Gap years, returning to medicine, and other options

[theoneandonly]

Hi all,

I'm going through a difficult time here. I'm reaching the end of my degree (end of 4th year about to embark on my final year) and GMC pre-registration and foundation applications are starting to rear their heads.

The problem is what I really want is to take a complete break from medicine for a few years, and I don't think MMC and Clinical Skills personal and professional development will let me do that - what with the enphasis on life long learning.

I've lost most of my enthusiasm for medicine since starting clinical medicine in 3rd year....I've been discovering that both medicine and itself and the lifestyle are not what I had previously thought.

I am an academic and a scientist at heart and clinical medicine seems to have completely removed these elements of the course. We're down to protocol protocol protocol, you'll be asked lists of facts without reasons.

The other major issue for me is that I'm still young, and I want to get out and live life. Foundation year looks like I'm going to hit huge work life balance problems with it. I'm not motivated by money, but I definately feel that I'm not ready for the level of time commitment that foundation years are likely to demand.

Ideally I'd like to graduate, forget medicine for a few years, go out and live, get a job doing casual lifeguarding/swimming teaching again and work just enough to financially get by. Then perhaps, when I'm older return to medicine.

Although perhaps the science academic route is where I should be?

Another concern for me is that my parents are much older than most. My father is in his late 70s and I'm acutely aware that I don't know how much time I have left to spend with my family. I want to make it count.

I also want to get some travelling in, and be a relatively free agent.

Is there a way to leave medicine completely and come back to it later? Can I simply take USMLE steps 1 ,2 and 3 examinations to prove I've got my clinical knowlege up to speed again?

I don't feel I can talk to anyone about this. My friends are all medics and I don't think they would understand, my parents are so proud of me and have told everyone they know, I feel I'd be letting them down. I feel tortured, with no1 I can speak freely to for advice and there's so much pressure from the system, from the expectations of those around me, and from what will be £20,000 in student loan to repay on graduation.

My chief gripes with the profession, and especially the foundation program are:

1. Work life balance. Too long hours and it seems there's little option to work part time or little chance of it. I get the feeling that if I enter clinical medicine I'll get so little time off, the years will all meld together and I'll lose and waste my youth.

2. I really really miss the science. Clinical seems sterile to me. It's not that I can't do it - I'm actually extremely good at it - I also enjoy talking to people...clinical medicine just feels like sciences dumbed down younger brother.

3. I want to travel for some time and find myself and the career structure and life long learning requirements are prohibitive.

4. the seeming requirement to relocate, i want to live where I want, with my family, and I don't want to compremise on that. The foundation programs themselves seem a locational lottery and from what I've seen it seems that re-locatting is the most common way of moving up the ladder.....

It's difficult. I'm reaching a time where everyone is asking me what I want to go into....all I can seem to bring myself to say is something non-commital about 'not having made up my mind because I like them all' but the words feel hollow to me, a public face I'm forced to display to pretty much everyone I know, all of whom are so excited and pleased for me. MMC isn't going to give me the space to actually take time out gain life experience and find myself......and with every fibre of my being I feel I need that.

What advice do people have? What can I do? What are my options? I thought about trying to leave medicine for a few years, 2? 3? perhaps even 5 or 6?

Is it even possible?

I'd even considered further study to forestall things a bit further and buy me time....

but pre-registration forms for the GMC are due and foundation application begins shortly.

I still don't know what to do. I feel I'm lying to all those around me, telling them what they want to hear, I don't feel I've had a propper break in 2 years due to the holiday lengths and after a long time, and with decision dates looming imenantly, everythings finally starting to get to me.

[Pammy]

Not sure I'm in a good position to give advice as I'm only a 1st year GEP so don't know too much about the system! So just some general things...

Is there a course coordinator, personal tutor or some such for your course who you could talk to? They might have some good advice.

Regarding options: academic-wise, I believe there are some specialties that are basically pure science...e.g. chemical pathology is effectively biochemistry. Also there are academic foundation programmes - did you know about those? I am sure there are ways to make medicine more "sciency" later on - guess everyone just has to go through the basic training first.

A note of caution with academic science though: I have seen people leave biochemistry (my undergrad) when they started doing labwork - it's not the same as a science undergrad. Again, you spend days and days doing apparently mundane, repetitive work, making up buffers, following protocols. And again, it gets better as you progress through the system, get students to do the boring work for you etc :-)

Would it be possible to "intercalate" a PhD? I know most people do it either before med (grads...), after pre-clinicals, or much later on (specialty training level), and I am not sure if it is possible before F1. If it is, it might be an idea. But I'm not sure if that would make it more difficult to apply for F1 later on or if you'd have to then take some competency tests etc.

[hellybelly1]

I can't comment on the medicine side of things, but I came to medicine from a career in research science, and it has the same "requirement to relocate" problem that medicine has. There's no guarantee at all that jobs will come up in the geographical area that you want. I worked with one woman who had spent roughly six years living in a different country to her husband, because they were unable to get jobs that suited their skills and research interests any closer to each other.

[Button]

Hey,

have just started final year and am feeling the same way... I'm not ready to give my life up to Medicine just yet! And I'm not really up for waiting til after the foundation years for some time out... I'd quite like to have 1/2 years out doing a masters in something a bit different. It may not be the best idea in terms of my medical career but I feel it's something I need to do. Have you managed to find much info on having time out? )

[Eleeeepil]

You can do intercalated year. Its not really out of medicine per se, but it get your mind out of it for the time being. Do you think a year is enough to bring you back to medicine?

[Saoirse]

Hi!

I really feel for you, currently going through an 'education/life crisis' so to speak at the moment as well.

As someone mentioned above, is it possible for you to do an intercalculated degree at this stage? That might be worth looking into...

Could you maybe go 'off-books' for the year (if the med school allows it), take the year out to travel, teach english, do some medical work abroad to please the med school...a year off books would give you time to think, travel, spend time with family/friends, earn a bit of money and enjoy yourself.
(I know a med student at my uni spent a few weeks in Moldova volunteering in an orphanage during the summer and then took the year off from her medical studies to remain in Moldova, however i can't remember what year she was in...)

Maybe it might be well worth finishing the degree for the sake of another year, and then taking a few years out...sounds like a good plan but as I'm not a med student (yet), I don't have any idea about how adivisable it is to take a few years out between graduation and foundation years/registration etc so maybe someone else can advise you on that.

Talk your college tutor, or to a lecturer and find out all feasible options and go from there...
Good luck!

[theoneandonly]

Well I'm still thinking pretty much the same way as before.

What I have found out since is that it is possible to postpone your foundation entry for one year and take a year out.

I intend to do that. Anyone can...

However one will probably have to contend with that in the job market in years to come. Still for the sake of sanity I need the space.

Wish I could delay it a couple of years but the guy giving us our lecture on the foundation program said that one year you'd get away with fine after two years you'd be blocked from entering the profession.

Perhaps I'll take one year then start a masters course or something........I've not decided. Ideally I'd rather not be tied down in one city. I'm learning spanish and want to travel the spanish speaking world to work on my second language during some of that time. I also really want to find time to spend with my family....

And I've also now developed problems regarding where to work finding myself being pulled three different ways....