What to do with year off?

[badapplestix]

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Just wondering what people are doing with their year off (if you're taking one). I don't really know what I'm doing. Any ideas? 🙂

 

[boone95]

Just wondering what people are doing with their year off (if you're taking one). I don't really know what I'm doing. Any ideas? 🙂

If you don't have a clue what you want to do, beef up your application! Research, health care job, volunteer, shadow, take a grad class or 2... those are the ones that come to mind, and they helped me out enormously.

But also remember that this is the last 'year off' you'll ever have, so be sure to enjoy it too. You can be productive but still have fun... in fact I would recommend to anyone that taking a year off is the way to go.

Enjoy the time off!

 

[hoopstaahh22]

traveled to europe, took the mcat (summer), currently working in a research laboratory (9-5), and have been watching too much tv.

 

[slim78]

I miss TV

That is about the only thing I miss about my year off though. I had to work (I have a family) and I was completely miserable at my job.

Medschool is waaaayyyyy better than the alternative.

 

[HyperSpace]

Well thats what Im going to do. I just graduated and I got about a year to kill. I've applied to Child protection agency for an investigation position. Theres always lots of these type of positions. You can also work as a health inspector. This is another type of job that I recently applied for. You can also work as a research assistant but the pay sucks. Well at least in my state. On the bright side though research does look really good on your application. CPS investigators and health inspectors make about 30k to 36k per year. In my state (Texas) Research Assistants make about 24k per year.

 

[rugger14]

i did a post-bac last year and I am now a full-time nursing assistant on a cardiac/bariatric floor. I have found my clinical experience to be invaluable! Sure, I don't do very high tech things, but I've learned a lot from all of my patient contact. Taking time off may not be for everyone, but I have definitely matured with some time in the "real world"

 

[tourniquet1963]

i've been working the past year and a half, a regular ol' 9-5 job. It's in healthcare, so its somewhat interesting, but i dont take it too seriously since it's not what i plan on doing for the rest of my life. But its nice working like everybody else, makes me feel like an adult 😎

 

[Troponin]

I started working in a biomedical research lab, 9-5 Mon-Fri. This got me on a couple academic papers which is nice. My PI was nice enough to let me take classes throughout the year as well. Since I am Staff at the university, I get up to 10 credit hours for free each term. With these extra classes I was able to build a better background for med school, have a stronger application, and get more letters of recommendation. I also shadowed and volunteered when I could. Non-medically during the year I was also working ~10-15 hours at another job.

 

[Chocolate Teddy]

flew out of the country, currently taking a class and working as a CNA, and pondering over the meaning of life...

 

[DuckDoc]

I would try to make enough money to get by and live life. I took a year off and it was great. I traveled all over the country on hunting trips and lived in the wilderness for three months. This was an experience that I probably would not have gotten after medical school. You could also work alot and save money so you dont have to borrow as much money when your a student (smart way to go). I was lucky to have the chance to not worry about work. Whatever you do balance life and have fun....good luck.

 

[glam88]

Work! Make as much money as you can. I wanted do something cool like travel the world or go to Europe or something interesting, but then I decided i will have a chance to go abroad on a mission trip during breaks in med school. So eventually will get my chance, and also i feel like working makes forces you to face reality and you learn things that you will never learn in school...and it doenst have to be medically related.

 

[Eudjinn]

beef up your application, work, travel, have fun. that's about it