Gap Year Opportunities

What is a Gap Year?

A Gap Year is a year (or sometimes more) between graduating with your bachelor's degree and beginning a professional program. Just like there is no ONE major that pre-health students must pursue, there is no ONE timeline. While some students desire to begin a professional program immediately after graduating with a bachelor's degree, others opt to take a gap year. There are many reasons students applying to all different professional programs might choose to take a gap year:

  • A gap year gives you more time in undergrad to finish your pre-requisite courses.
  • Planning for a gap year allows you to say "Yes!" to opportunities during undergrad that may have been difficult to fit in without a gap year, such as studying abroad for a semester, pursuing a double major, etc,
  • A gap year means that your senior year grades will be on your application to professional school, whereas applying to start without a gap means that they are in progress during your application process.
  • A gap year could be your last opportunity for the foreseeable future to not be in school. It could be a good tool for self care!
  • You could pursue a year of service during your gap year with an organization like City Year, Teach for America or the Peace Corps.
  • You could work full-time during a gap year to gain some real world experience and make some money.
  • A gap year could be used to pursue research opportunities.
  • A gap year spent in an academic enhancer program could enhance your GPA and make you a more competitive applicant.

In medicine, specifically, gap years are becoming more common. In fact, about 65% of students who matriculated to an allopathic medical school reported taking at least one gap year between graduating from college and beginning medical school.

If a gap year sounds intriguing, spend some time looking at the different options and imagining the possibilities for yourself! If you know you want to take a gap year before starting professional school, it may change a little bit of how you structure your undergraduate experiences!

How to Spend a Gap Year

How you spend your gap year depends on your personal circumstances and your goals. This article from the AAMC provides a good overview of how to invest in your gap year Links to an external site., and the advice it shares is helpful for any profession!

Academic Experience

Some students choose to pursue opportunities that allow them to keep learning in a classroom setting and enhancing their academic records. There are many reasons students may choose to pursue academic experiences, such as desiring to boost their GPAs and demonstrating their academic abilities, seeking to complete pre-requisite courses they may not have completed prior to graduation, or desiring to increase depth of knowledge through a master's program.

Master's Programs: Students who want to earn another full degree before attending professional school often pursue a wide variety of master's programs. some common programs include Biomedical Science, Clinical (or Medical) Anatomy, Oral Biology, Health Administration, Public Health, and Physiology. These programs can take anywhere from 1-3 years. If you are specifically seeking to enhance your academic record, the program needs to be science-based.

Post-Baccalaureate (Post-Bacc): Post-Bacc programs are uniquely designed for students to transition to medical school (PA school, dental school, etc.) and enhance academic preparedness. Many are geared toward specific types of students, such as first-generation or underrepresented minority students.

Certifications: Certifications include a wide range of options, and can be anything from a short course, such as Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training, to entire certification programs, such as Radiologic Technologist.

Non-Degree Seeking Coursework: Many medical schools and other professional schools encourage students to take at least one or two upper-level or graduate level courses during a gap year. These are classes usually in the biomedical sciences, such as microbiology, immunology, anatomy, developmental biology or histology. It is particularly important to take a science course or two if you take more than one gap year and you are planning to start professional school more than 15 months after graduating.

Employment

Some students choose to seek employment during a gap year. When searching for positions, consider organizations that are involved in the medical, scientific, or social services field.

John P. Fahey Career Center: Explore online resources from job search to interviewing guides. Handshake is an online system that shows you local, national, and international opportunities that are unique to you. Services at the Career Center are open to students and alumni from all Creighton undergraduate colleges at no cost. 

Post-Graduate Volunteer Programs

Some students have a deep desire to serve their community prior to starting professional school. Post-graduate volunteer programs exist all over the country (and all over the world). The following organizations can be a good starting point, but this list is certainly not all-encompassing: City Year, Teach for America, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps Vista, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and more.

SCSJ Beyond Creighton Links to an external site.: Access links to information about post-graduate volunteer programs.

AAMC 4 Reasons to Take a Service Year Links to an external site.: Gain additional insight into why a service year can be a great option.

Research

Some students have the opportunity to continue research they did as undergraduates (sometimes for pay) and others seek out specific full-time research opportunities.

National Institutes of Health Links to an external site.: Access centralized listings and application sites for jobs. Be sure to explore the Pathways for Students & Recent Graduates Links to an external site. section.

NIH Postbac IRTA Links to an external site.: The NIH Postbac IRTA program (CRTA, Cancer Research Training Award, in the National Cancer Institute) provides recent college graduates who are planning to apply to graduate or professional (medical/dental/pharmacy/nursing/veterinary, etc.) school an opportunity to spend one or two years performing full-time research at the NIH. Postbac IRTAs/CRTAs work side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. The NIH consists of the 240-bed Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center and more than 1100 laboratories/research projects, located on the main campus in Bethesda, MD and the surrounding area as well as in Baltimore and Frederick, MD; Research Triangle Park, NC; Hamilton, MT; Framingham, MA; Phoenix, AZ; and Detroit, MI.

National Science Foundation Links to an external site.: Explore different grant and research opportunities.

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Internships & Fellowships Links to an external site.: ORISE connects the most talented and diverse college students, recent graduates, postdocs, and faculty to STEM internship and fellowship programs closely aligned with the interests of a variety of research facilities, including those managed for the U.S. Department of Energy Links to an external site. and more than a dozen other federal agencies. These STEM internship and fellowship programs are key to the recruitment and preparation of the next generation of our nation’s scientific workforce.

Academic Institutions and Medical Centers: Universities and medical centers all over the country (like Creighton Links to an external site. and UNMC Links to an external site.) hire graduates with bachelors degrees to contribute to research. These listings are often listed on institutions' Human Resources or employment pages.

Research Companies: There are a variety of positions and research types at for-profit organizations around the country. Some examples include Celerion Links to an external site. (Lincoln) and Streck Links to an external site. (Omaha). CenterWatch Links to an external site. lists several companies and hosts a job posting site. Biocom Links to an external site. is a California based organization that allows you to search for research organizations in California.