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Hello!
I had been growing more and more interested in the idea of taking a year off during medical school to do something "different" related to research/ personal growth.
Having heard of post-sophomore fellowships, the idea sound unique and exciting. Reading about it and speaking to others, it sounds like this type of experience would be beneficial for any specialty, not just path. When I evaluate why I would want to do this, my top reason is to strengthen residency applications/ resume.
I am not interested in actually pursuing pathology as a specialty. I don't have enough exposure to zone in on anything in particular, but know that I would want day-to-day interaction with living patients, possibly in a specialty that is procedural (ex. surgery, OB-GYN, etc). However, I am intrigued by the ways that advanced pathology knowledge can add to my practice as a physician, whether it is through teaching or treating patients who do have the diseases that I would study in a PSF. In my mind, I am imagining that a PSF can help me down the line in ways that I may not expect and would help in opening opportunities in research. I like the thoroughness and scientific process in pathology.
Does this sound sufficient for pursuing a PSF? Down the line, will it possibly be a hiccup that could detract from my growth as a student rather than add to it, if I find it to be less than satisfactory for me? If I end up not doing much more than pathology and not actually having "research papers" done, how will that show?
Also, is taking a year off between 3rd and 4th year as "detrimental" as some say it is? I have heard that is a bad idea, because you have less momentum during acting internships or less skill in general and that can negatively impact performance.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I'm happy to hear your thoughts, since it seems that PSF are not commonly done.
I had been growing more and more interested in the idea of taking a year off during medical school to do something "different" related to research/ personal growth.
Having heard of post-sophomore fellowships, the idea sound unique and exciting. Reading about it and speaking to others, it sounds like this type of experience would be beneficial for any specialty, not just path. When I evaluate why I would want to do this, my top reason is to strengthen residency applications/ resume.
I am not interested in actually pursuing pathology as a specialty. I don't have enough exposure to zone in on anything in particular, but know that I would want day-to-day interaction with living patients, possibly in a specialty that is procedural (ex. surgery, OB-GYN, etc). However, I am intrigued by the ways that advanced pathology knowledge can add to my practice as a physician, whether it is through teaching or treating patients who do have the diseases that I would study in a PSF. In my mind, I am imagining that a PSF can help me down the line in ways that I may not expect and would help in opening opportunities in research. I like the thoroughness and scientific process in pathology.
Does this sound sufficient for pursuing a PSF? Down the line, will it possibly be a hiccup that could detract from my growth as a student rather than add to it, if I find it to be less than satisfactory for me? If I end up not doing much more than pathology and not actually having "research papers" done, how will that show?
Also, is taking a year off between 3rd and 4th year as "detrimental" as some say it is? I have heard that is a bad idea, because you have less momentum during acting internships or less skill in general and that can negatively impact performance.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I'm happy to hear your thoughts, since it seems that PSF are not commonly done.
