Take gap year for potential publications?

[gdub4ever]

Asking this for another premed friend who approached me for advice.

He has 2 ongoing projects with the IRB and is still awaiting approval. Both are quality projects and would lead to manuscripts. However, with pending IRB approval and survey administration, it is unlikely the manuscripts will be accepted/published by June 2024. With the rest of the app solid, is a gap year advisable?

cGPA: 3.82, sGPA: 3.72, 515 MCAT
1 undergrad symposium poster, 1 first-author lit review at Cureus
- 600 clinical
- 1000+ non-clinical
- 1000+ research hours, spread across 2 labs (animal models, clinical, and cell culture work)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Absolutely not unless he wants one. Y'all kids are wild these days.

 

[Goro]

Totally unnecessary

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Going for a PhD?

 

[macrophagefanatic]

Uh, no. A gap year is in no way necessary with his stats.

 

[gdub4ever]

Going for a PhD?

No, just MD and maybe DO

 

[Mr.Smile12]

No, just MD and maybe DO

Community service?

 

[gdub4ever]

Community service?

Yes, his app has a huge emphasis on local community service. Some themes are low-income patient empowerment, social determinants of health, and alleviation of suffering, both by scholarly pursuits and a humanistic approach to medicine. The abundance of research, even if medically related, sets the impression that he is interested in a MD/PhD, but he just falls into research. He is the type to start projects left and right because he wants to answer an unanswered question.

The two projects in question are epidemiological studies of the local community he volunteers with.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

So as pointed out, gap years are not necessary with his metrics, so it's the applicant's choice to take gap years to finish off a project and maintain both clinical and non-clinical experiences. However, the clock ticks as the MCAT score usually will not be considered after 3 years after taking the exam, so in essence he has just one shot to apply without retaking. The research adds nothing to the profile except as a "plus" that the candidate finished projects with some serious results. The candidate needs to have sufficient mission fit with a program to be successful.