year off between med school and residency

[alimarie81]

Can anyone comment on taking a year off between med school and residency? Has anyone out there done it? For what reasons? Did you have difficulty applying since you were not an M4? What specialties?

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[eastcoastyall]

I know of two people from my school who did this, both of whom matched very well. The reasons for doing this range from undecided on specialty to waiting for significant other to wanting a break to building your resume. You can do research in pretty much any specialty you want, but since you are not in medical school, I do not believe that the medical student research awards would apply to you (Doris Duke, NIH cluster, etc.). So, you would have to find a lab with deep enough pockets to fund you for the year. If you didn't want to do research in this year, that would be more of an issue in applying for a subsequent residency.

 

[JMK2005]

Can anyone comment on taking a year off between med school and residency? Has anyone out there done it? For what reasons? Did you have difficulty applying since you were not an M4? What specialties?

I knew of many people in my class who deferred their graduation and did something for a year. So you would be graduating with the class of 2009. Your student affairs office should be helpful.