A super nice client of mine who is currently a first-year medical student recently emailed me to ask my suggestions for what he should do this upcoming summer. The summer after the first year of medical school is – unless you take a gap year – the last free one you will have for a while, so it’s important to use it wisely. Of course, it’s hard to plan with COVID, but generally, the advice I give is that if someone plans to go into a highly competitive specialty like dermatology or neurosurgery, research is probably the best bet. Those specialties require a significant early commitment to the field and a lot of investigative experience/ publications. 

For less competitive fields, research is still an option, but other opportunities should be considered. If you know you’re not going into a highly competitive field, you have a bit more flexibility. After my first year of medical school, I participated in Harvard’s Urban Health Project and spent my time shadowing a physician in an underserved clinic.

Of course, I would not recommend spending the summer at Club Med :), but I would try to make sure you are happy over the summer – near family or friends – no matter what specialty you are seeking.