Year off between 3rd and 4th year med school

[ThankGod]

Hi all,

So I am really contemplating taking a year off to do research between 3rd and 4th year med school. I will be doing research at my home institution (LOA for research specifically). It probably won't be anything too fancy...I'm hoping to at least get a few abstracts/publications.

My only concern is I have already spoken to the department head and the residency coordinator of the specialty I am interested in at my home institution. I've spoken to them about the upcoming application cycle, LORs, sub-i, etc...how do I tell them I may not apply this year? Will this year off be frowned upon by residency programs? Will it make me less of a competitive applicant from where I stand now?

I couldn't really find any thread addressing this topic. I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks so much!

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[armybound]

I had one faculty member talk to me about how much a research year can improve your competitiveness. He seemed to be largely in favor of it.

I don't think it would hurt, but I'd probably ask other people for their opinion. I'd approach them in a pretty straightforward manner... "I've been giving a lot of thought to taking a year off to get some research experience. What is your opinion of that?"

 

[Oxer45]

Hi all,

So I am really contemplating taking a year off to do research between 3rd and 4th year med school. I will be doing research at my home institution (LOA for research specifically). It probably won't be anything too fancy...I'm hoping to at least get a few abstracts/publications.

My only concern is I have already spoken to the department head and the residency coordinator of the specialty I am interested in at my home institution. I've spoken to them about the upcoming application cycle, LORs, sub-i, etc...how do I tell them I may not apply this year? Will this year off be frowned upon by residency programs? Will it make me less of a competitive applicant from where I stand now?

I couldn't really find any thread addressing this topic. I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks so much!

It depends on which specialty you're going into, your scores, your school and how productive you are on your year off. If you're going into a competitive specialty, it'll help. But if you're interested in a not ultra competitive specialty, you scores are good, and you're from a good school, it'll just be a waste of you year. But it wont hurt your chances.

how do I tell them I may not apply this year? Dear Mr/Ms ,
I had contacted you earlier about a S/I at your institution. I am planning on doing research in ___exciting field___ and I wish to delay my application until next year. (or you could just not tell them anything, most likely they forgot about you)

 

[seelee]

It is one thing to say that research could help make you more competitive. it is another thing to say that you should take a year off to do it.

First, there is no reason you couldn't work on a research project during your fourth year. Especially if you are doing a retrospective study. You could bang out a paper and poster pretty quick if you jumped on it and have something to talk about during interviews.

Second, by taking a year off, you are going to be a year out of the game when you go to do aways and fourth year rotations.

Third you may have to start paying on loans if you are not at least half-time.

 

[CatFactorial]

HHMI, Doris Duke, Sarnoff, CRTP, ETC.

If you can get a fellowship like those to do research in your residency field = badass.

 

[Valadi]

Do it. I'm just finishing one. Decided around this time as well last year. Everyone was in favor.

 

[Sheldor]

I think all of this advice really hinges in what field you are interested in.

 

[protonate]

HHMI, Doris Duke, Sarnoff, CRTP, ETC.

If you can get a fellowship like those to do research in your residency field = badass.

Didn't they stop Doris Duke fellowship?

 

[CatFactorial]

Unsure about Doris Duke, perhaps they did.

I know the HHMI cloisters program was discontinued as HHMI but continues as NIH/Pfizer.

 

[beeitchness]

HHMI, Doris Duke, Sarnoff, CRTP, ETC.

If you can get a fellowship like those to do research in your residency field = badass.

All of those programs have been shut down except for HHMI and Sarnoff.

 

[Cali2]

I don't think taking a year off to do research during medical school would ever be frowned upon by residency programs, though, as others have said, the extent to which it would help you depends on the specialty and type of program that you are applying to. Even if you've already started talking with your home institution about apps/4th year, some early networking can only help. You'll probably have even more opportunities to network if you are working in a related field during your LOA.

I would be careful with your expectations for the year, though. Unless you are jumping in at the end of a project or doing just retrospective work, there is certainly no guarantee of publication with just a year of work, particularly not a publication that actually makes it to print before residency applications.

I took a year for research between 2nd and 3rd years, and it was one of the best decisions I've made. It's great experience if you want an academic career, lots of fun if you actually like research, and was an enormous help to my application. Definitely a plus to all the programs I applied to, and I wasn't even applying to one of the research intensive specialties.

 

[ckdgusdl88]

I know that at Yale, the administration encourages it and even gives stipends to virtually all medical students that do it (unless they win outside fellowships like HHMI). No residency programs that I know look down on research. However, a year of your time is a very precious thing - assuming you will retire at the same age, you are costing yourself one year of attending salary. Think hard about what specialty it is that you want to match, whether it is important that you match into a brand-name academic institution, and how bad you want to be done with your MD degree soon. Hope it helps!