should i take 1 year off or 2?

[dsp]

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does anybody have any suggestions? i am not sure if i should get a job for 1 year off and apply (i am graduating from college in May) or if i should commit to a two year job, like a 2 year teaching job. Will it be hard to get back into the groove of studying after two years, or will i emerge refreshed? what was your situation?
thanks

 

[oldman]

i took 1 year off and i have classmates who took more. all of us feel rusty. and those who went straight into medicine feel tired.

either way it's hard work. my thinking is try to get into med school as soon as possible because you don't want to be too old when you actually finish.

 

[applejuice1979]

I don't think you should worry about your age when you finish medical school, considering the average age after residency is 33. But if you are worried about staying in the habit of school, you can take cool classes like physiology, statistics, or neurology at night or on weekends at your local community college. Good luck!

 

[CoronaBOY]

i am taking a year off right now...doing some research and volunteer...
my reason to take year off is to rest and travel before i get into med school and study like hell...until I'm what...30? (including residency) before I will have my own quality time(?) again...
Anyway...
if you do take a year off and get a job or whatever you do, during interview they will ask you about your decision. (at least my interviewers did).
so I think that it would be good to have a reasonable 'reason' of your decision to tell them in the future.
good luck

PS: by the way, many of my friends who went to MS right away are pretty burned out

 

[oldman]

Originally posted by applejuice1979
I don't think you should worry about your age when you finish medical school, considering the average age after residency is 33. But if you are worried about staying in the habit of school, you can take cool classes like physiology, statistics, or neurology at night or on weekends at your local community college. Good luck!

at my school the average age for starting school is 23.

23+4= 27 (finish med school)

27+3= 30 (short residency)
27+6= 33 (long residency)

I guess ages range from 30-33.

Then again at 23, that's about 1 year off. i have classmates who have taken many years off and it's gonna be a long haul for them. the idea is to go to med school when you are mentally ready. even if you think you will be out of the habit, you'll get into the groove quickly enough. Usually after the 1st test you'll realize how much effort you need to put in.

 

[oldman]

Originally posted by CoronaBOY
i am taking a year off right now...doing some research and volunteer...
my reason to take year off is to rest and travel before i get into med school and study like hell...until I'm what...30? (including residency) before I will have my own quality time(?) again...
Anyway...
if you do take a year off and get a job or whatever you do, during interview they will ask you about your decision. (at least my interviewers did).
so I think that it would be good to have a reasonable 'reason' of your decision to tell them in the future.
good luck

PS: by the way, many of my friends who went to MS right away are pretty burned out

what do you mean by decision? as to why you take a year off?

 

[klp14]

I took 2 years off to work in a hospital and am applying to med schools now. For me it was better to get more medical experience (undergrad GPA wasn't fantastic). I'm working on grad classes at night to keep the studying mentality alive. I think taking only 1 year off would've been hard because you start applying to med schools only a month or two after first starting a job/grad school. Makes it tough to get LORs from the job and get used to the work you're doing.

 

[Resident Alien]

Take 3 yrs off.

 

[Mire]

I'm 26, and I will almost be 27 when I start med school next year. I took 4 years off. I wouldn't recommend that much, but a year or two can't hurt too much

 

[pathdr2b]

If you have to ask, you probably could use some time off. That said, there's no such thing as "too much time off". Better take time off and to go to medical school when you're ready than to risk flunking out.

As for me, I plan to go to medical school with 10 years between undergraduate and matriculation into med school. Furthermore, I'm not in the least bit concerned about the wait because I'll be starting when I'm ready!

 

[heelshmeel]

Originally posted by oldman
at my school the average age for starting school is 23.

23+4= 27 (finish med school)

27+3= 30 (short residency)
27+6= 33 (long residency)

I guess ages range from 30-33.

Then again at 23, that's about 1 year off. i have classmates who have taken many years off and it's gonna be a long haul for them. the idea is to go to med school when you are mentally ready. even if you think you will be out of the habit, you'll get into the groove quickly enough. Usually after the 1st test you'll realize how much effort you need to put in.

I think something that most people dont consider is this avg age. If the avg age is 23, then most of the students are actually under 23!!

Think about it... most schools choose one or two students that are considerably older than the other students... (around 38-40 yrs old)... so these guys pull up that mean which otherwise would be around 22...

I think the fact of the matter is that most people do not take time off b/w undergrad and med school ...

Now the only way to 'counterbalance' that 40 yr old in med school to nullify the mean is to have someone who is around 10 yrs old in med school and we all know that doesnt happen!

major point here is that although the average age is 23, chances are that a lot of the people are around 22 or even 21...!

 

[GoodMonkey]

i agree w/pathdr2be... take as much time as feels right to you. go to med school when you're ready, not when everyone else tells you that you should go. for some people, that's straight from undergrad. for other people, it's years later. when i start med school, i'll be nearly 26, i will have taken 4 years off (graduated dec 99 from ugrad) and have gained some great experiences, some rest, and some validation for my motivation for medicine. i wasn't ready 4 years ago, i didn't understand my motivation and i wanted to make sure i wasn't applying/going to med school out of sheer momentum. but then again, that was what was right for me. there are pros and cons to both sides of this debate.

best of luck! 🙂