Pre-Med Student- study abroad junior year?

bookiemom
Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:39:58 +0000

Racquetdad: Mom of 4th-year med student here. Please encourage your son to take his time in applying to med school. Enjoy the semester abroad if he can do it. There is no rush to take the MCAT (drop that S at the end, parents, that’s not what the kids say). It’s really an advantage to take a year or two off after college and work in the health care field with direct patient experience (or many do research or work in other medically related job). It gives you something to talk about at your interviews and in your essays.

Med schools like to see that commitment in working with patients and that extra year or two also allows for much more time in shadowing and preparing applications. going straight from undergrad into med school and then residency isn’t perhaps the best for mental health either.