time off after residency

[errant]

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this issue may have already been addressed a bunch of times, but i'll give my specific situation..

so i was ill for the last couple of years of medical school and by the time i graduated my healthy was pretty shot. i started to recover a few months out of school but its been a very slow process. the thought of entering residency was far from my mind for a very long time. i decided to try to start a business as medicine never really did it for me, but it never got off the ground. 10months after graduation i realized i would have to return... i tried applying for step 2 cs (IMG here) but it took longer than anticipated to get the paperwork straight.. anyways, i failed the exam, had to take it again. now it's 2 years after graduation and i have no idea what i should be doing for the next year. i already did 3 yrs of research before starting med school and i'm looking to go into pathology. i've been having trouble finding research (been looking for several months already) because most places want you to stay for at least 2 yrs.

anyone with some options? truth is im not thrilled with doing research. i would much rather be doing something i enjoy but i feel i would be disqualified from entering residency because of the time that has passed. I dont think programs would be very empathetic to my excuses.

 

[Law2Doc]

I dont think programs would be very empathetic to my excuses.

first, the title of your thread talks of time after residency, but you haven't done residency yet. From your story, which wasn't very clear, you are an IMG with gaps in med school and a history of having failed step 2 CS, which is a big concern for an IMG. You need to see if there is a way to make yourself competitive for a us pathology residency. You didn't give us any real facts on which to advise you. So I can only give you the general advice that it is very hard for IMG superstars with no black marks to match, and so harder still for folks with failed steps. All you can do is have a strong us clinical exposure and research track record and give it a shot. I wouldn't be so quick to turn down a research job just because it is 2 years-- I think your road to residency could be that long.

 

[errant]

thanks for getting back to me.
i'm IMG but originally from the states.
Im not really sure if i had a specific question, i was just trying to express my frustrations
with the system and the chosen career. Not sure how to get myself out of this situation. I intend only work enough years in medicine in order to make enough to start my own business. It seems disingenuous to work in research for 1-2 yrs when my heart is not in it and only so that i can return to medicine which i'm not thrilled with either. 🙁

 

[Law2Doc]

thanks for getting back to me.
i'm IMG but originally from the states.
Im not really sure if i had a specific question, i was just trying to express my frustrations
with the system and the chosen career. Not sure how to get myself out of this situation. I intend only work enough years in medicine in order to make enough to start my own business. It seems disingenuous to work in research for 1-2 yrs when my heart is not in it and only so that i can return to medicine which i'm not thrilled with either. 🙁

Find something else. If you don't want to be a doctor, residency is a real bad place to put yourself. It will not open business doors that you couldn't open through the same number of years of actually working at something business related. And if you do choose medicine, expect it to take a few years to get there.