Gap/Bridge Year(s)

A bridge year is the time between graduation and the beginning of your time at a health professional school. It would be followed by your application to health professional schools and ideally consists of interviews with those schools and your continued engagement in activities that will continue to bolster your application. If students want to begin their health professions program immediately after they graduate, they will need to apply at the end of their junior year.

Yes, more than 70% of Northwestern undergraduates in the regular MD application cycle (excludes HPME/NUPSP applicants) take at least a year or more between undergraduate and medical school. Physician Assistant programs typically require a minimum of 750-1000 patient contact hours or more that require applicants to work in health care. It’s not uncommon for students to use all four of their years in college or to take time after college to build a strong application.

Reasons for taking a bridge year

• Need to improve science GPA before applying
• Need to improve entrance exam score (e.g. MCAT, DAT, GRE, etc.) and/or want more time to study for entrance exam
• Need more experience in health care setting
• May not be sure if they're committed to being a health care professional.
• Would like to pursue other opportunities before starting health professional program
  (fellowships, travel abroad, other graduate work)

In general, health professional schools want you to follow your own interests during your gap/bridge year.

• Most applicants build upon the skill set they have been developing during college.
  • Someone who has research experience may look for research jobs.
  • Someone who has tutored may look for teaching fellowships.
• If you plan on using your gap/bridge year experience to correct a major deficit in your application, we would encourage you to strengthen your application first before submitting it. This may mean applying in another cycle than the one you intended.
• If you are working in a non-healthcare position, continue to show your commitment to your chosen health profession by volunteering in a related environment (hospitals, community health clinics, etc.).

If you are working in a healthcare-related environment, continue to show your service orientation by volunteering in a non-healthcare setting (tutoring kids, volunteering with a food pantry, etc.).

Yes, but it can be challenging during the interview season (approximately September – February, although some schools may interview in August and be finished by December/January).

• Do you have the budget to return for interviews, maybe multiple times?
  • Health professional schools may not have the flexibility to accommodate your travel schedule.
• Do you have the freedom from your abroad commitment to return for interviews?
• If there are budget or commitment concerns, we encourage students to consider moving their application to the next year and being fully invested in their abroad experience.