Taking a year off... did I dig myself in a hole?

[initialize]

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So I'm soon to be (or was about to be) a 3rd year student in a couple weeks. But I made a last-minute decision to take a year off starting now and just informed my school today. It was a combination of somewhat-urgent health issues that I need to address, both physical and mental, plus I wanted to take a research year and, to be honest, just somewhat enjoy life for a year. When I wrote to my school today, I told them my decision was just based on the "physical" issues that need to be taken care of (even requiring surgery), plus the research year. I omitted needing a "mental break."


My plan was to do research in dermatology or radiology; these are pretty much the only specialties I care about at this point and it's pretty much only these or bust for me. I was doing some derm research before COVID hit, but then the pandemic put a sudden halt on that...

Anyway, I'm supposed to have a meeting with one of the student affairs deans next week and they want me to put together a research-year outline detailing my plans for the year, plus a signature from my mentor. The only problem is that I don't have any mentor currently; my plan was to email multiple derm/radiology faculty AFTER getting this year-off approved (yes I'm an idiot, but I didn't think my school would require this info to take a year off.... again, yes, I'm an idiot lol)

So now I'm obviously emailing faculty left and right to see if I can work on any projects. My question is, if worst comes to worst and I don't find a mentor next week before the meeting, do I just be honest and tell them I'm actively searching for research and that I need time off for my physical health? Do I tell them that I'm doing it for my mental health as well, or is that a major red flag?

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Goro]

You are indeed overthinking. If any PD asks about the LOA, you simply respond, "medical reasons"

 

[Lem0nz]

You are over thinking this is correct. In fact, if you want to get ahead of it to treat your anxiety, you can simply reply to the student affairs dean now and say that you're in the process of finding a lab mentor and have reached out to a few, and that you're also open to suggestions/ask for a contact that deals with student research. Their job is to help you succeed, not blast you for making a reasonable and, in the grand scheme, minor trajectory alteration in your career.

 

[initialize]

Thank you docs, that seriously gives me a sigh of relief!

 

[OraclePL]

Agreed with above, but you need to make sure that you find a mentor. A research year without productive publications is not going to look well when applying to dermatology. Can’t speak for radiology. So no immediate pressure right now, but definitely make sure you find a mentor who can get you reasonable projects that you can complete in one year.

As always, health comes first. Not medical advice.

 

[Dral]

Friend in med school took a year off and afaik didn’t really even give much of a reason. He ended up matching rad onc (back when it was competitive). It’s fine.