Hi pdental,
I'm currently a community college teacher while applying to medical school. I've taught at four schools, with a mix of technical, community, and small four-years. You don't need a thesis-based master's (I don't), but it can help you get your foot in the door. Here are the steps you would probably need to take:
You need some teaching experience. It's really rare to hire someone without. Apply to a local tutoring company via Craigslist, or a national one such as Princeton or Kaplan. The pay can be excellent, though the hours depend on how many students are available. When you do apply for a position with a college, you'll need to apply as an adjunct. (Don't apply for tenure-track or temporary full-time positions -- you need years of extensive teaching experience to have a chance at those.) Community and technical colleges often keep a pool of adjunct resumes available they can easily draw from to fill any gaps in their schedule, so you may have to wait some time (months) before you hear a reply back after applying. The best thing to do is submit your resume to the general adjunct pool then directly contact the department head to let them know of your interest and areas of expertise. Biomedicine is a good field; many CCs find themselves overstaffed with ecology/botany people and understaffed with molecular biology/anatomy and physiology people.
The best-organized schools will set you up with a current faculty contact you can rely on for advice and help navigating the system, though you'll be exploring the classroom management software, figuring out the ins and outs of the colleges' policies, and organizing your schedule yourself. The worst will give you a key to the classroom, a copy code, and a copy of the textbook, and no other support. If you enjoy having a lot of autonomy, being able to dictate your own hours, and freedom to be creative, the job can be amazing. If you like structure, clear goalposts, and being able to leave work at work, this job can be a nightmare.
That being said, unless teaching is something you truly enjoy, I would not look at it as a viable option to fill your gap year. It's a very easy job if you're satisfied with doing mediocre work, but an incredibly challenging, time-consuming, and energy-consuming job if you want to do well by your students. My first year I came home so exhausted each night I could barely think; I can't imagine also trying to apply to medical school. It's also a huge financial risk -- the pay is so poor, many adjuncts find themselves using social safety net programs like EBT, Medicaid, and TANF. You likely won't start out with a full-time schedule either; plan on having only one class' worth of income for your first couple quarters/semesters teaching. There is always a chance of getting laid off quite abruptly as well, so build a savings cushion if you can.
Hope this helped. Please message me if you have any questions.
