In the spring of 2014, I was finishing the final classes for a microbiology degree from the University of Oklahoma, with an acceptance to Western University’s College of Podiatric Medicine in hand. In the waning weeks of the summer of 2014, finally, after years of hard work and preparation to get me to that point, had a minute to think to myself; “am I ready to jump right back into another huge commitment to school?”
After a week or so, I decided that my answer to that question was “no, I’m not.” So I made the difficult decision to take a deferral on medical school for that year. In a mad scramble to find work, I managed to fall into the perfect situation. I found a job teaching middle school science. Now, I understand that last sentence may be incredibly confusing, because many people, including myself, were the most awkward and terrible versions of themselves in middle school. So, how could I possibly consider this the perfect situation?
Well, this position allowed me to develop the kind of confidence and skills that it takes to stand up in front of 13 and 14 year old kids and, not only speak, but keep their attention. To me, that’s huge, because if there is any true generalization about a kid going through puberty, it’s that they don’t care about feelings and they have the attention span of a toaster.
Aside from that, it forced me to take responsibility for my work. I couldn’t just decide I wanted to sleep in and skip class, like in undergrad. I laid the foundation for healthy, productive habits. Interactions with hundreds of students, parents, and co-workers over the course of 2 years of teaching, showed my different ways to manage every kind of emotional encounter you can have: crying students, angry/aggressive parents, demanding administrative staff, and basically anything you can think of. These habits, skills, and discipline have been incredibly beneficial to me, now, during my two years of medical school after ultimately deciding to pick up where I left off.
I’ve read many articles about the value of a “gap year.” Essentially, a year that some students take to travel and experience the world before starting undergrad or a career. Well, I would be the first to encourage students to consider a “gap year” before medical school to work in the real world and fine-tune their discipline, work ethic, and general willingness to understand that work, medical school, and life overall, isn’t always going to be as simple as just showing up. Bringing this mindset into the professional school environment was incredibly beneficial, because medical school truly is an enormous change from undergraduate education.
For some, coming straight out of undergrad may be exactly what you need. However, for me, taking two years away from school to work was the second best decision I’ve ever made. Going back to Western University to pursue a career in medicine was the first.
By Steven Cooperman, CPM Class of 2020
