What should I do for my gap year(s)?

[eaglesfan_9]

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Hey everyone, I graduated in May 2016 with a Biology B.S. from Indiana University. In college, I had intentions of going onto medical school and volunteered/shadowed in hospitals and also volunteered in a local food bank. I took the MCAT a few times and at some point I just realized that I did not want to do medical school for the rest of my career. I've taken this summer to find out what I want to do and get jobs. I have a full time position as a medical scribe and pharmacy technician lined up. Now I'm thinking of dental school because I had intentions of doing it in high school. I have no experience, so what do you believe I should do with my time? Continue to work one of the jobs and shadow a dentist, or pursue some job in a dental office (I don't know what there is)? Thanks for the help!!

GPA: 3.772, Science GPA: ~3.7

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

how low is your MCAT that make you switch to dentistry as a back up?

 

[eaglesfan_9]

how low is your MCAT that make you switch to dentistry as a back up?

I took it 3 times and got a 500 (50% percentile) each time. However, I took the first two times last summer and the last one this May. I decided in like February I didn't want to do medical school any longer. Too much school, too stressful, and I realized I never really enjoyed shadowing the physicians when I did it.

 

[redhotchiligochu]

Don't switch to dentistry because you think it's "easier" because in reality, dentistry is no cakewalk.

Basically in your gap year, immerse yourself in anything dental related. Shadowing, assisting, working as a receptionist are all fine. Getting non-dental work experience helps also, just getting some real-world experience.

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

I took it 3 times and got a 500 (50% percentile) each time. However, I took the first two times last summer and the last one this May. I decided in like February I didn't want to do medical school any longer. Too much school, too stressful, and I realized I never really enjoyed shadowing the physicians when I did it.

you should find dental assistant jobs that are willing to train you from scratch and start shadowing. and study and take the DAT.

pharm tech and med scribe wont do you any good in term of EC for dental school application.

 

[CubsFan44]

Definitely shadow to see if dentistry is worth pursuing. Dental office jobs are kind of hard to come by, and dental schools dont require any sort of dental-related work experience besides doing some shadowing

 

[gellal]

I hope you find something that you can enjoy day-to-day, but (to anyone reading) I just wanted to say that sometimes it's easy to get pushed into medical school or people feel like it's the "right" thing for them based on their families or peers. It's important to do something that you feel comfortable doing for the rest of your life - whether it be dentistry, podiatry, psychology, or even medicine. I've run into so many people who just "had" to do it even though they didn't seem interested in it. So I say, good for you for thinking about it, no matter what career you choose.

 

[eaglesfan_9]

I hope you find something that you can enjoy day-to-day, but (to anyone reading) I just wanted to say that sometimes it's easy to get pushed into medical school or people feel like it's the "right" thing for them based on their families or peers. It's important to do something that you feel comfortable doing for the rest of your life - whether it be dentistry, podiatry, psychology, or even medicine. I've run into so many people who just "had" to do it even though they didn't seem interested in it. So I say, good for you for thinking about it, no matter what career you choose.

Hey man I completely agree. Most of my family members are physicians, and most of my friends from high school who I went to college with were pursuing medicine as well. I was afraid of being left out and being a physician came with such esteem that I just chose to do that, even though I had thought of doing dentistry in high school. Now that we have all graduated, some of my friends have moved onto medical school and I'm just here trying to decide what I would enjoy to do. Thanks for bringing this issue to light, it really makes my decision easier and helps others!