Working to Save $ to apply to Med school - deadline?

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Frosty808

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Background:

Hi all,

I'm going to be starting a new job (turning 30 this year) in a clinic-setting and I anticipate making at least a 2 year commitment. For now, I want this to be the last GAP YEAR JOB before I apply since all previous jobs either were only contract positions (leaving me to scramble for a new job before I finish my contract) or the salary just wasn't paid high enough (leaving me to work a 2nd job since the low salaries combined still left me forcing me to live paycheck to paycheck).

At first I was going to tell my physician-employer about medical school. However, with advice from a few people, it makes no sense to "count my chickens before they hatch." So I decided I am not going to tell my new employer (ironically a physician who I would love to shadow because his specialty is exactly what I want to be when I become a physician) about my intentions for medical school because:

1) I haven't taken MCAT yet anyway, may need to retake if not a good score
2) haven't found a physician to shadow for a longer commitment than one-day
3) my prereqs are mediocre anyway and have been more than ten years so I may need to retake
4) am in a financial-rut since I was laid off twice in the pat 5 years and have been dipping into my savings to stay afloat


Overall, these reasons seem to justify my decision to not have to tell my employer because I still need a few years of work in order for me to present my best-self.
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Questions
1) I want to know many people have taken on a job, knowing it was just a gap year job and did you make a deadline of when to apply?

It's 2018 and I plan to apply in 2019 (will start fall of 2020) assuming my MCAT score in May will be at least 509 or so (sidenote: MCAT score is good for 3 years so I am willing to push to 2020).

2) If you have worked under a physician, did you ask for letter of rec? Unsure if I feel comfortable (later down the road) to ask for LOR knowing that this physician wants me to work for him long term. I figure, I can always assess for his personality and from there have a conversation how working with him and the company has made me realize I want to be more than a lab technician and pursue my ambitions for medical school.

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