Taking a year out of medical school - bad idea?

[Psychfan93]

Hi,

I'm in my final year of medical school at a British university, and will be an IMG when I apply for residency in the US. I had a couple of questions about taking a year out during medical school.

I’m taking a year out for medical reasons, so have deferred my graduation by one year. I decided to interrupt my studies this month, and I’ll be doing a couple of research things during the 5 months I have off until final year starts in July 2018. I’m planning to take the USMLE in November 2018, 5 months after my final year starts.

My questions are:

1) Since I took the year out for medical reasons - is that enough justification for the residency application? Or will it hurt my chances? I show that I did 2 research projects and did a clerkship in the US during my 5 months out (+ medical reasons) – would these be good enough to show that I was still productive?

2) I am planning to take the USMLE in Nov 2018, 5 months after final year starts, and USMLE step 2 in April 2019 after my finals. Do you think this has a risk of making it look like I took the year out to study for the USMLE?

I am just worried that my decision to interrupt my studies for medical reasons will hurt my application! Any thoughts / advice will be much appreciated!

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[Osteoth]

1. Won't hurt you if you have a verifiable justification.
2. Doesn't matter, health comes first. People will understand.

 

[road2residency]

1. Won't hurt you if you have a verifiable justification.
2. Doesn't matter, health comes first. People will understand.

Agree with above, especially #2
Just be prepared to explain your decision to program directors when you do apply. It likely will not affect you negatively since you did it for health reasons and not academic ones, but some program directors may want to hear more about it. Good plan about doing something during the year as well, it looks better than if you just did nothing else that year. I wrote a post on my website that deals with how to make the most out of gap years; check it out if you are interested: 5 Secrets to an Effective Gap Year: Become a Purple Cow. Good Luck!