If you are familiar with my story, then you know that I am a huge proponent of taking a gap year before medical school. Before I began medical school, I took two years away from school, and they were the best two years of my life. Prior to taking those gap years, I would have told you taking a gap year was the worst thing ever. I had a very sure plan of going straight from undergrad to medical school. The idea of any disruption to that plan was very stressful.
However, forced to take one due to a lack of medical school acceptances, I learned so much in that year. Going straight from K-12 to undergrad is 16 years of your life. To dive straight into another 4-12 years of school and training is A LOT. There is the strong desire to finish quickly and become a “young doctor”. Wanting to be a doctor at 28 versus 32 does not make a large difference in the grand scheme of life, especially when you are filling those years with something just as beneficial. Below are the benefits I found while taking a gap year, and why I think everyone should take a break between undergrad and medical school.
You get a break from school
The main benefit of taking a gap year before medical school is that you finally get a break from school! School can be fun and educational. But it can also be exhausting, demoralizing, and monotonous. Having some space away from educational settings can renew your passions and energy. When you exit the toil of school, you may find there is more to life than studying and tests.
There is so much to discover when you have the freedom to do so. No more 8am lectures. No more 3 hour exams. You get to live life however you want, with structure or without it. But after 12-16 years, having a year (or more), off can be the refreshing break you need.
You have time to enjoy your passions
Medical school is very demanding and can leave little time for your passions. Even I have struggled, at times, to maintain this blog due to the workload and time demands of medical school. These time constraints exist at the undergraduate level, especially if you are a pre-med involved in various campus activities. This leaves little time for the things that you enjoy doing.
Painting, working out, singing, reading for fun, even just watching TV may be the activities that fill you with joy. Yet, because of all the time obligations, you may find yourself unable to do them at the frequency you would like, or even, at all. Taking time between undergrad and medical school gives you time to explore those passions. It may seem frivolous, but if you are dedicating the next 4-12 years of education and training, taking a year or two to explore your interests can be of the utmost benefit. It’s like binge eating your favorite foods before going on a strict diet.
The hope is always to continue these passions to some degree while in school, but having the time to really dive into them, as you would during a gap year, can renew your spirit and give you the energy boost to get through medical school.
You can determine if medicine is really for you
Medical school is a COMMITMENT – time-wise, financially, emotionally, physically; you name it. Therefore, you have to really determine if medicine is for you before diving into it. Finding out that medicine is not for you when you have one semester or year of tuition hanging over your head is…unideal. So doing that soul searching by taking a gap year before medical school can save you time and money if you, ultimately, decide that medicine is not for you.
During this gap year, it’s important to expose yourself to as much medicine as possible. You will not be able to assess your true happiness or readiness for medicine without this exposure. This exposure does not only have to take place through shadowing or working in healthcare. It can also take place through talking with current physicians, residents, and medical students. They will be able to give you many perspectives to give you an idea of the realities of medicine.
You can pursue relationships and dedicate time to family
As I said, medical school is a commitment. This means time away from your family and friends to pursue this dream. If you have already committed much of your undergraduate time to getting the best grades possible, then you may have already missed time. The regret of missing graduations, retirements, weddings, birthdays, etc., does not go away. In fact, it intensifies because the number of occasions only grows with time.
Therefore, instead of diving into more commitment, taking a gap year before medical school gives you more time to dedicate to friends and family. Travel, move back home to spend time with family, live with friends; center your life around being with your loved ones. Medical school is not nearly as flexible or financially stable for new families as is the workforce. If you are recently married and/or interested in starting a family, you can focus on that relationship and stabilizing your finances before starting medical school.
You can improve your application
Sometimes, immediate matriculation into medical school is not possible because of your stats. Although holistic application review is commonplace, MCAT scores and GPAs still matter, along with other aspects – clinical experience, research, volunteer, leadership, and letters of recommendation. Without most of these, done well, your application may not be competitive compared to other applicants, especially for very competitive programs.
Taking a gap year before medical school will give you time to improve your application. Applying to medical school is expensive. Therefore, you want to significantly increase your odds of being successful. There is not magic formula to being accepted. The competition is just too high. But there are methods to increase your odds, and taking the space and time to do those during a gap year can be very beneficial.
You have time to see the world
In medicine, you will come across a myriad of people; even in your smallest rural clinic. Exposing yourself to as many different people as possible can significantly improve your ability to relate to and treat different people. If you have grown up in the same place, went to college there, and plan on staying there for medical school, you may be missing opportunities to experience other cultures. By taking a gap year before medical school, you can make more time to travel and see the world.
Prior to medical school, I had visited about 7 or 8 countries. I have seen some of the poorest areas of the world. I have also experienced some of the richest cultures in the world. Getting the opportunity to see the world has provided me with such an enriching experience. It helps me understand the variety of people I have come across in a clinical setting. It also improves my empathy and insight to provide culturally competent care. Having a narrowed world view can often limit how you see the world and your understanding of future patients.
You have a period of time without assessments
Constant assessment is exhausting. K-12 and beyond, you just seem to always be working towards another test. When you enter medical school, the exams do not stop. Aside from the three licensing exams, that medical students and first-year residents take, there are board certification exams that physicians take at the end of their training. Those who complete fellowships also must get certified in those sub-specialties. These exams are repeated throughout a physician’s career to ensure doctors are always up-to-date with current practices.
During your gap year, not having to worry about exams is so refreshing! If you decide to work, travel, volunteer, etc., you most likely will not have to worry about taking a test. It is an unfathomable relief to be free from exams. You don’t realize how exhausting they can be until you enter a space where you do not have one coming up. If you near the end of college and begin to feel extremely fatigued and demoralized from exams, then taking a gap year before medical school may be what you need to renew your energy.
You can save money for medical school
Medical school is expensive. Applying to medical school is expensive. Therefore, the more financially prepared you can be, the better. Taking a gap year before medical school can give you the time to work and save money for potential costs. Saving money for tuition may not be as feasible as saving money for lodging and living. Still, these can be very costly and increase the amount of loans you have to take as a medical student.
If you can graduate from college and live at home while working, that will be your best option for saving money. If living at home is not an option, even having roommates or living in a less expensive city will help you save money. I lived at home the year I was applying to medical school and worked full-time. Medical school applications can rack up quickly! Having the financial flexibility to applying to medical school and attend interviews decreased the burden and anxiety of the process. Even when I started medical school, I had a nice nest egg that I could use for moving expenses and buying a new car when mine broke down!
You can obtain another degree
If I could do my gap years over again, I would have gotten another degree. At the time, my only goal was to go to medical school, so I didn’t think about anything other than taking the classes I needed for that. However, now I’m nearing the end of medical school and wishing I had already gotten my master’s so I could truly be done when I graduate.
If you are considering taking a gap year, or two, then look into some post-baccalaureate or master’s programs. Entering medical school with another degree can provide you with experience that your peers will not have. Master’s degrees can give you real-world experience, research experience, and more niche instruction on important topics. Public health, health administration, and even business can provide you with great insight that diversifies your medical knowledge and perspectives.
Master’s level programs are also great for those trying to beef up their applications. Science post-bacc degree programs can be designed specifically for aspiring medical students. Not only will you graduate with a master’s, but you will learn more about a subset of medicine and receive direct counseling for applying to medical school.
You can get work experience
One of the biggest problems I’ve noticed with undergrad straight-to-medical-school students is they can be overwhelmed by problems that arise in the work space. School is such a structured environment, that you become accustomed to the predictable nature of it. However, real life is anything but predictable. Therefore, issues in clinical experiences can cause major discomfort and transition difficulties for medical students of all levels.
Taking a gap year before medical school gives you the time to get work experience. Even if you work during undergrad, nothing compares to having a full-time position that you attend every day. I worked in a behavioral health center 40+ hours a week for over a year. That experience prepared me to be flexible, friendly, understanding, and able to work in a team dynamic. There is nothing in school that could have given me those same skills. There is a reason medical schools require clinical experience. Working in that environment can give you true insight into what your future life may look like.
Key Takeaways
Going straight into medical school and “getting it out of the way” may seem like the main priority. However, having the best experience in medical school should supersede having the fastest, and some times that requires waiting. Don’t be so caught up in time that you miss out on some of these great benefits of taking a gap year. Aside from all of the above, you have the opportunity to mature and view things through a different lens than when you are 22. Lean into that increased wisdom and be okay with taking your time starting a very arduous process.