Taking a break during undergrad?

[Good_Vibes_101]

Hey guys, I have seen a few posts about people feeling burnt out and wanting to take a break because of that, and the consensus for them seemed to be keep pushing through but lighten the load.

My situation is a bit different. I am a non trad, before switching to premed I had taken a few online business classes to work toward the degree and was working for a start up company. Due to various reasons I decided to switch to medicine. We moved to be nearby a school that I have been attending for the last year and a half as a premed while working where and when I can. I now have about 4 semesters left to graduate.

So here's the dilemma.. my wife is a personal trainer/group fitness instructor and it has always been one her major goals to start a gym so she could teach at her own place. We had just planned on that happening after med school and residency when things were a little more stable. But we have been presented with an opportunity to potentially get one started this summer. The catch is there isn't really a way for our family situation (we have two young kids) to allow us to get it started and have me keep going full time in school while we do that.

My biggest concern on the premed side of things is how taking a break for a few semesters will look when I go to apply to med school in a few years. I don't want the admissions committees to see it as a lack of commitment to being a physician or anything. It is still definitely a major goal to become a physician, but at the same time we don't want to miss a potentially awesome opportunity.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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[paradoxic_toxic]

Gaps in education are fairly common. Most apps allow you write about gaps too, so don't sweat it.

 

[jhmmd]

Hey guys, I have seen a few posts about people feeling burnt out and wanting to take a break because of that, and the consensus for them seemed to be keep pushing through but lighten the load.

My situation is a bit different. I am a non trad, before switching to premed I had taken a few online business classes to work toward the degree and was working for a start up company. Due to various reasons I decided to switch to medicine. We moved to be nearby a school that I have been attending for the last year and a half as a premed while working where and when I can. I now have about 4 semesters left to graduate.

So here's the dilemma.. my wife is a personal trainer/group fitness instructor and it has always been one her major goals to start a gym so she could teach at her own place. We had just planned on that happening after med school and residency when things were a little more stable. But we have been presented with an opportunity to potentially get one started this summer. The catch is there isn't really a way for our family situation (we have two young kids) to allow us to get it started and have me keep going full time in school while we do that.

My biggest concern on the premed side of things is how taking a break for a few semesters will look when I go to apply to med school in a few years. I don't want the admissions committees to see it as a lack of commitment to being a physician or anything. It is still definitely a major goal to become a physician, but at the same time we don't want to miss a potentially awesome opportunity.

Thanks in advance for your help!

You know what they say: If you can see yourself doing anything other than medicine, do that instead.
Your seat will probably go to someone else who showed more commitment to the pre-med process.
Harsh I know but you wanted honest advice...
If this is something for you, you need to prove that.

 

[theendisnigh]

You know what they say: If you can see yourself doing anything other than medicine, do that instead.
Your seat will probably go to someone else who showed more commitment to the pre-med process.
Harsh I know but you wanted honest advice...
If this is something for you, you need to prove that.

Yeeeah, ignore this guy. @paradoxic_toxic said it well. Gaps can happen in education, I wish I had taken a gap semester back when I was working 3 jobs and dealing with family issues, rather than putting out below average grades that semester. You are already nontrad with having a family, there will be opportunities for you to explain that you had some family commitments to attend to first. If they discriminated against things like that, a lot of us nontraditional and low-income/disadvantaged students wouldn't make it into medicine.

As long as you can start back up again at your school or another reputable four-year institution, you should be fine. As @Goro says, medical schools aren't going anywhere.

 

[jhmmd]

Yeeeah, ignore this guy. @paradoxic_toxic said it well. Gaps can happen in education, I wish I had taken a gap semester back when I was working 3 jobs and dealing with family issues, rather than putting out below average grades that semester. You are already nontrad with having a family, there will be opportunities for you to explain that you had some family commitments to attend to first. If they discriminated against things like that, a lot of us nontraditional and low-income/disadvantaged students wouldn't make it into medicine.

As long as you can start back up again at your school or another reputable four-year institution, you should be fine. As @Goro says, medical schools aren't going anywhere.

Yea but we're not talking a minor gap to get financial issues together; we're talking a whole other business venture. This does not show the kind of commitment that med schools are looking for.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Yea but we're not talking a minor gap to get financial issues together; we're talking a whole other business venture. This does not show the kind of commitment that med schools are looking for.

By that logic every non-traditional student who had a career prior to medical school has failed to show commitment to medicine. I don’t really think that is the case. Med schools do want to see that you are committed when you are preparing to start medical school. Having other experiences and a different journey than the standard premed track can be viewed as an asset. To be sure, the OP will need to demonstrate that they are committed to becoming a physician before applying but there is plenty of time for that

 

[jhmmd]

By that logic every non-traditional student who had a career prior to medical school has failed to show commitment to medicine. I don’t really think that is the case. Med schools do want to see that you are committed when you are preparing to start medical school. Having other experiences and a different journey than the standard premed track can be viewed as an asset. To be sure, the OP will need to demonstrate that they are committed to becoming a physician before applying but there is plenty of time for that

Agreed

 

[Goro]

Yeeeah, ignore this guy. @paradoxic_toxic said it well. Gaps can happen in education, I wish I had taken a gap semester back when I was working 3 jobs and dealing with family issues, rather than putting out below average grades that semester. You are already nontrad with having a family, there will be opportunities for you to explain that you had some family commitments to attend to first. If they discriminated against things like that, a lot of us nontraditional and low-income/disadvantaged students wouldn't make it into medicine.

As long as you can start back up again at your school or another reputable four-year institution, you should be fine. As @Goro says, medical schools aren't going anywhere.

It's a pernicious pre-med delusion that med schools require you to go through UG in four years straight. Commitment, indeed.