Taking Time for a Break

I am in med school now, but I did take a year off. My med school has a very high proportion of "non-traditional" students. That is, there are a lot of people who took some time off.

I spent my year doing a variety of things: worked on an ambulance for five months, helped get a summer camp started, worked for the Olympics, and drove cross country twice. All of these were great experiences that really gave me a lot to talk about during my interviews instead of going through the same "I took these classes, did this research." I had a lot to add from what I had experienced in the time after college. This added experience improved the quality of my essays and my interviews. 

Another benefit I got from time off is a perspective of the "real world." My understanding of other people and the world around me is much greater after spending a year working, even though I had worked while in college. I believe my experiences strengthened my application and helped it stand out.

Other things people in my med school did with time off include:

• City Year
• Peace Corps
• AmeriCorps
• Travel
• Research
• Technician work in a hospital
• Teaching
• Work in Third-World clinics, from Africa to Costa Rica
• Graduate programs
• Post-bac premed programs
• Working at non-medically related jobs. (Anything from business to law: it gives you a very original perspective on medicine and health care.)

It doesn't matter so much what you do as long as it helps to improve you in some way. Everyone I know who took a year off feels better for it.