Unaccounted time

[NonTradJp]

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Is there a good way to deal with unaccounted time if it has been years since you been in school? Such as unemployment or taking time off from work to care for family? Is all the time since undergrad expected to be accounted for by either work or school?

 

[Law2Doc]

Is there a good way to deal with unaccounted time if it has been years since you been in school? Such as unemployment or taking time off from work to care for family? Is all the time since undergrad expected to be accounted for by either work or school?

All the time since college is expected to be accounted for. There isn't a good way to deal with unaccounted time - in the adcoms eyes you shouldn't have any gaps you weren't doing something worth talking about. Hopefully you did something semi-productive during that interval. Volunteering, a cool hobby, odd jobs, research, taking classes. Taking care of family is understandable but sadly won't play as well as someone who did that plus accomplished something else as well. Saying you have nothing on the resume due to unemployment for X years is going to look bad.

 

[NonTradJp]

Thanks Law2Doc

 

[DocSpotTG99]

All the time since college is expected to be accounted for. There isn't a good way to deal with unaccounted time - in the adcoms eyes you shouldn't have any gaps you weren't doing something worth talking about. Hopefully you did something semi-productive during that interval. Volunteering, a cool hobby, odd jobs, research, taking classes. Taking care of family is understandable but sadly won't play as well as someone who did that plus accomplished something else as well. Saying you have nothing on the resume due to unemployment for X years is going to look bad.

I disagree. Sometimes people take time for themselves without saving the world. Not that serious

 

[theseeker4]

I disagree. Sometimes people take time for themselves without saving the world. Not that serious

Of course people do that, but if you are an admissions committee member, and you are faced with accepting someone who didn't quite "save the world" but was active in SOMETHING without significant gaps, or the person who spent their time unemployed/etc. doing NOTHING worth mentioning, which do you think will be the more attractive applicant? It isn't about someone not being capable of being an excellent doctor, it is about trying to apply with the strongest application possible since there is so much competition for each seat these days.

 

[Law2Doc]

I disagree. Sometimes people take time for themselves without saving the world. Not that serious

Yes it can be a problem. Whether it's "serious" depends on the size of the gap we are talking about and how little you have to show for that time. This is a competitive process -- there is always someone there to take your spot if your application comes up short. You need to account for your time. They specifically ASK you to account for all that time. So no, if you want to be the best applicant, you will have no gaps where you "took time for yourself". You don't have to save the world, but you need to have done something you can spin into a legitimate use of time when looked at by the typical workaholic adcom member.

 

[NonTradJp]

Thank you Spot, Seek, and Law. I did volunteered and did things but those were just because I've always volunteered. These were non-clinical. Before I had discovered an interest in medicine. I recognize that will put me at a disadvantage but I cannot change the past. I need to explain it in the best possible way. Would "time off form school/work" be an "other" activity?