recommendation for self-imposed gap year

[SteyrFWB]

Finishing BS/MD (4+4) BS portion.

Want to take a gap year in between. Felt burn out, though not stressed out as other people applying this cycle, since I did not apply elsewhere. Taking MCAT three times to meet the program bar of 512 stressed me out (finally got 514).

Not very motivated at this time. Wanting to do a self-imposed gap year.

Recommendation. Do nothing, just chill? Do research to get a leg up on residency?

If you done one, what is your mentality after that self-imposed gap year? Refresh or to long ?

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[Raney Schauer]

Don't. Taking any time off is a slippery slope. You'll find out how nice it is to not be studying all the time and thinking about the next exam and you won't go back.

Stay focused. Take gap weekends. Gap federal holidays.

 

[Psai]

Don't do it. Life is too short to waste it on doing nothing. If you're feeling burned out from taking a test, you may want to reconsider the entire career since you will have a lot of tough days filled with studying ahead of you.

Each year of your life is a year of compound interest. You'll regret it when you're trying to buy a car, obtain a mortgage and you're another year behind your peers in getting through life.

Take a vacation with your partner to Costa Rica or something.

 

[mistafab]

I wouldn’t take a gap year at all.

I’d find out ways to get what is “missing” in your life NOW, while you live your life.

A gap year is a bandaid on a problem that you’ll have chronically if you keep ignoring your own needs.

 

[raiderette]

If you take a gap year, get a job as a waiter, CNA, ditch digger. Work hard for little pay, get treated like crap for a year.That might prepare you for medicine. It sounds like you need to appreciate what you have. If all you want to do is chill for a bit, you will hate medical school when you start. People will be smarter, more resilient, harder working. Just go to school.

 

[evilmorty1307]

I am going to against the grain here and say take the year off. If you do take off I would suggest shadowing a specialty want to do to keep you engaged in the medical field. Have fun, travel, go out, etc. It may put your life into perspective depending on how you spend it. Do what is best for YOU!

 

[Oso]

Plenty of people take gap years. Do it if you want to.

I took a gap year, it was chill. I worked and saved some money, did a little bit of traveling, saw family and friends. It was chill.

The vast majority of people I know who took one are glad that they did.

 

[mvenus929]

If you’re feeling burnt out now, take the year. Re-examine your goals. Get a job, do some traveling. It will make you appreciate school more when you go back.

 

[frenchyn]

I vote for gap year also especially if you already feel burn out...med school will only add to the burn out/stress...and break you.

If you take a year off and don’t feel coming back...medicine is not for you but you have not really waste lot of money on med school...

 

[MerYangBey]

There are pros and cons to everything including gap year.
I would recommend having a solid plan for what you’re going to do. A year of hanging out gets boring very quick and it also would drain your finances.

 

[cookiegrub]

I regret taking 2 gap years even though I worked during this time and was able to adult. The problem is that it's an illusion that it will be a nice break from everything but all it does is delay the inevitable. I also don't think you are the type to switch to another field (because I think that you will come to this conclusion only when you go into medical school). Problem is that because medical school app prep takes so many years of dedication, many of us never get a taste of anything outside of medicine for fear of appearing unfocused on our apps. Regardless, I have noticed that all the younger folks in my class (ie those going straight to medical school) have a much higher motivation and are better students (they work a lot with groups and are savvy about reaching out). You will also get done with medical school faster rather than later... Go stay with family, eat a homecooked meal, plan a vacation, clean your car....but don't miss this opportunity to just chill around unless you have a sound plan B in exchange of medical school

 

[NicMouse64]

Im gonna go against the grain and say: do it. I did the NIH postbacc program and it was a great mix of free time and work. You get paid, save some money (not much), get to socialize with other people your age (it's a great way to meet a SO IMO), and if you are lucky like me you can get some publications out of it too.

I also took about 4 months before medical school started to travel with the money I saved. I went to the mideast, south america, cuba, and other fun locations. I learned that a lot of people just coast through life and try to put food on their tables. It put things into perspective, how lucky we are to be studying medicine, even though it might suck, at least there is an end with a (potentially) satisfying career and a pretty much guaranteed means of providing for your family. I think this can be important especially if you are starting to get burnt out.

I think that gap years can be net positives or negatives depending on what you do. Research+travel=good. Video games+netflix=bad.

 

[SteyrFWB]

Could you tell me more about this NIH Post-Bacc program? Web site link?

How much time did you spend there? Your personal experience.

Big program with tons of students?

 

[NicMouse64]

Could you tell me more about this NIH Post-Bacc program? Web site link?

How much time did you spend there? Your personal experience.

Big program with tons of students?

Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (Postbac IRTA/CRTA) - Training Programs in the Biomedical Sciences - Office of Intramural Training & Education at the National Institutes of Health
it's a decentralized application process: you can apply whenever, but the key to getting a spot is just mass emailing professors (make it personalized however).

edit: yeah i'd say there are as many postbaccs as there are PHDs. it's a massive program. I really enjoyed it, the NIH is a special place IMO. I spent about 9 months there, and when I was accepted to medical school I left my lab on good terms with my PI (AKA he will write me a letter for a research position for M1/M2 summer) and went to travel from late april-mid july.

 

[cookiegrub]

^ it would be nice if you told when you started emailing the professors. For example, I had a ton of research experience and exposure but each and every PI that interviewed me wanted 2 years of commitment. You seem to be a rare example where you didn't even spend the entire 12 months and was still able to get a position there. Just wanted to point this out since I had a terrible time applying.

 

[NicMouse64]

^ it would be nice if you told when you started emailing the professors. For example, I had a ton of research experience and exposure but each and every PI that interviewed me wanted 2 years of commitment. You seem to be a rare example where you didn't even spend the entire 12 months and was still able to get a position there. Just wanted to point this out since I had a terrible time applying.

Sure, 2 year commitments are more common. I will admit I had significant research experience before my application. I also had experience in the techniques for the labs I was applying for. Still isn't impossible to get a 1 year position.

 

[getdown]

I would not waste time taking a gap year. How burnt out do you have to be to take a WHOLE year off? You have loans? Compounding interest? You just finished your BS portion, why don't you take time off between now and starting the MD portion.

 

[EternalPossibilities]

Don't. Taking any time off is a slippery slope. You'll find out how nice it is to not be studying all the time and thinking about the next exam and you won't go back.

Stay focused. Take gap weekends. Gap federal holidays.

I have to respectfully disagree from experience.

Currently I'm in my final year of studying medicine. I did a gap year last year. Looking back it is the best decision I have made in my short life.

I personally went into medicine for the wrong reasons (Asian parents lol) and by the end of six years of university (3 years of undergraduate, 3 out of 4 years of postgraduate medicine) I had no motivation to study medicine at all. In fact, I never really had any real motivation throughout my first 3 years of medical school other than to not fail. It's a horrible spot to be in when everyone around you is engaged with and enjoying the course, and you're just here because you have no idea what you want to do in life and just want to not fail.

I always had an interest in businesses - I had read a lot of business and entrepreneurship books, competed in business case competitions and hackathons at university, and ultimately consumed and participated wholeheartedly in anything to do with entrepreneurship. Towards the end of 3rd year medical school, it got to the point where I was printing off company annual reports and reading those in spare moments during ward rounds. Also, my friend and I had been chatting for months on executing a few business ideas and I wanted the time and brainspace to hustle on those ideas. I got in trouble with the medical school because I was spending time on these activities, rather than going to O&G tutorials (not a smart move 😛)

So I took a gap year, after six years on the track to become a doctor.

Finally I had the freedom to explore these business/entrepreneurial notions that had been plaguing my mind for the last six years. At the time I started the gap year, I really was willing to commit to another career pathway and leave medicine if I found something that worked. I absolutely didn't care at all that I had spent six years studying to be a doctor. I just wanted to find my true calling.

I spent the first four months working with my friend on our ideas. It didn't work out because we were inexperienced and immature. Thankfully I had an experienced business mentor (he had been the managing director of an international timber flooring company with 300+ employees) who guided me into car sales. I spent the remainder of the year working my ass off to be the best new vehicle salesperson ever.

It was a crazy experience because the car sales work environment is brutal as ****. I came in being a sheltered kid who didn't really know how to talk to people, and suddenly I had to work with sales veterans of 30-years who were from a completely different socioeconomic and cultural background from me and sell cars to people from all walks of life. This was really challenging because I was used to studying by myself in the library and not really collaborating with anyone. I did make it though - I sold over 100 vehicles in the 9 months I was there.

Along the way, I discovered my own reasons for wanting to do medicine: it is a tight-knit community of hard-working, smart and talented individuals who are extraordinarily generous to one another and society. This contrasted starkly to the 'fend for yourself in a pool full of sharks' environment of car sales. I have to be grateful to the individuals in medicine who kept friends with me during my year away despite my original intent to leave medicine.

I decided to come back into medicine after that year of throwing myself out into the real world. Coming back this year, it has been a rollercoaster in terms of reintegrating back into medicine - there are challenges that I never would have anticipated. But I'm quite happy with where I am now - I'm enjoying medicine to an extent that I never imagined possible before my gap year. I have even used the communication, teamwork and business skills I picked up in my gap year in car sales to start a new organisation at my university.