Gap Year Program

BRYN MAWR SKIN & CANCER INSTITUTE strongly believes in paying-it-forward. Our Gap Year Program introduces the next generation of Nurses, NPs, Physician Assistants and MDs to a career in medicine.

Our Gap Year Program is a 1-2 year cycle which offers training, mentorship, and guidance to a motivated group of pre- MD, pre- PA-C and pre- Nursing students. Due to the high volume and variety of patients seen, dermatology is a fantastic field for medical assistants (MAs) to gain hands-on, front line, clinical & patient interaction experience. Our MAs help with surgeries, exam room scribing, and pathology while being mentored and coached by some of Pennsylvania’s top board-certified dermatologists and physician assistants.

In addition to clinical experience, GAP year students are typically focused on applying to graduate schools, and are in need of professional medical recommendations for those applications.

Our MAs are assigned to a Provider Team for their Gap Year, and their MD/PA-C provider is the licensed medical professional who will author their graduate school application recommendation.

Participating MAs in our program (since 2015) have over a 95% acceptance rate to Nursing/PA/Med school. We are proud to help expand our Gap Year MAs clinical experience, paying-it-forward to give them unique insight into a career in medicine!

With locations in Bryn Mawr and Newtown Square, we are a growing practice looking for talented and motivated individuals to join our clinical team!

Watch this quick summary video of our Gap Year medical assistants in action at BRYN MAWR SKIN & CANCER INSTITUTE.   Our Gap Year graduates enter medical school, physician assistant school, or nursing school feeling better prepared than their peers due to the hands-on experience they gain through our program.

Highlights – Gap Year Medical Assistants will:

• Work with Dermatologists and PA-Cs inside the exam rooms
• Interact with a high volume of patients daily
• Assist with surgeries
• Gain hands-on clinical experience
• Learn about skin biopsies, histology labs, MOHS Surgery and pathology
• Gain a mentor throughout your Med/PA-C/Nursing school application process
• Learn about all aspects of Dermatology, and our integrated Plastic Surgery practice
• Befriend like-minded students interested in medicine; learn from their application experiences
• Make lasting friendships while gaining valuable new clinical skills
• “Know for sure” after your Gap Year whether a career in medicine is what you want!

We begin looking at Gap Year applications in November-December of each year since seniors in college are looking at their summer/GAP year options, and have a better idea when they can begin work with us after graduation.

Since we are committing to you and your future, we require you to commit to us for a full year (or more); typically, MAY/JUNE thru MAY/JUNE the following year.  We ask the departing class of Gap Year Medical Assistants to help train the incoming class because it is important for the Provider Teams to maximize consistency for our MDs / PA-Cs.

Please visit our career page for application: Career Page