My Post-Bacc Gap Years: 10 Amazing Lessons I Learned

One of the best periods of my life, so far, has been my post-bacc gap years. I didn’t go straight into medical school, but I took two years off and worked different jobs and lived my best life. Was this my original plan? No way. But it’s what happened, and I’m excited to share my story with you in case you, too, decide (or are forced) to take a gap year.

At some point in our lives, something happens to us and we make the crazy decision to be a doctor. For some of us, we are sick or someone in our lives are sick. The medical team Inspired us so much, that we wanted to throw on some scrubs and be just like them.

Or maybe we watched enough episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, ER, House, Good Doctor, etc., that we’ve convinced ourselves that those shows represent the life we want to live.

Whatever the reason may be, it’s a long and treacherous journey that will test us all, pushing us to unimaginable limits. So, to take on this journey, we have to be pretty sure this is what we want to do right? But how is it that we know we want to do this? How do we know we want to dedicate 12+ years to this field?

My “Foolproof” Timeline to Dr. D

I cannot speak for everyone, but I know finding out why my reason came about 7 years after I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not a typo…seven whole years between “Wow I’m going to be a doctor” and “This is why I want to be a doctor”.

So what was the disconnect? For a majority of that time, I had this superficial drive to be a doctor. I like to help people 😊 because that’s original right? Medical schools that I applied to my senior year of college thought so too because I got NINE big fat NOs.

They saw right through my thin personal statement, lack of medical experience, average GPA and MCAT score. That completely devastated me and embarrassed me. However, I decided the dream was worth it enough, and I was going to take a one year hiatus to get my life together then apply again.

This was absolutely not how I envisioned my life going when I was 15. I had it all laid out. I thought I would do my four years of undergrad, then BOOM, straight into medical school and be a Psychiatrist by 30. Life, however, had other plans and forced me to take a timeout. My post-bacc gap years were so vital to my journey.

I am happy to announce that now I am a D.O. candidate, pursuing my lifelong mission of being a doctor!

Lesson 1: Relax and Go with the Flow

When your life gets thrown out of whack, the first instinct may be to freak out. I’m a planner to the MAX, so change stresses me out. To think you are going to go straight to medical school and then being told that you are not could be a huge bomb drop. Don’t freak out. There’s a reason you have to take a break, and whether you know it or not, this break is supposed to happen.

It took me a minute to figure out that my post-bacc gap years needed to happen. But now I am turning flips that I didn’t go straight to medical school straight from undergrad. I’m about a 110% sure that I would have flunked out. I had no patient experience, a complete lack of base when it came to anatomy and physiology, and I really didn’t know why I wanted to be a doctor.

I may have become so frustrated that I quit medicine. The lessons I’ve learned were so important for me to move forward. Everyone around me comments on how much more relaxed and confident I am. It’s like I was a little fire ball on the verge of exploding because I was so high strung.

I needed this break. I have been in school since I was five years old. There was nothing wrong with taking a pause and delaying my dream two years. If life delays your dream ten years, then that is what you need. However much time you need, take it, enjoy it, and learn from it because, if this path is really what you want to do, it will only make you a better physician.

2. Post-Bacc Gap Years are for Gaining Experience

The most important thing (in my opinion) to getting into medical school, besides academics, is medical experience. Medical schools want to know before they invest in you that you have invested in the medical field. Unsure of what to do or what counts as medical experience? You can find a detailed list of options here to help you figure it out.

During my post-bacc gap years, I worked as a mental health tech at a behavioral hospital. It was the most enriching experience of my life, for multiple reasons (detailed in the next two points). That really showed me why I wanted to be a doctor. Not having this experience before was definitely crippling to my application. But after working there, my personal statement finally had some girth behind it. I could finally pull from real and personal experiences.

3. Patient Care SUCKS

The year I spent as a tech was unlike anything I could have ever imagined. I spent the first four months at that job like:

Imagine my surprise, as a Black girl from the suburbs, with a two parent home, who has never worried about my basic needs being met, and graduated top of my class, stepping into a room full of people who have experienced trauma since they were conceived. Shocked is a very underwhelming way of describing my initial reaction and the patients fed off it.

They tore me apart those first couple of months. These patients knew I was out of my league. They attacked me, spit on me, called me every explicative they could think of, and I’m talking about the little kids! They got less creative as they got older 🙃. There were several days where I worked 16 hours and they felt like 32. I could not begin to IMAGINE how some of my coworkers had done this for up to 25 years! So if you hate dealing with some patients, it’s okay. Some of them really are hellacious.

4. Patients Make It ALLLL Worth It

As awful as some of my patients were…I had the best experience overall working there. The majority of those patients did not want to be there, and someone checked them in against their own will. Regardless, some of them accepted that they were there, and tried to get the most out of it.

The most enriching age group, for me, were the adolescents. That group was the most exciting of the three units and had more codes than anyone else.

However, that group was the most sensitive because they were old enough to understand their predicament and either wanted to fight to get out of it, or were going to take a turn for the worst and stay in their situation. So to be able to reach through to one of them, get them to trust me and listen was a feeling that left me floating through all the bad stuff. I’ll never know if I actually got through to any of my patients permanently, but just knowing that I gave my best effort, and learned so much from them helps me know that I am entering the right field.

5. Keep in Contact with Letter Writers During Post-Bacc Gap Years

Taking a gap year between undergrad and medical school may come with a graduation, moving away from school, and losing contact with old professors, employers, mentos, etc. Most medical schools have a specific requirement for who writes recommendation letters. You want to have all your bases covered so you only have to ask for letters once. It would be so inconvenient for your entire application to be held up due to letters. So who should write these letters? Kaplan has outlined a list of letter writers including:

• science professors
• non-science professors (humanities, social sciences, etc.)
• physician (that you know personally)
• pre-med advising committee (if your school has this service)

So if you are moving away from your college or removing yourself completely from campus, it is imperative to keep a few key relationships with faculty, especially those in hard sciences. While you’re in school, it may be helpful to stand out with a few professors so when they write their letter about you, it can be more personable.

Send a random email just to keep in touch, or find a way to keep up with what they are doing. When you are ready for a letter, email them with plenty of notice. Give them everything at once, any logins, URLs, addresses, etc. to make it as convenient as a process for you both.

6. Shadow Shadow Shadow

This is almost as important as gaining experience. Shadowing is a bit different than your clinical experience. Your only job will be to look and learn. During my post-bacc gap years, I shadowed two doctors, an orthopedic surgeon and psychiatrist. Shadowing was such an eye opening experience because my initial dream was to be a psychiatrist. Even working in mental health confirmed that I still wanted to be in this field.

However, after shadowing the Head Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Family and Children’s Services, I realized that I there was no way I could do that for the rest of my life. My experience with surgery definitely shook things up when I fell in love with it. I knew right away surgery was my new passion.

If I hadn’t connected with one of my sorority sisters, I wouldn’t have any of these opportunities. She connected me with other Black doctors in the area. They showed me the ropes of their profession and shared with me their experiences of being Black doctors. I learned so many insights that I would not have been able to learn elsewhere.

7. Make and Save Some Mulah during Post-Bacc Gap Years

8. Leisurely Reading is Good for the Soul

As a Pre-Med, reading for leisure is probably the last thing you want (or have time) to do. However, there are so many books out there that can help motivate you or put things in perspective of how you are spending your time and why life has gone the way it has for you.

Find a genre you enjoy and that could add something to your life. Whether that be some inspirational guidance, spirituality finder, mystery, romance or some satirical piece that makes you laugh, keep your mind engaged during your post-bacc gap year.

9. Travel as Much as You Can

I know this list includes saving money but you worked really hard, so it’s time to reward yourself. Medical school has been the busiest time of my life! I haven’t seen my family in three months since the beginning of school. COVID-19 shut down all travel plans for the summer, so I basically did not get to live my best life during the end of my post-bacc gap years.

This doesn’t have to be you.

Evelyn Atieno, contributor to the Huffington Post, outlined 8 Ways to Travel as a Broke College Student. Even though you may not be a Broke College Student anymore, you’re in your post-bacc gap years, trying to save money. You may not be working a flashy job making a lot of money, especially if you’re in the healthcare field and working an entry level job.

To combat this, try planning trips out over months. This way, it’s a little money over a lot of time instead of one lump sum.

For example, I went on a cruise with two other friends. I paid $120 a month for four months. When the cruise was paid off, I still had three months to buy my plane ticket to the port and any other extras that I wanted. When it was time for the trip, all necessities had been paid for and anything else left for me to buy was extra. Planning ahead and paying little by little is a way to still travel without breaking the bank.

10. Vamp Up Your Research

During your post-bacc gap years, take the time to really do this important thing! Maybe the last time you applied for schools, or thought about applying to schools, you were off base or you’ve changed your mind since then. The good thing about gap years is that you have ample time to decide where you want to spend your time (and money) for the next 4+ years.

Decide what the most important factors of a school are to you and what schools have those. Research scholarship opportunities available to you. Research cities and determine if that is a place you can see yourself living. You need time to factor in several aspects to your decision.

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