Medical Leave of Absence

[Student24]

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[JohnDakota]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hopefully, as you say, you will come back at 100%.

 

I can't speak specifically about CaRMS - I'm not even in medical school yet - however I do have quite a bit of experience in professional development at least.

 

If there's an established mechanism for this medical leave of absence (I can't imagine there isn't), then you should be completely fine. On a fundamental level of individual rights - institutions are not allowed to discriminate based on things such as medical disabilities, and while yours is acute, and hopefully temporary, that's what you would fall under.

 

So long as you perform well during your tenure as a medical student, I don't see why you'd have a problem at CaRMS. Frankly, this should give you an opportunity to reflect not only on the subject matter that interests you, but also the associated lifestyles of the specialties you're looking at competing for.

 

I"m not sure how old you are - but I assure you, at some point it wont be all about excelling at the hardest, most competitive field. You'll come to find a pace of life that you want to live, and if your specialty demands much more then you're willing to give, then you wont be very happy.

 

There's an abundance of literature out there on the typical lifestyles of each specialty. Take this year to reflect on those, lesser considered elements of professional development.

 

Best of luck in your surgeries and recovery.

[future_doc]

There is no question that you should take the year off, I cannot see a problem to do this and to restart medical school in 20014.

[NLengr]

The LOA will be fine. People will understand. Also, it's better to be in good shape than struggle because you're hurt. Bad evals will certainly hurt your application.

[ploughboy]

Hey all,

 

I need some advice here. I'm about two months into my first year of medical school. I recently had an accident and am looking into periods of surgery and considerably lengthy healing times. This is already greatly impacting my performance in school, not only academically but also in terms of missed opportunities in applying for council positions, extracurriculars, etc. I know that as I approach the time of my surgeries, it'll only get worse and material will become increasingly difficult.

 

I am considering getting a Medical Leave of absence and just starting my med school over next year, fresh, and go from 2014-2018. I'm pretty confident that I could come back at 100% for the 2014 year.

 

I am concerned, however, on the effect this will have on my CaRMS qualifications. Many of the residencies that most interest me are also some of the most competitive. I am hoping that since I will still be doing my MD in a consecutive 4 year block it won't be so bad.

 

Any advice guys?? Will an LOA have any negative effects? Is it worth the leave or should I try and gun through the year as best I can?

 

Thanks!

 

Your LOA may or may not come up during CaRMS interviews and rankings (but honestly, since you're only an M1 most programs likely won't even notice). What will definitely harm you in CaRMS are poor ECs, poor academic performance and poor clerkship evaluations because you were trying to bull your way through school with unresolved medical issues.

 

Take the year and get through what you need to get through.

[rmorelan]

this happens from time to time, and people just take a year off, deal with it and return. There were 3-4 people in my year alone that did it. In the long run the other areas of your application are vastly more important.