Suggestions please

[kiilcancer]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I was a full time student in UCI, as a pre-MD/PhD student.
I've recently been activated to serve in the Marine Corps for 1(+) year(s). Thank the Lord that I've not been sent to overseas... Although I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to go from here, I thought I'd plan ahead in using the best of my time. I was thinking about using this "free time" to study my MCAT. The military also pays for my school if I'm to take one or two night classes while I'm on active duty. Since my base is around UCSD, I was thinking about taking a couple of classes there also. Since my liberty time is limited, I'm asking for suggestions for best using my time here as an active Marine.
Also, I was engaged in a research, which I was about to publish a paper on apoptotic pathways... I have 150 units and has no paper published yet! My school does not welcome me going for additional 2 years just because I want to do some more research... (I was thinking about doing full time research for 2 years along with school work to keep myself busy). Do you guys think that I should, after my graduation, just rest for a year doing research? 😕
Thanks ahead for all of your suggestions!!

Sincerely,
Kiilcancer

 

[CRAZYLION]

Hey, I hope you are not sent anywhere either. Scary time to be enlisted. Good luck.

Any ways, I think it would be a great idea to take a year off to just do reserach. I graduated this past summer and that is what I am doing. I took a post-bac position at the NIH and have been doing full time research since August. I am currently applying to MD/PhD programs. I had the grades and pretty good MCAT's to get into programs but my reserach was fairly weak. One yr with no papers as of yet. I think this year doing full time research really strenghthened my app and has allowed me to take a much needed break from school. It also allowed me to see what the research world is really about and how I would like to do full time clinical research. The NIH post-bac program has been really great and I truly believe that it alone got me interviews at some school.

It has allowed me to really contemplate if I want to be in a 7-8 yr program, and I do. I brought this fact up in several of my interviews and the interviewers seemed to like the fact that I had solidified my decision in this way. Hope that helps a bit, feel free to PM me for anymore thoughts.

Good luck and thanks for serving our nation.