Year Off

[Tre Cool]

so while applying to med school i'm looking for a job in this year off. i have a clinical research study i'll be volunteering with starting in august and that will probably last til the end of the year. i'm thinking of maybe bartending/waitressing during that time to make money. i actually did get a job offer in my professor's lab but it's not a med school lab (i'm more interested in that). but my dilemma is this: i'm ok with staying where i am til the end of the year. but i want to experience a new city in a different state next year before i go off to med school. that means i'll obviously have to find a new job. does it look bad to adcoms if i have 2 jobs within the year and move around? will they think i have issues being in one place? btw, i've never hopped around like this before.

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[Tre Cool]

*bump*

i'd really appreciate your comments.

 

[nightowl]

medgirl,

I'm in the same boat. Where are you thinking about moving? My main problem is lack of funds... So I will be moving home for a while and trying to decide on where to get a job, volunteering, and taking one class to keep my mind sharp. Can't decide if it's going to be biochem or histology. I am planning on picking up in April/May after I've made some money and spend about 4 months traveling the world. I'm thinking about working in 2 months in the Virgin Islands, taking a month of summer school in Florence, and spending some time backpacking through Europe in July...

 

[DarkLordofSith]

I really don't think that adcoms would look down on you moving around. I think that they'd like the fact that you aren't afraid of change and that you're gaining experiences that could give you new/different perspectives.

 

[Tre Cool]

thanks for the responses!

nightowl,
i'm living at home currently and because of the clinical research study that starts in august, i'm going to stay in the area til the end of the year. i still haven't found a job yet (and kinda unsure of what field to get a job in that'll only last 6 months - job searches are so hard) but i have been continuing to volunteer at the local hospital (i've been there for about 6 months now). i'm thinking of trying out a new city or one i've lived in before starting in january, maybe DC, NYC, boston, or somewhere on the west coast. thankfully if i need money to survive in one of those cities, in addition to my regular salary, my parents have my back. so finances thankfully aren't a worry. i was just thinking it might look odd to be jumping around.

DLOS - i might be doing the same job in the both places (still not sure what) but yeah, they will still be somewhat different.

btw, do you have any suggestions on types of jobs? i've done retail before for a short time and i thought about it again. but my thing with that is i want to learn a new skill during this year off, like with bartending. i guess if you go higher up in retail you learn new things but being there for 6 months wouldn't allow me that. should i just get a temp job somewhere? cuz i finished a post-bac in may and went on vacation for a couple of weeks. for almost all of june i've been doing AMCAS and taking it easy. i don't want a much larger gap in my resume because med schools will probably ask, right? ugh, it's so hard.

 

[Tre Cool]

*bump*

anyone?

 

[MrTee]

*bump*

anyone?

I doubt they'd care if you did that. If you have a history of moving around every 3 months for years on end, that would be a different story. I don't think you should worry about it.

 

[Tre Cool]

thanks Mr. Tee.

one more question - i've been having a hard time finding a job in the restaurant business lately. so i've been thinking about possibly doing basic research again. but then since i'm leaving in 6 months, is it really fair to get involved with research for such a short time? research is a very slow process so i feel like it wouldn't be fair to whatever PI i join and i probably wouldn't get too much out of it in 6 months. do you agree? thanks.

 

[MrTee]

thanks Mr. Tee.

one more question - i've been having a hard time finding a job in the restaurant business lately. so i've been thinking about possibly doing basic research again. but then since i'm leaving in 6 months, is it really fair to get involved with research for such a short time? research is a very slow process so i feel like it wouldn't be fair to whatever PI i join and i probably wouldn't get too much out of it in 6 months. do you agree? thanks.

Why don't you see what kinds of labs there are out there? Or maybe you could find an MD/PhD and help him/her out w/ clinical research and perhaps get published, and shadow when it's time to see patients. That would be pretty sweet--could lead to a quick publication. Worst case scenario, you don't get a publication or you feel bad for leaving quickly, but some docs are sympathetic to situations like yours where there isn't a lot of time.

 

[MrTee]

Also, have you considered teaching for SAT/GRE/MCAT at PR or Kaplan? I've never done it myself because I have a better paying/easier job, but I've heard it's pretty good once you've gone through the material a couple times.

 

[Tre Cool]

i have considered teaching/tutoring for Kaplan and maybe just in my own neighborhood. i might go ahead and do that. i'm gonna be involved with clinical research starting in august. but that's a volunteer thing. thanks for the response!

 

[PhDtoDO]

Don't tell them you're leaving in 6 months if you can help it. Ive been working in labs for years and there is an expected turn over rate. In fact the lab I'm in right now there's a new med student every summer for only 2 months and they get paid and usually don't have a lick of experience. Don't sweat it. Besides, if you have to wait another year, you'll still have a job.

In labs for over 10yrs.

-s

 

[Tre Cool]

Good advice PhDtoMD. but i'm not really that interested in that research job so i don't think i'm gonna take it. i recently got connections with some people in the restaurant business so i think i'll do that, tutor (found another place besides kaplan for that), continue volunteering, do clinical research, and fill our secondaries and prepare for interviews. that seems like a handful. i'm not gonna take anymore time off. wherever i get in (even if it's the carib) i'll go because i don't want to keep delaying it (i've already been out of undergrad for a few years) and i'm very ready to start med school.