Gap Year for Research: Is It Worth It?

He also believes that the pressure to take an extra year for research places a high cost on the student by delaying entry into the workforce. “It also may theoretically delay those who complete a research year and ultimately don’t match into otolaryngology from entering the workforce in a specialty that does not fill every year,” he said.

Overall, Dr. Dobratz called this issue a difficult situation to address without clear-cut solutions. “Many programs have also become reliant on research years to help with research production in the department,” he said. “If our specialty would like to avoid creating more pressure on applicants to participate in research years, we will continue to need to find ways to emphasize other aspects of the application and counsel students on ways to highlight those areas, such as unique past experience, overcoming adversity, significant volunteerism, and service,” he said.

Views from Otolaryngologists

Michael J. Brenner, MD, associate professor in the department of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., is one of the authors of the 2024 study that found 28% of students were taking a gap year. He observed that although research productivity affects how an applicant looks on paper, it affords only a very narrow view of what an applicant can bring to the specialty.

“Not everyone has the ability to take off time for a research gap year, especially if the experience is not funded,” he said. Furthermore, he emphasized that research experience is not a reliable proxy for the overall strength of an applicant. “Although it is widely recognized that some leaders in our field engaged in research early in their career, there is little evidence that pre-residency research independently predicts superior clinical or academic performance,” he said.

He also noted that whereas most otolaryngology residents will engage in research during their training, only a small percentage will become independently funded investigators. The incremental value of a research gap year for those applicants who do not pursue a clinician scientist pathway is difficult to measure. “A dilemma is whether current research participation models are efficient,” he said. “If large numbers of applicants engaged in research are seeking competitiveness gains and fewer are pursuing research careers, is the model achieving an optimal allocation of human effort and funding resources?”

He supports a holistic model for assessing applicants that recognizes the many ways that individuals can bring value to the field, whether from diverse life experiences, research endeavors, or other meaningful contributions. This approach preserves research as an option for medical students rather than an implicit requirement.