Time off after 1st year?

[CrazyCarl]

What are your thoughts about taking time off after the first year at medical school? (Assuming a fairly standard curriculum with no outstanding bells or whistles.) Would leaving for a couple of years on a scholarship/fellowship type deal be terribly disruptive to one's medical education, or is it no big deal? I understand more people taking that time tend to do it after their 2nd year, I'm just wondering about the transition from 1st to 2nd year.

Thanks!

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[Seaglass]

Personally I think it would be a good time to do it, the sticky widget being that you're likely to forget a lot of the Step 1 material before you take the test. IMHO that's why many people take time off after they've taken Step 1.

Casey

 

[dread]

Residency programs generally don' t like students to take time off for any other reason then research or some worthwhile clinical activity. That being said, if you need time off, you should take time off. You will have a little more trouble studying for boards, but not much since most of step I is from second year.