5 Reasons To Take A Gap Year Before Medical School

Recharge and refuel

You’ve just been through thirteen years of schooling, and there’s another five or six years to come at medical school. It can get very tiring and you can lose sight of the end goal. Therefore, taking a year out is perfect. Use it as an opportunity to wind down a bit and relax before you begin the next leg of your academic journey. By all means, keep up to date with current developments in medicine but trust me, you deserve a break!

Travel, travel and travel!

Visit new places, meet new people and experience other cultures. It’s remarkable how much you’ll learn and how much is out there to discover. Make it your mission to see the world! Keep a blog so your friends and family can keep track of what you’re doing and of course to make them jealous.

Get some work experience

Gain some invaluable work experience in the medical field. I know a lot of people who worked as healthcare assistants during their gap year. This will definitely place you ahead of your colleagues when you get to clinics as you’ll have a better idea of how to communicate effectively with patients not to mention, you’ll gain a better general understanding of the workings of a hospital.

Alternatively, there’s nothing wrong with working in a non-healthcare setting. A lot of the largest accountancy firms in the world employ school-leavers on a temporary basis. It really is the perfect opportunity to try your hand at a completely different career which will not reaffirm that being a doctor is what you want to do, but will also give you an insight into the world or work.

Learn more about yourself

Cheesy as it sounds, this is a great time to discover more about yourself. Also use your gap year as an opportunity to develop some new skills. Take those Spanish classes. Learn to play the guitar. Do all those things you could never make time for before.

Earn some money

Going to university is extremely expensive. Even if you do take out a maintenance loan, often this barely covers the cost of your accommodation, let alone anything else you need to pay for, such as food. Take the opportunity on your year out to get a job and start saving up. It might seem a struggle when you’re working full time and your friends from school are all having a blast during Freshers’ but you’ll be so grateful for the extra cash.