If you are a typical premedical student, much of your undergraduate career has centered around one task: getting into medical school. Although the traditional medical school admissions timeline involves submitting your applications after your third year of undergraduate study, more students are choosing to take a gap year and then apply after their fourth year of college. They would then matriculate into medical school after a year away from the classroom. Mixed opinions on the gap year abound, with some arguing that there is little point in delaying the plunge into medical training. Others counter that the gap year allows students to recharge and determine whether medicine is truly right for them. If you are deciding whether to take a gap year, consider these potential benefits and disadvantages. Benefits 1. Opportunity to pursue other interests: Have you been contemplating writing a novel or pursuing your favorite sport competitively? Chances are that such extracurricular pursuitswill be substantially curtailed or wholly eliminated from your schedule once you enter medical school. Many students choose to take a gap year to pursue occupations and activities outside of medicine that they know they will be unable to pursue in the coming years. 2. Space to reflect on the reasons you want to attend medical school: When you are solely focused on earning a particular GPA and MCAT score to get into medical school, you might lose sight of why you want to become a physician in the first place. A gap year can enable you to reconnect with your original reasons for choosing medicine, as well as consider ways you see yourself contributing to the medical field in the future. For instance, do you gravitate toward a medically-focused gap year experience like volunteering in a foreign hospital? Do you find your thoughts repeatedly drawn to your upcoming medical training, or do you feel intense, unexpected relief when faced with the prospect of an extended break? Upon reflection, some students inevitably decide that becoming a doctor isn't the correct path for them, thus avoiding an expensive mistake. Others reaffirm their commitment to medicine and embark on medical school with certainty. 3. Time to save for medical school: You can use time away from the classroom to apply for scholarships and save money to help pay for your medical education, reducing the loans you have to take out. Many students opt for gap year jobs and put their income toward medical school. Further, you can spend your gap year researching and applying for other potential funding sources, such as military scholarships. Although you could also pursue these scholarship opportunities without taking a gap year, you may find it overwhelming to navigate medical school applications, extracurriculars, undergraduate coursework and scholarship research simultaneously. Disadvantages 1. A shorter medical career: This is perhaps the most frequently proposed argument against taking a gap year. Because medical training is an extended process, many individuals cannot fathom delaying their studies now – even for one year – only to be in medical training at an older age. Students who are of a nontraditional age during their undergraduate or medical school years or students who hope to begin a family in the near future may be particularly averse to devoting a year to the pursuit of anything other than their medical education. 2. One less year of a physician's salary: Participating in a gap year means you will likely lose one year of a physician's salary, since the time you spend during your gap year is typically not compensated in the same way as a fully boarded doctor. Although medicine is certainly not about financial compensation, if you will have monetary constraints like student loans after graduation, you may find that this potential salary loss is a compelling reason to go straight to medical school. 3. Readjustment to student life: Some students find that time outside of the classroom allows them to recharge, while others lose their academic rhythm after an extended break. If you have historically struggled during the first month of school after summer break, then a gap year may not be right for you. Applying to medical school after your junior year will prevent you from abandoning the habits that help make you a successful student. Source
