The stigma of taking a year out from medical school

Abstract

I have never felt as nervous as I did when I requested my year out from medical school. I’d never met anyone who had taken time out, and I wasn’t sure it was possible. You are supposed to put your head down and get on with it, aren’t you? My first reason for taking time out after my second year of medical school was financial hardship. I had a job throughout the first two years of medical school, but as the third year approached I knew the spare time to earn some cash would get shorter, and my student loan would get bigger. I had overdrafts, no savings, and did not want part time work to hinder my clinical studies. I thought that a year out would enable me to earn and save enough to get through the final three years without working or building up any more debt. But there was another reason—burnout. By the end of my second …