Greetings Forum Members,
I am here to seek advice from any knowledgeable individual. As we all know, it is never too early to start planning the road ahead after undergraduate studies. I am in the middle of my second year at a four year university with a major in biology and a minor in Spanish language. After graduation, I plan on taking a gap year and then starting med school. Here’s where the “crazy” kicks in. I am in my second year, and the path I have paved is allowing me to graduate one year early. This allows me to finish in May 2017 and presumably start med school in the fall of 2018. With this, the application process remain the same in terms of the suggested time line. The advice I seek is gap year reccomendations. I want to do what will be the most enriching and invaluable during that year. So far, I have compiled a list that includes working in a lab, finding an odd job for a year, joining a one year masters program that is a bridge to med school, go abroad to work in a science related field or go abroad to volunteer my time to teach in an area that needs mentors. I am trying to give myself options, what other reccomendations do you all have and if you have no other, which of the aforementioned ideas seem best?
Thank you
If you’re going to take a gap year that isn’t caused by not getting into med school, you should do whatever it is that YOU find more enriching. It will be the last chance for you to “do you” for at least 4 years plus residency, so enjoy it. If you enjoy doing things that med schools find invaluable, then bonus, but by no means do I recommend doing something just because you think schools want you to do it. The only thing I would recommend is to maybe try to shadow a broad range of specialties and practices to give you more exposure to the career as a whole.
Unless you absolutely love academics or need some sort of post-bacc study to get into med school, I wouldn’t take a one year masters program. That’s more stress to succeed, and the grades will go into your med school application.
If you’re taking a less-than-voluntary gap year, then you might consider academics to bring up grades or some sort of research or work/volunteer that is medically relevant. Keep in mind that tons of people who apply to med school already have credentials involving research and clinical volunteering/scribing, so doing so will not really set you apart.
People in my class that took gap years did everything from post-bacc/masters programs to being scribing to ski patrol. It just depends on what you like doing or what you need to make your application stronger (ie grades).