Doing nothing during M1 summer--will this hurt me if I have a strong location preference?

[scaredmedstudent]

I just finished M1 year, which is a 1-year pre-clinical. Next year I start on the wards. I get a 6 week long break. I am not doing anything except hangout with friends basically, and catch up on my hobbies. I attend a T20-30.

(I know this all sounds like excuses and you can skip this part, but I started school as an MD/PhD and decided to drop the PhD late this year... and I put everything on hold because I assumed I'd have 4 years blocked off to do research and get involved in ECs. In May, I dropped the program (informed decision). Then I came out to my mom as gay and got all but disowned by her, which took a toll on my mental health and housing. Then my cat died a week later, then my closest uncle died a week after that. Then I lost my car and had to buy a new one. I was scrambling to secure housing (I lived at home), process the major losses in my life, and trying to pass the year so I wouldn't have to remediate and have a failed block on my transcript.)

Anyway, early July I reached out to 11 PIs asking to do any sort of research with them this summer, but all said no or ghosted me. Due to online lectures, I never got to meet professors in person or 1-on-1. I signed up to do some community volunteering but most of the spots are taken and I'm on a waitlist to volunteer at 3 places (a soup kitchen and then two clinics). It's looking like I'll be doing nothing these 6 weeks. I'm worried I won't be a competitive residency applicant. I don't want to end up in the middle of nowhere. I want primary care, I think, though. I think FM or IM-PCP.

Ideally I want to stay in Michigan or go to California. Michigan is my home state and I have most of my friends and family here (but soon to lose my family when they find out I'm gay). I have a strong preference for being near a major city, like 30-45 minutes away max by car. I know 3 years isn't the end of the world if I end up in the middle of nowhere, but truthfully I'm scared about being gay in some areas, and I don't love the idea of being in a completely rural area as is.

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[cj_cregg]

Oof. Take what sounds like a well-deserved break. I'm sorry you've been through so much in an already very difficult year and I hope you're finding the support and love you need right now.

Research is not super important for family medicine. If you have prior research experience (which I imagine you do if you initially went MD/PhD) this will help, and if you really want to you might find an easier clinical or community-based project over the next couple years but it certainly does not have to be in the next 6 weeks. But honestly, even what most would consider very modest research experience will stand out in FM.

If you can find a little volunteering to do, awesome. You might try reaching out to some shelters or community organizations directly that are not affiliated with your school if you really want to, but again...this does not have to be in the next 6 weeks. Is there an LGBT community organization near you that you can give back to and also make some connections for support for yourself, if that's something that would be of interest for you?

Another thing to think about (again...not necessarily in the next 6 weeks) is getting involved with your school's FMIG chapter and considering attending some state and national academy of family medicine conferences/events to show commitment to the specialty, meet some residency programs, etc. As you get further into your clinical years, if you're confident you'll leave a good impression, you could consider doing an away rotation at a program or two that is of particular interest to you.

I can't speak to CA, but MI has lots of great residency programs downstate that sounds like they'd fit where you're looking for, and as I'm sure you know some places like Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, or even Traverse City might have a welcoming community for you as well and have some nice programs too. If you're a US grad with no red flags, you have a great shot at matching to a solid program that fits your geographic preferences. Taking some time to relax and gear up for clinicals in the 6 very short weeks between M1 and M2 is not a red flag

 

[iforget2]

I did a summer of research after M1 and was published in a couple of places. Never came up in any of my 16 interviews lol. I did some community service in an underserved area for 10 hours/semester and that was brought up A LOT even though in my mind I felt my research was "stronger". In my opinion, board scores are still a huge factor. My board scores were pretty average ~230/245, but for FM I guess it's above average and I got a ton of interview invites in my first few days, probably because some programs narrow down their applicants by board scores first.