Time off between Medical School and Residency

[wookinpanub]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping someone who has been in my situation could give me some insight/advice.

I am currently a 4th year medical student and have taken a year off in the middle of my 4th year to develop a small business with my roommate (non-medical roommate). The business has shown some significant growth and I really want to keep working on it for a couple more years before beginning residency. I do plan to return to medical school this fall to finish up my 4th year and get my degree, however, afterwards I was thinking of taking a few years off to expand business further. If I stop now, the business will really remain stagnant and will be left in the dust.

My question is, if I do follow through with my plan to take time off between medical school and residency, will it be possible for me to get into a decent residency program afterwards? If so, will it be more difficult to get in?

Is there anyone out there that has done anything like this before who can chime in? I wanted to see what information I can get from the forum before bringing the idea to my dean.

I plan on applying for Internal Medicine residency.

I would really appreciate any helpful comments. Thanks for reading.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PMPMD]

A couple things to consider. You will have to tart repaying your loans. If the business is lucrative, this may not be a problem. Also, there may be a maximum amount of time you can take between the USMLE exams.

 

[wookinpanub]

A couple things to consider. You will have to tart repaying your loans. If the business is lucrative, this may not be a problem. Also, there may be a maximum amount of time you can take between the USMLE exams.

I've already considered loan repayment and I think I can handle it. As for as the USMLE exams, I've already finished Step1 and Step2 (both CK and CS). I've not taken Step3 yet.. I will look into this. Thanks for your post!

 

[gutonc]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping someone who has been in my situation could give me some insight/advice.

I am currently a 4th year medical student and have taken a year off in the middle of my 4th year to develop a small business with my roommate (non-medical roommate). The business has shown some significant growth and I really want to keep working on it for a couple more years before beginning residency. I do plan to return to medical school this fall to finish up my 4th year and get my degree, however, afterwards I was thinking of taking a few years off to expand business further. If I stop now, the business will really remain stagnant and will be left in the dust.

My question is, if I do follow through with my plan to take time off between medical school and residency, will it be possible for me to get into a decent residency program afterwards? If so, will it be more difficult to get in?

Is there anyone out there that has done anything like this before who can chime in? I wanted to see what information I can get from the forum before bringing the idea to my dean.

I plan on applying for Internal Medicine residency.

I would really appreciate any helpful comments. Thanks for reading.

It is possible, but it will be much more difficult and you will likely match "worse" than your statistics if you do this, especially if it's >1yr.

Even if you're a solid 240+/AOA/Top Tier School applicant, people will still wonder why you didn't just soldier on and be concerned that you've lost your knowledge/skills in the interim. Programs that would be safeties if you apply next year will become reaches if you take a few years off. There are plenty of other great applicants without that gap for good programs to take. You will also need to get new/updated LORs. Nobody in 2015 will care what people thought of your abilities in 2011, they want to know what you are capable of now.

This is all a long way of saying that, if you can swing it, you'd be much better off continuing your current LOA for another year or two, then coming back, repeating all of 4th year and going from there. You'll have to explain your gap in education/training either way (not just in ERAS but every time you apply for a licencse, a job or hospital privileges) but it will be a lot easier if you have awesome fresh LORs to go along with it than if you're trying recycle 3 or 4 year old letters with stale clinical skills and nobody to vouch for you.

 

[BADMD]

As you get further away from from medical school, residency programs are less likely to look at you. 3 years seems to be a demarcation point where many draw the line. Others will draw it around 5 years. Additionally, as pointed out, most states require you to pass all 3 steps within 7 years if you want to be licensed.

Quite simply, you are on the clock, from two sides. The USMLE one isn't that hard to hit, but you have to keep careful track of dates. The residency issue is a huge one and will severely limit you, if you don't respect it. It would probably be easier to make an arrangement with your school to come back and finish your 4th year, than to complete medical school, take more time, and then try to match.

 

[TexasPhysician]

There is a timeline for Step 3. If you neglect it, you have to retake all Steps.

Like others said - you will likely be able to match IM but don't expect a popular program or location.

 

[peppy]

I personally would suggest trying to find the least demanding residency you can and maybe try to fit in some work on the business in your free time rather than giving up on medicine for a business that may or may not last over the long term.
Perhaps you could look at applying for some light transitional years at least (if you think your stats would make it a viable possibility). At least finishing an internship would give you more options than if you don't do anything medical at all.

 

[Knicks]

There is a timeline for Step 3. If you neglect it, you have to retake all Steps.

Like others said - you will likely be able to match IM but don't expect a popular program or location.

Can you provide a link/source that elaborates on the bolded part?

Thanks.

 

[smq123]

Can you provide a link/source that elaborates on the bolded part?

Thanks.

What he means is that most states require that you have passed all 3 Steps within a span of 7 years in order to get your unrestricted license - i.e., within 7 years of passing Step 1, you must pass Step 3. (They will extend this out to 10 years if you are an MD/PhD.)

The individual state requirements are outlined here: http://www.fsmb.org/usmle_eliinitial.html

 

[Knicks]

^^ Thanks.