Gap Year Options for Premeds

According to the 2019 AAMC Matriculating Student Questionnaire, All Schools Summary, 65% of the medical school students took one or more years off before matriculating to medical school: 44% of applicants in 2019 took a gap year consisting of 1-2 years, 13% took 3-4 years off, 8% took 5 or more years off.

Med schools seek mature applicants who have significant clinical and life experiences to know this is the right profession for them. With COVID making it more difficult to secure clinical positions, having 1-2 additional years to gain more life experience and clinicals can be extremely beneficial to an applicant. I’m not saying undergraduates should not apply, but make sure you have a robust resume of experiences to compete with students 2-3 years older than you.

As COVID drags on, you are going to have to be creative about gaining clinical experience. If possible, try and gain some sort of certification or paid position. This will give you an edge in gaining clinical experience. Here are some examples:

  • CNA certificate, Medical Assistant, Medical Assistant Certificate or Nursing Assistant Training

  • Phlebotomist. Phlebotomists can receive course training or on the job training.

  • Be a home health aid for an individual with a disability. You might need to earn a Home Care Aid certificate.

  • Get your EMT license.

  • Work at a dialysis center

  • Patient advocate for an insurance company

  • Work at a crisis center hotline. They will train you.

  • Work at a physical therapy clinic

  • Scribe

  • Clinical Research Coordinator. Recruit subjects for a clinical trial.

  • Enroll in undergraduate coursework, a postbac or graduate program. If the goal is to increase your science GPA, then make sure to enroll in BCPM courses. If you do not need to enhance your science GPA, then you can enroll in an MPH. (MPH will not increase your BCPM). Check out Newport’s page on postbac and graduate programs.

Gap Year Opportunities:

Boston Specialist: Gap Year Progam. Work as a paid, full time clinical assistant with a gastroenterologist and his team. Gain valuable clinical, research and patient advocacy experience right in the heart of Boston. They also offer a volunteer program too.

Dermatology Internship Opportunity located just outside Boston. KDDS GapYear Program offers premeds a 14 or 26month opportunity to scribe in a specialty care office.

The Division of Genetics and Genomics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York City

Center for Disease Control The CDC offers a variety of internships in the summer as well as during the year if you are looking at a gap year option. See link for specific dates and duration of programs. Some can be as short as 4 weeks or as long as 1 year. 

St. Vincent Medical Center Emergency Room Research Associate Program in Bridgeport, CT. They offer programs during three semesters (fall, spring summer). This is a great option for gap year students who reside in the New Haven/Bridgeport/ Greenwich CT area. 

Review AAMC's page on Making the Most of Your Gap Year. 

Conduct research through the NIH: Training Programs in Biomedical Sciences (summer or year) 

Project Horseshoe Farm Gap Year Fellowship with sites in Greensboro and Marion, Alabama and Pomona, California.
”HSF Fellows make positive impacts in the community by working with patients and physicians in a health partners program, children in school and after school programs, and seniors and other vulnerable adults in community center programs and housing programs.” Deadline: February 13, 2022 Email apply@projecthsf.org with additional questions.

NOTE: Newport Premedical Consulting, LLC does not recommend or endorse any particular program listed above. Programs are listed as a point of resource. Students must conduct their own research to determine if a program fits their needs.