Took a leave of absence for research, how bad is it...?

[fatefeather]

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[ThoracicGuy]

I don't see an issue.

 

[Oso]

Lots of people at my school took a year off to do research. As long as it's productive then it's good, and yours definitely was, so I think it will be viewed favorably overall.

 

[fatefeather]

Lots of people at my school took a year off to do research. As long as it's productive then it's good, and yours definitely was, so I think it will be viewed favorably overall.

Thank you. My worry is that most ppl do research as a "official research year" which will be stated on their transcript. My situation is that I took a formal LOA. I mean I can try to talk to my dean and hopefully he can sugarcoat it in the dean's letter but I'm just concerned that some residency programs will see the LOA and immediately my application is in the trash can.

 

[gutonc]

Thank you. My worry is that most ppl do research as a "official research year" which will be stated on their transcript. My situation is that I took a formal LOA. I mean I can try to talk to my dean and hopefully he can sugarcoat it in the dean's letter but I'm just concerned that some residency programs will see the LOA and immediately my application is in the trash can.

That was a poor decision on your part (formal LOA vs formal research year) but that's water under the bridge. Hopefully your Dean will sugarcoat it for you and it won't be a huge deal. But if the rest of your CV looks good, you'll probably be fine. It was clearly a very productive year.

 

[fatefeather]

That was a poor decision on your part (formal LOA vs formal research year) but that's water under the bridge. Hopefully your Dean will sugarcoat it for you and it won't be a huge deal. But if the rest of your CV looks good, you'll probably be fine. It was clearly a very productive year.

sigh...i guess that's the situation then.

 

[Raryn]

I think it comes down to whether your year was productive.

Take a LOA and get 5 publications? Yeah, looks legit. No big deal and the programs won't mark you down (and will probably like you more).

Take a LOA for a "research year" and get zero publications? Yeah, looks shady.

I think you're fine.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

This is fine. Happens not infrequently -- someone gets a Doris Duke or an NIH year and takes an LOA. Yours was just privately funded (i.e. you were paid by the lab). You're worried about nothing.

 

[OddNath]

My med school *still* considers my PhD years as a LOA...and I was in an MD/PhD program! So I have to get a special letter every time I apply for a state license. It’s a pain.

 

[fatefeather]

.....

 

[Doctor Christmas]

I have a little update here. I emailed a few program directors at my home school about the situation and all of them said it's not a big problem. Some of them actually said "we can meet and discuss it at some time". Just would like to hear your advices on a few things:

1. should I go set up a time and meet them right now or should I wait a bit? I just started my third year.

2. I personally think it's a good idea to at least let the PDs to see my face. But what questions should I bring to the meeting would you think is appropriate? I am a complete noob in what I need to know on residency.

Thank you all for your input.

I think externalizing your fear (not judging you on having fears - we all have them, and we are all neurotic med students at some point), may make it appear as a problem when there initially wasn't one present. Taking a year off to do research is not a problem at all, especially if you got something to show for it. The concern with LOA is the "why" did it happen. Did they flunk out and needed time to study? Red flag. did they take extra time to study for boards? Maybe red flag. Were they in jail? Massive red flag.

I remember when I was in an interview once, the interviewer was complimenting me and telling me how nice of a CV I had, etc. I did not know what else to say, so I asked him if he had any questions or anything was confusing. Needless to say, the interviewer said well no, I didn't think I have any questions, should I? Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Of course I didn't, but my own stupidity made an otherwise excellent interview go south. The point I'm trying to make is that when we are med students we worry about a lot of stuff that does not need to be worried about. I for example also graduated off cycle because I was in a combined degree program - I freaked out about what interviewers would ask/think, whether I would have any difficulty matching, etc. I got a ton of interviews for both my initial specialty and when I switched. I decided not to address in a personal statement or anything like that. Not a single interviewer/program asked me about it! (In total I probably went to 30 interviews or so). So don't freak out and don't draw attention to yourself for things that don't matter.

Good luck!

 

[fatefeather]

Thank you all for your help