you'll enjoy the most. You shouldn't have a problem getting in with those stats as long as you apply broadly. If building your resume is what you'll enjoy the most, take the research position. I did research the year before starting med school and it turned into multiple pubs/abstracts. Now I'm in 3rd year and not having to stress about research like a lot of my classmates.

 

[Goro]

HI guys! Currently I am a junior in college and I will be graduating college a year early (at the end of my junior year) and am having trouble figuring out my gap year plans... I will be applying to med school in May 2019 for Summer 2020 matriculation and will have a full year off before hopefully starting med school. I have a decent gpa (3.78ish) and a high mcat (520)
I am debating whether I should do a one year long masters degree in health care communications at Boston University or if I should do research in the field of plastic surgery. Long story short, I for sure know I want to become a plastic surgeon due to personal circumstances (cleft palate as a child, and also a facial deformity that was fixed by a facial plastic surgeon) and have been passionate about plastic surgery ever since I can remember. I have been talking to faculty at Mt. Sinai and NY Presbyterian who are willing to join as a full time research intern during my gap year.
My question for SDN is that will doing plastic surgery research and hopefully publishing help me match into plastic surgery and benefit me in the future or should I focus on getting an extra degree during my gap year in case I don't get into medical school?
Thank you all in advance and I am excited to read your replies 🙂

Get into medical school first, and then think about residency.

 

[operaman]

Get into medical school first, and then think about residency.

This is the only correct response. Plenty of time in med school for research and you can always take a gap year later if you need to beef up that section of the ol CV.

So much can happen between now and residency applications- you may do poorly on step 1 or decide you hate operating or find another field more appealing.

As for gap year plans, the masters degree is pretty worthless either way. If the research both pays and allows you adequate time for applications (it’s a LOT of essays between the primary and secondary apps) then that’s a decent option.

 

[txpremed2020]

Do what you'll enjoy the most. You shouldn't have a problem getting in with those stats as long as you apply broadly. If building your resume is what you'll enjoy the most, take the research position. I did research the year before starting med school and it turned into multiple pubs/abstracts. Now I'm in 3rd year and not having to stress about research like a lot of my classmates.

thank you so much!! I think i will take the research position!

 

[txpremed2020]

This is the only correct response. Plenty of time in med school for research and you can always take a gap year later if you need to beef up that section of the ol CV.

So much can happen between now and residency applications- you may do poorly on step 1 or decide you hate operating or find another field more appealing.

As for gap year plans, the masters degree is pretty worthless either way. If the research both pays and allows you adequate time for applications (it’s a LOT of essays between the primary and secondary apps) then that’s a decent option.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply! It truly means a lot 🙂

 

[mrbreakfast]

You can do some research, but my vote would be to go on an cool adventure and do things you've always wanted to do. If you're planning on gunning for plastic surgery, you're not going to get a summer break after your first year of med school, and probably not much of any vacation for the rest of your med school career. All of my friends going for plastics are profoundly burned out right now.

So much can happen between now and residency applications- you may do poorly on step 1 or decide you hate operating or find another field more appealing.

I was passionate about orthopedic surgery right up until my surgery clerkship, where I realized exactly this. I would love to have back the hundreds of hours I spent on research just to "check boxes" for a field I lost interest in.

 

[DameJulie]

You can do some research, but my vote would be to go on an cool adventure and do things you've always wanted to do. If you're planning on gunning for plastic surgery, you're not going to get a summer break after your first year of med school, and probably not much of any vacation for the rest of your med school career. All of my friends going for plastics are profoundly burned out right now.

Can you elaborate more on the differences between pre-plastic's vacation schedules comparing to students who want other specialties? Like are they spending their vacation time doing research or more rotation sites? No summer breaks sounds pretty likely to burn-out...

 

[mrbreakfast]

Can you elaborate more on the differences between pre-plastic's vacation schedules comparing to students who want other specialties? Like are they spending their vacation time doing research or more rotation sites?

Depends on the specific program obviously, but many "gunner-type" students do research over whatever summer break is given between M1 and M2, as it is by far the longest break you get.

Less "gunner" students might take a vacation, a medical mission, work in the free clinic, shadow, or do something like summer health education to low-SES people in the community or whatever.

For example, I worked in a bench research lab 9-5 every weekday (plus a few hours on weekends) and read papers and worked on clinical research in the evening. Other students went to more prestigious summer research fellowships elsewhere (I was lazy in applying). I ended up taking about 8 days total of out-of-town vacation over the entire summer, and overall worked 9a-11p most weekdays with a few breaks.

No summer breaks sounds pretty likely to burn-out...

Exactly. It was awful. My then-significant other did not appreciate my doing this and broke up with me because of it. Overall, my summer of pure research will have had more of an impact on my overall happiness as a med student than on my med school CV. Something to consider...

 

[Tenk]

You can have all the research in the world but until you first get into med school and then DOMINATE your boards/gpa in med school, none of it matters. At all.