What to do with a year off?

[Athomeonarock]

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I am planning on applying to med school for 2005, problem is i'm graduating. I'm a little strapped for cash, so i may have to take a job that might not be all that relevent to med school. Is this a problem? I dont want what i do with my year off to hurt the apps. Advice anyone?
Thanks all.

 

[fullefect1]

A full time research jobs (medical would be ideal) , or a E.R tech, O.R. Tech, Transport Aide at a hospital would work out.

 

[CeLo]

I was in the same situation for this year. I graduated in 2003 and I applied for med school for 2004 so I have a year and 3 months off. I have been working for a pharmaceutical company since then and not really doing anything medically related. I would say that if you already have a lot of *quality* ECs you are in good shape. It's alright to do something unrelated to medicine because you need the money BUT you should also try to do things like volunteering or shadowing a physician, even if only for a handful of hours a month. I was waitlisted at my top choice and when I went in to talk to the dean he said more volunteering/health-related experience would have been beneficial to me. So my advice would be to get a job for the money, and fit in any sort of heath-related activity you can (many volunteer programs have evening hours available), to keep your app strong and show your continued interest in medicine. Remember, you want to go into the application process with all the ammo you can get. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Athomeonarock]

Thanks Celo, that makes me feel better, ill definatly try to keep up some clinical exposure.

 

[crzynikki]

I will also have a year off and desperately need some medical-related experience. I was thinking of training to get a job as an EMT. Do you guys think this is a good idea? Thanks for any advice!

 

[Athomeonarock]

I am actually a EMT, it is fairly hard to get a job as an EMT-basic that will pay the bills(especially in light of application and travel expenses). If you can afford it, or you can get a higher certification than basic, i would definantly recomend it. The other problem is that your less likely to get hired if you can only work a year. It is a great experience, but your more likely to get work as a volunteer EMT. Look into volunteering, you learn a lot. Good luck next year.

 

[bruciebaby45]

I have had this past year off and have been working as a PCA as well as volunteering at a couple of places to gain more experience. While the pay isn't great if you are flexable you can get enough to pay the bills and really think that it not only made a difference on my application, but it also gave numerous good examples to use in my interviews.