<p>Madamebovary - Others with more knowledge will surely weigh in. During the summer after MS1, D spent several weeks in Europe. She had been unable to make Semester Abroad work during her undergrad years, so this was perfect for her. She had done quite a bit of research during high school and college, and she also did more after MS2. She spent more time in Europe the summer after MS2. She had a successful match. 
I think spending the summer with your significant other sounds fabulous.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, the dean of students at my SOM is a kindhearted lady who sincerely wants to see her students succeed. Sheâs proven this to us time and time again. I have come to believe what she says without much hesitation. When speaking to us this time last year (when I was in your position), she presented our options to us (my school also sponsors some fellowships) and mentioned time and time again that if you wanted to just spend the summer doing absolutely nothing or traveling or playing with your dog or whatever, then that was just fine too. </p>
<p>Now, Iâd say most students chose to do something over the summer rather than âjust hanging out,â but Iâd say the reason was that we wanted to do stuffânot because we felt compelled to, or because we thought we had to in order to be competitive for residencies etc. </p>
<p>Personally, I chose to travel for âworkâ (med service trip and conference) and spend a month in a clinicâwhich gave me another month on top of that to do absolutely nothing. I slept late, went out to lunch with my mom, partied with my friends, etc etc. It was fabulous.</p>
<p>I donât think you should feel guilty about spending the summer with your SOâI think you should cherish the stress-fee time youâll have together to just relax and have fun :)</p>
<p>In the summer between MS1 and MS2, DS had a week-long research training in another state, had a break for about 2 weeks, and also did some research at his own school. (maybe not in this order.)</p>
<p>It appears to me that, during that summer, he chose a research group that is not an extremely intense one. If I remember correctly, if a student chooses an intense one, he or she is expected to commit many years (or even all years till graduation?), and at least the research year. (I could not remember exactly what he said.) He hesitated to make such a big time commitment toward the end of MS1 when he tried to find a research group.</p>
<p>Many at Dâs school did research (usually 6 weeks) in a summer after MS1 (the only summer off), some did nothing, D. went abroad fro 4 weeks to work at free clinics and it was very rewarding experience. There were some MS3âs there, there is an option to count this trip as rotation. They definitely did more there than MS1 would be allowed to do here in the USA and it was another chance to polish Spanish.</p>
<p>D1âs school requires a 6 week full time summer immersion experience in rural medicine at the end of MS1, but students also get another 6 weeks off before MS2 starts. D1 went to Europe with her SO for 4 of those weeks and had a wonderful time. Itâs pretty much what everyone in her class did. (Well, except the MD/PhDs doing their lab rotations who didnât get any time off.) The vacation doesnât seem to hurt anyone chances at residency match time.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for your advice :). Ya since my SO and I are currently long distance, summer would be a great time for us to just be with each other before we have to do long distance again and we can try to travel too. Ya during summer, i think i would like to just do more shadowing in my home state, just figure everything out and in the future if i want, do research during our research electives and what not. Im glad to hear the vacation wont hurt chances at residency time.</p>
<p>If you are already a med student, I am not sure I would choose shadowing unless it is something in depth, a situation that truly allows you to learn. Like WOWmomâs DD would do or as my DDs med school offers. Her school offers several opportunities over the summer including research or hands on shadowing of primary care physicians, this means the program is set up and insured and funded by the med school so the students are touching patients and seeing an everyday rural primary care, from surgeries to clinic to delivering babies. Donât bother to shadow the way you did pre-med school when you were learning whether or not to become a physician, instead look for opportunities that might help you discover your preferred specialty.</p>
<p>shadowing is pretty low yield. I did it to find out what I might want to do. Ruled out uro after some shadowing. Doing a few prostate exams wasnt bad, just not my cup of tea.</p>
<p>hmm i guess the thing is i would like head back home during summer instead of doing a long summer program fellowship at my med school (OOS). Iâll just enjoy the summer then with my SO</p>
<p>@madame, while relaxing over the MS1-2 summer, you might find it is interesting to read. Now that youâve done physiology, biochem and anatomy, you might find NEJM fun to browse, or preview some textbooks in pathophysiology for next year. Itâs a lot more enjoyable in summer than under the pressure of the regular school year. Also helps not to forget all the lingo.</p>
<p>DSâs school just had their annual âsecond year showâ last Friday and Saturday. Is this kind of show common at other med school?</p>
<p>I noticed a half of dozens youtube videos were posted last night as a result of this show. It appears the students may have spent a lot of time in producing all these videos. I just wonder how they can possibly have time for doing it?!</p>
<p>(Maybe two consecutive âsnow daysâ in the past couple of weeks could help them to allocate some time for this.)</p>
<p>DS said many students (esp. those in the clinical year) may get very drunk in such a âbondingâ event. When I asked him whether heâs drunk, he said so. But it appears he did drink. Isnât it a part of medical school education?! (learned how to behave in a half-drunk situation?)</p>
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<p>wow, 
âŠ</p>
<p>Its common. I think pretty much all schools have it. My school has a first year show, and an all school show. 2nd years are too busy to have one here. I think yale has a second year show. some parody videos are funny, but some are just really bad.</p>
<p>My D sent me this yearâs Yale vid. Said it was good but that her class had better singers and dancers. Uhh⊠That wouldnât have included her but she was in it!!</p>
<p>This yearâs was about a zombie apocalypse? Which is apparently a familiar theme. I dunno. I will watch it later. </p>
<p>mcat2. Was your kid in his schoolâs show?</p>
<p>We have a video/talent show thing. One of the funny ones my class did last year was a parody on that Hitler video that was popular at the time, mocking a particularly annoying and rare case we had to study. All proceeds (tickets, drinks, donationsâŠ) benefit our fav charity! Itâs usually very well attended :)</p>
<p>We have prom and the video/talent show, plus a handful of other events throughout the year. Most of them are open bar. I really donât see why this would be a problem, as plumazul alluded? Everyoneâs of age and should be mature enough to make responsible decisions.</p>
<p>Our third snow day of the year is tomorrow :)</p>
<p>curm, I tried to find DS in the show but so far I could not. He âhidâ himself very well.</p>
<p>However, he told my wife that he had spent a lot of time on writing/transcribing the music scores for some other performers. He said some classical music trained performers often could not perform spontaneously unless they were handed the sheet of music so that they can read and memorize it before performance. (DS himself was like this before college. But it appears he could now have a âjamâ session with other performers spontaneously now.)</p>
<p>In the summer last year, DS earned several thousands dollars by working in a lab at his school. Now it is about time to report the tax.</p>
<p>The school does not issue a W2. It does not issue a 1099-Misc either. But it does give the student an âaward letterâ in which the amount of earned money is mentioned. It refers to tis award as âFellowshipâ.</p>
<p>Does DS need to pay medicare and social security as it appears the school does not issue a W2? Since he paid more tuition (according to 1098-T) than the amount of money for this fellowship, does it mean he does not owe any federal income tax? How about the medicare and the social security parts? Does he need to pay for these, including the âemployerâs portionâ?</p>
<p>Maybe I think about this too much. Maybe he can just report it as earned income and does not need to pay for medicare and social security. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>^ Now is not the time to be thinking about this. If you owe taxes and have not been making quarterly payments then you will probably be assessed a penalty. Certainly if tuition is greater than gross income in a given tax year then you will exclude the income on the top line of your tax form and owe no taxes. Since my scholarships exceed my tuition by a considerable amount, I make quarterly payments to my state and the feds. Remember itâs only tuition (and other direct cost) that can be deducted not any form of room and board.</p>
<p>You probably donât own SS or Medicare unless he received a wage. Some fellowships are done like this(wages) so every case is different.</p>
<p>Iâm surprised he wasnât issued a 1099. My son worked a research job over the summer and he received a 1099. The government considered this âself employmentâ so in addition to the standard federal taxes he had to pay a self employment tax. My guess is the fellowship would be in the same category but you should contact a tax professional to be sure.</p>
<p>he probably doesnt owe any taxes, because the amount is probably less than the standard deductable, unless he has other income as well</p>