<p>I'm going to be a sophomore, and I'm currently thinking about doing research abroad for a year after graduation, hopefully with the Fulbright program. In the scope of applying to medical schools, I see a few options: apply to med schools and the Fulbright program at the same time during the summer before my senior year, and defer admission (hopefully) to med school for a year; only apply for the Fulbright during the summer before my senior year, then apply to med schools during the summer after graduation; finally, apply to med schools after returning from abroad (assuming I can get funding of some kind).</p>
<p>I see problems with each of the choices. For the first, I wouldn't be able to lend any worldly experiences to my medical school application, and I'm not even sure if all medical schools would allow deferment for a year. For the second, I have no clue how I'd handle interviews while I'm abroad (I imagine it would go from September to July)...would this even be possible? For the third option, my main reservation is with the length of time I'd be taking before medical school, and what I'd do for the year that I'm applying to medical schools. If anyone has any experiences with abroad programs post-graduation, or gap years in general, your insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!</p>