Taking a year off

[CreativeMD]

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Hello present and future family practioners! I was hoping some/all of you may offer some needed advice...I just started my 4th year of medical school and am certain I want to go into Family Medicine. My Step 1 score is 210 and I have excellent evaluations and grades in my clinical years. The thing is: I want to take a year off before starting residency. I haven't started my ERAS application and haven't taken Step 2 yet. I know it IS feasible to make it in time for 2007, but I feel so rushed. In the year off I was thinking of taking classes in medical spanish and trying to get involved in research...Do you think it will hurt my chances of getting a good residency if I wait a year? Thanks in advance! 😕

 

[deleted87716]

You can pretty much bet that everyone you talk to will ask you what you did during your year off, so you'd best make sure that it sounds like it was something worthwhile.

You'll also need to play catch-up in order to get back into the swing of things as an intern. A year out of the hospital will definitely take the edge off your game.

 

[tridoc13]

You can pretty much bet that everyone you talk to will ask you what you did during your year off, so you'd best make sure that it sounds like it was something worthwhile.

You'll also need to play catch-up in order to get back into the swing of things as an intern. A year out of the hospital will definitely take the edge off your game.

A girl in our program took a year off to travel the world and have a baby. She was terrified that she was going to forget everything she'd learned and was the most nervous out of our whole group during orientation. She has done a stellar job so far in her rotations. It won't be easy coming back after such a long hiatus, and I agree with Kent that you should have a very good explanation for why you took that time off, but it is doable. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Imhotep]

Taking a year off to learn (medical) spanish and doing research are worthwhile reasons, and most PDs will not look down upon you for that.

You will have no problem matching into and doing a great job where ever you go as long as you pass step 2. Remember, once you start residency and move beyond (into practice etc), you'll be less likely to have this opportunity again (for various reasons...family, finances etc etc).

The only other advice I have is to try and get both Step 2 and 3 out of the way next year, so you'll have less of a stressful intern year.