Gap Year for Research: Is It Worth It?

“But it is important to say this clearly: You do not have to take a gap year to match into otolaryngology,” he emphasized, saying that many successful residents have gone straight through using their existing school structure to do focused research and specialty exposure. “Programs are looking for potential, curiosity, work ethic, and fit with the specialty,” he said. “A gap year is one way to demonstrate those qualities, but not the only way.”

He said that if a student is genuinely excited about research and exploring academic otolaryngology, a research gap year is a great investment. If they are not and are purely keeping up with perceived expectations or new ERAS rules, “then we as a field need to rethink the pressure we are placing on them,” he said.

Saying that she is seeing a lot of interest among medical students to do research, even in their first year of medical school, Amanda Lauer, MS, PhD, the George T. Nager Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Resident and Student Research Program in Baltimore, sees it as a way for students to beef up their resume with research publications to be competitive. That said, she views the increased interest in research as a good thing because it allows people who don’t have PhDs to get research experience and train to be future clinician scientists. “We really need these people to inform research that translates from basic science to the clinical bedside,” she said, adding that there have been fewer and fewer surgeon scientists, particularly over the last several decades.

The program that she co-directs with John Carey, MD, provides an opportunity for students who did not train in schools with otolaryngology departments or who did not have exposure to an otolaryngology research program to gain experience in the field.

Although Dr. Lauer says she doesn’t know if research influences match success, she suspects it may influence whether an applicant is selected for an interview. Overall, Dr. Lauer thinks the trend for more trainees to do research is very important, as research, she says, informs how doctors treat patients in the clinic and can ultimately provide benefits to patient care.

Eric Dobratz, MD, the director of the division of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery and residency program director in otolaryngology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., expressed concern that many medical students may be pursuing research not because of a sincere interest in building a research skillset and career but solely because of the desire to show superiority over other applicants. “It is concerning, as the overall goal is to identify and select applicants that will train to provide safe and effective care for our otolaryngology patients,” he said.