Splitting 4th year into 2

[subalpinesun]

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I've heard that some students split their fourth year of medical school into two. Does anyone have any more information on this, the details etc.? I'm currently a fourth year at a US MD program. I'm interested in going into psych, but I'm planning to do research next year at an outside university in comparative human development, and maybe some international work. I'm wondering if this could somehow be accommodated by extending my fourth year and thus having the advantage of being enrolled while applying for residency.

Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Why are you doing the research? If it is to make yourself more competitive, I would seriously re-evaluate for a field like psych.

People don't split 4th year, they take a year off and do whatever they're doing (either between M2/M3 or M3/M4) then do 4th year in its entirety. There is no half-ass inbetween for it.

 

[mindyopenner]

There is no need to split the 4th year into 2. Most schools provide ample time for research during the 4th year. If that is not enough, some MDs do a postdoc, spending a year or two doing formal research. Some people call this a "pre-residency" fellowship, and it is often done before residencies like ortho and derm, to help improve matching chances. Research should not be needed to match to psych, but you should do what you are interested in nonetheless. Perhaps this would help someone with a certain interest, or to go to a specific program.

 

[evilbooyaa]

There is no need to split the 4th year into 2. Most schools provide ample time for research during the 4th year. If that is not enough, some MDs do a postdoc, spending a year or two doing formal research. Some people call this a "pre-residency" fellowship, and it is often done before residencies like ortho and derm, to help improve matching chances. Research should not be needed to match to psych, but you should do what you are interested in nonetheless. Perhaps this would help someone with a certain interest, or to go to a specific program.

I would recommend AGAINST doing research after MS4 if at all possible. I believe that PDs think that you didn't match (even if you didn't apply), and I believe it will reflect poorly on you.

Just my 2 cents, others feel free to support or refute these claims.

 

[MEDICALLYHIGH]

My first thought is it's psych, you shouldn't have a problem. If you have a project that interests you, do it I guess, but it sounds like you're doing it more so to be competitive than anything else, which is admittedly humorous. Either way, it's your time and money if you want to waste it.

Also, I haven't talked to a residency director yet that didn't look down on post-docs.

 

[DocMur]

Why is it that post-docs are looked down upon? Is it suspicious of a person who doesn't know what they want to do? I have a hard time believing that a productive year of research and cranking out publications is a bad thing.

 

[Etorphine]

Why not just get your MD sooner and do research as an attending? Why wait a whole extra year and let those loans accumulate interest. It is not like you need the research to be competitive for psych. Therefore, if you are doing it because you're purely interested in the subject, then I think the answer is wait. Case closed.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Why is it that post-docs are looked down upon? Is it suspicious of a person who doesn't know what they want to do? I have a hard time believing that a productive year of research and cranking out publications is a bad thing.

I didn't realize that this person was interested in psych. Generally research years are not looked down upon, but most people do them in the more competitive specialties to ensure chances at a (better) residency (Rad Onc, Ortho, NSG come to mind).

I would generally not recommend taking time off (between 3rd and 4th year) to do research for psych, but rather do what Etropine said. However, if OP has a very time consuming project that he/she wants to get done prior to the responsibilities of residency, then it would be reasonable to do so.

 

[BooRadley85]

Splitting 4th year into 2 years usually = 2 years worth of tuition = no bueno