I have a bit of experience to share with you in case you decide to go the work route.
My background: I took a year off after 2nd year of residency to do research, and looked for locums work to make up for my resident salary. My research position was unpaid--which I preferred.
Things I learned:
1. If you are thinking about doing clinical work, you need to apply for your license right away. Hopefully you have already taken Step 3. After you get your state license, then you have to apply for your Controlled and Dangerous Substances registration (or your state's equivalent) after which you can apply for your DEA number. This takes a while and costs money.
2. Since you will not be board eligible or board certified (you will be a general practitioner), it will be MUCH harder to get a job. While you are legally allowed to work as a physician, many places require BC/BE. Even locums agencies will prefer BC/BE, and those that allow you to apply as a GP will likely not be able to place you. I tried working with two different locums agencies and they were both a fail.
3. If you are thinking about doing academics in the future, or applying to an academic/university-based fellowship, I highly suggest doing research. Having research experience changed the caliber of my fellowship application completely.
4. I found my current work position in a newspaper. All it said was "Physician wanted. call xxx-xxx-xxxx." Seemed shady but I was desperate. It turned out to be perfect for my situation--the right number of hours, the right type of cases, etc. They paid me a good salary. HOWEVER, they gave me a 1099 misc form, and because I didn't know how these things worked, I got taxed double: once for being my own company and once for being an employee of my company. That was a bummer but it was still way better than being paid 12.00/hr as a research assistant.
Overall, I found a situation that worked for me--being a non-salaried research assistant gave me a lot of flexibility over my schedule while I got valuable experience, mentorship, and a few publications. The locums position was also very flexible. Whenever I felt like taking time off, I could do it, which meant I could do whatever I wanted for all holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and particularly beautiful sunny days.
