Taking A Gap Year Question

[aspiringdoctor14]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this website and this is my very first post here. 

I would just like to ask if anyone has taken a Gap year before they applied to Medical School (more specifically but not limited to, the University of Manitoba).

 

I'm currently a sophomore student and my GPA is not very strong at the moment and I have yet to take the MCAT but I figured that I could just do it during my Gap year if I do decide to take it. I know that they (the UofM) do adjusted gpa but even if my gpa is adjusted, I am really not confident that it will be competitive enough... In fact, I think that by the time I graduate, I might just reach the bare minimum required. 

I plan on taking two years off just so I can work, volunteer more, improve my CV and also help out my parents a bit. I really want to work on a hospital during my gap years with really any responsibility. I really am not picky.

 

What is the average age for people who goes to medical school and start their journey? I understand that it varies from school to school but I'm just really curious and kinda just want a rough "guess-timate"

 

And does anyone have any suggestions and advice on what else I should so during my gap year to help me stand out a little bit more? 

• Do you recommend taking a Gap year?
• If you didn't take a Gap year, would you have considered taking one and what would you have done?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, Thank you all and Have a great day! 

[criselda]

I ended up having a gap year because I wasn't able to take the MCAT in my last year of undergrad. I spent that year volunteering and working full time management in the retail industry. I also obviously applied for med and prepped for interviews and such.

 

I think my gap year helped me grow up. My position at work taught me how to get along with people in different situations (boss, employees, customers, angry customers). I learned how to manage my money. It also drove home that I needed to do medicine, because I felt quite unfulfilled and dispassionate about what I was doing...

 

Other positives were that I did get to work on my relationships with family, friends and significant other, and I got a break from studying 24/7. Read more books, more time for hobbies, etc. I may have travelled that year too, but I wasn't making a ton of money so it was probably a modest vacation.

 

Would I have liked to get in to med school a year earlier, and finish earlier? Probably. I'm 29 now and finishing FM residency so it's not terrible.

 

All in all, I don't regret the experiences I had during that year. How's that for ambivalent

 

I'm very far removed from the med school admissions game now, but others may have more to say on using that gap year to bring up your GPA especially if that's an issue for you. Also, finding work in a hospital might be somewhat challenging. A lot of positions need some kind of training, unless maybe an administrative position of some sort? Or perhaps you already have said training or connections that could help.

[ArchEnemy]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this website and this is my very first post here. 

I would just like to ask if anyone has taken a Gap year before they applied to Medical School (more specifically but not limited to, the University of Manitoba).

 

I'm currently a sophomore student and my GPA is not very strong at the moment and I have yet to take the MCAT but I figured that I could just do it during my Gap year if I do decide to take it. I know that they (the UofM) do adjusted gpa but even if my gpa is adjusted, I am really not confident that it will be competitive enough... In fact, I think that by the time I graduate, I might just reach the bare minimum required. 

I plan on taking two years off just so I can work, volunteer more, improve my CV and also help out my parents a bit. I really want to work on a hospital during my gap years with really any responsibility. I really am not picky.

 

What is the average age for people who goes to medical school and start their journey? I understand that it varies from school to school but I'm just really curious and kinda just want a rough "guess-timate"

 

And does anyone have any suggestions and advice on what else I should so during my gap year to help me stand out a little bit more? 

• Do you recommend taking a Gap year?
• If you didn't take a Gap year, would you have considered taking one and what would you have done?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, Thank you all and Have a great day! 

 

The average age of my UofT class was 24.6 years old at matriculation.

[aspiringdoctor14]

I ended up having a gap year because I wasn't able to take the MCAT in my last year of undergrad. I spent that year volunteering and working full time management in the retail industry. I also obviously applied for med and prepped for interviews and such.

 

I think my gap year helped me grow up. My position at work taught me how to get along with people in different situations (boss, employees, customers, angry customers). I learned how to manage my money. It also drove home that I needed to do medicine, because I felt quite unfulfilled and dispassionate about what I was doing...

 

Other positives were that I did get to work on my relationships with family, friends and significant other, and I got a break from studying 24/7. Read more books, more time for hobbies, etc. I may have travelled that year too, but I wasn't making a ton of money so it was probably a modest vacation.

 

Would I have liked to get in to med school a year earlier, and finish earlier? Probably. I'm 29 now and finishing FM residency so it's not terrible.

 

All in all, I don't regret the experiences I had during that year. How's that for ambivalent

 

I'm very far removed from the med school admissions game now, but others may have more to say on using that gap year to bring up your GPA especially if that's an issue for you. Also, finding work in a hospital might be somewhat challenging. A lot of positions need some kind of training, unless maybe an administrative position of some sort? Or perhaps you already have said training or connections that could help.

Hi there, Thank you very much for your input and thank you for sharing your gap year experience with me! 

I do believe that I have a very long way to go and I highly believe that I need to improve my GPA greatly so that it'll be considered competitive enough. 

I do agree that taking a gap year helps you become a more mature person and helps you learn more about the people that you will be working on in the future.

 

Thank you again and best wishes to your future endeavours!

[aspiringdoctor14]

The average age of my UofT class was 24.6 years old at matriculation.

Oh wow! That average age is pretty interesting, Thank you for your input!

[Pippa756]

Oh wow! That average age is pretty interesting, Thank you for your input!

Yeh second that - very interesting indeed - where did you get this stat from?

[ArchEnemy]

Yeh second that - very interesting indeed - where did you get this stat from?

 

It was given to us during our orientation week in first year.

[aspiringdoctor14]

It was given to us during our orientation week in first year.

So the average age is about 25yrs old for incoming students in your med school. I think that sounds really awesome because it really gives non-traditional students some chance against traditional med students. And, they [students >25yrs old] may even have quite a lot of experiences from the "real world" that they can use to help back up their own personal stories or interview answers.

 

I do have one question for you ArchEnemy if you don't mind, how old were you when you got into med school and were you a traditional or non-traditional applicant. Traditional being a student who may have applied while they were still in Undergrad and non-trad as someone who applied after they graduated from Undergrad. Sorry, I'm just curious.