Medical/Surgical Technician Fellowship
for students taking a two-year gap only
(26-Month Program)

Pre-Med two-year gap job opportunity:
Become a Medical & Surgical Technician

Are you a future physician seeking meaningful clinical experience before medical, optometry, or PA school? Our Medical & Surgical Technician role is a pre-med gap year job designed to immerse college graduates in real-world patient care and surgical training through a highly structured, 26-month apprenticeship.

What Is This Pre-Med Gap Year Fellowship?

This is more than a job—it’s a full-time, hands-on pre-med fellowship intentionally built for aspiring healthcare professionals. Each May, we welcome a cohort of 10 recent graduates who are eager to “learn by doing,” just like medical students do in clinical rotations. You’ll work under close mentorship, developing practical skills and clinical reasoning through increasing levels of responsibility.

What You’ll Learn in This Gap Year Clinical Position

As a technician, you’ll participate in:

Direct patient care and one-on-one interactions
Performing slit lamp exams, refractions, and diagnostic testing
Assisting in surgical procedures and postoperative evaluations
Gaining proficiency in critical thinking and clinical decision-making

This pre-medical position mirrors the second half of med school in both structure and pace—an ideal foundation for MD, OD, or PA applicants.

Why Join Our Gap Year Program?

Work in a collaborative, fast-paced medical environment
Train alongside a close-knit, supportive cohort
Receive consistent mentorship from practicing physicians and clinical educators
Stand out in your med school applications with robust, documented clinical experience

Ready to launch your medical career with one of the most competitive and rewarding pre-med gap year opportunities? Apply now and take the first step toward becoming the doctor, optometrist, or PA you’re meant to be.

“This program is designed for students who want to maximize their gap year—not just fill it.”

Gap Year Fellowships: Paid Research & Shadowing

The Medical & Surgical Technician role stands at the core of our practice and is a deeply intentional, 26-month full-time fellowship program that brings in a cohort of 10 college students each year upon their graduation in May—passionate future physicians eager to engage in hands-on, people-centered medical and surgical training. This immersive experience is designed to support their path to MD, OD, or PA school by offering hands-on learning in refractive surgery, including weekly patient interactions, slit lamp exams, refraction, critical thinking, and post-op evaluations. Each fellow joins VCP as part of a close-knit cohort that shares two years of learning, growing, and working side-by-side in a collaborative, fast-paced, joyful, ever evolving, and inclusive environment. It’s a competitive and meaningful opportunity that blends mentorship with real-world training.

Our medical & surgical technicians play an integral role in comprehensive management of our patient care and clinical processes, which are divided into various core competencies/responsibilities and a number of specialized responsibilities including a preoperative customer service focused exam, perioperative and surgical care, and postoperative care, learning directly from our doctors on how to counsel patients with any range of experiences. Emphasis as well on business development and how to market to an online audience effectively.

CURRENT STUDENTS

Lauren, David, Braden, Alfonso, Priya, Hanin, Joe, Max, Adriana, Gus, Ishani, Elijah, Helen, Emma, Sanjana, Eghosa

Selected candidates will be strong applicants committing to a full 26-month gap before attending MD, PA, or OD school. We do not consider applicants available for less than 26 months.

Position summary

Vision Care Partners is hiring college graduates who are preparing to enter MD, PA or OD programs within the next two to three years. These individuals are trained in our office as medical/surgical technicians to work full-time alongside our regular, tenured staff. Our “gap year” technicians receive extensive clinical training in diagnostic testing, medical history taking, electronic medical record (EMR) use, scribing and exam documentation, one-on-one patient care, and customer service. Our technicians also receive extensive surgical training in processing and management of sterile surgical instrumentation, scrubbing and the practice of sterile technique, medical laser calibration and operation, administering medications for patient procedural sedation, and all other aspects of the surgical technologist role.

Dr. Brinton is a fellowship trained, board certified physician and surgeon. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and is an internationally recognized specialist in the field of LASIK and vision correction surgery. Vision Care Partners is an FDA clinical research trial site and has its own in-office surgical suite where we are able to perform the full range of laser and lens vision correction procedures. In 2024, we were honored by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Headliner Awards as the #1 Laser Eye Surgery Center in St. Louis, and by the City of Creve Coeur as its “Most Innovative” business—a recognition of our commitment to reimagining what’s possible in vision care. Students will receive both clinical and surgical training that provides valuable experience for entering medical/optometry school as well as for the application process.

Position duties

Conduct a variety of medical tests
Perform minor medical procedures
In conjunction with our doctors, effectively educate patients on the benefits and risks of Vision Care Partners’ seven procedures
Act as an effective liaison on medical questions between patient and surgeon
Guide patients through the logistics of scheduling and financing vision correction procedures
Preparing surgical setup including layout of sterile instruments and laser calibration
Sterilizing equipment and taking an inventory to ensure there are enough supplies for surgery
Preparing the patient for surgery
Passing the surgeon instruments and sterile supplies throughout the procedure

Skills/requirements

This opportunity is exclusively for pre-med, pre-PA, and pre-optometry students taking a two-year gap—those who have completed a four-year bachelor’s degree and plan to apply to medical, optometry, or physician assistant programs.)
Ability to be a self-starter and make decisions on your own
Exceptional communication, presentation, and listening skills
Ability to stay organized in busy situations and adapt to new situations
A positive attitude every day to share with staff and patients
Sense of humor: we like to have fun while we work hard

The perks

Our position includes training on scribing to learn terminology, as well as doctor skills such as refracting, slit lamp exam skills, minor procedures such as punctal plug placement, creating surgical marks, and applanation tonometry.
Brinton Vision is also an FDA clinical trial site, offering our fellows exposure to leading-edge research in advanced vision correction.
Beyond doctor skills, our students are trained with our doctors on customer service and marketing skills. This includes reputation management, search engine optimization, digital marketing, and online presence. As a cash only based practice we can offer a unique perspective on direct to consumer advertising.
Typical hours for a student technician are 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Competitive pay with base plus incentive

Shadowing opportunities

Brinton Vision medical technicians benefit from a wealth of shadowing opportunities in our building. Since our clinic is generally closed on Wednesdays, our gap year medical technicians have taken advantage of the wide range of specialties in our building to get direct physician, PA, NP, and OD contact while seeing patients and performing procedures. The specialties in our building include:

Surgical

Orthopedic surgery
Obstetrics and gynecology
Otolaryngology / ear nose and throat surgery
Plastic surgery
General surgery
Colorectal surgery

Medical

Orthopedic sports medicine
Family medicine
Internal medicine
Concierge / boutique medicine
Nephrology
Fertility medicine / assisted reproductive technologies (gynecology)

Other

Oral surgery
Orthodontics
Periodontics
Prosthodontics
Endodontics
Dentistry
Physical therapy

Our doctors will be happy to arrange shadowing opportunities with these medical professionals above for our medical technicians in good standing after 90 days.

The benefits

Typical pay – starting average $17/hr, average $20/hr over two years
4.5 day work week
Monthly tuition reimbursement
Student loan payoff program
Paid gym membership
Health and dental insurance
Generous vacation/PTO days
Health Savings Account (HSA) with monthly company contribution/match
401k
Vision benefits
Regular staff outings provided by the company
Our doctors write letters of recommendation that have helped our medical technicians gain admission to medical schools from WashU to Mizzou and Yale

See What Our St. Louis Starting Pay Is Worth in Your City

A starting role at Vision Care Partners in St. Louis can offer buying power comparable to much higher pay in major metro areas. Use the calculator below to compare real lifestyle value.

STARTING OFFER IN ST. LOUIS

$17.00/hour

Based on a full-time 40-hour work week

Your current city

Compared city

Our starting hourly pay in St. Louis

New York

0.00

Because the cost of living is 0.00% higher in New York than in St. Louis, you would need to earn this much there to match the buying power of $17.00/hour in St. Louis.

Annual salary equivalent

A starting role in St. Louis has buying power similar to this annual income in New York.

St. Louis

17.00

Your $17.00/hour starting pay in St. Louis goes further because everyday costs are lower. We also have some of the lowest gas prices in the United States.

Annual salary equivalent

35,360

With a lower cost of living, a full-time income of $35,360 can deliver stronger day-to-day buying power.

Best Entry-Level Healthcare Jobs Before Med School

We’re proud to have supported many aspiring physicians over the past decade—especially those who may have faced barriers due to background or access. Our fellows consistently go on to pursue medical school, many gaining acceptance to highly respected MD programs such as Yale, WashU, Mizzou, and others shown below. They apply during their second year, after having grown together as a collaborative and tight-knit team. We also have a number of technicians who are successfully completing their doctor of optometry (OD) degree at the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) School of Optometry. The process for becoming a Vision Care Partners technician is competitive, and we look for individuals who are motivated, hard-working, outgoing, and eager to learn in our fast-paced office. On-site job training is provided and no previous experience is required. Unlike most other gap year positions, our technicians participate in hands-on, independent, one-to-one patient care under the supervision of our doctors. This is not a “busy work” or “shadowing” position, but one in which the technician’s role is integral to the medical team’s success. Together, we’re pioneering transformative vision correction procedures that empower people to experience the world with greater clarity—without the limitations of glasses or contacts.

"My time at Brinton Vision thoroughly prepared me for this general surgery rotation...My knowledge about sterility, how to act in an OR setting, and many other things (all things I learned at BV) have been so helpful and really set "

Abby W.

gap-year graduate 2024

PREVIOUS STUDENTS

Vision Care Partners FAQs

Q. I’ve heard this fellowship is an intensive preparation for medical, PA, and optometry school. What makes it so comprehensive?

That’s exactly our goal. We’ve designed this fellowship to go far beyond a typical gap-year job and instead function as a launchpad into healthcare careers.

Fellows gain hands-on clinical experience across a wide range of specialties —including ENT, OB-GYN, orthopedics, plastic surgery, general and thoracic surgery, internal medicine, and dermatology. In addition, we provide training in how to build practice clinic volume, manage patient clinical questions in-person, by email, and by phone, build relationships with outside physicians, and understand referral networks—skills that are rarely taught at this stage but are critical in real-world medicine.

Equally important, we offer structured, high-touch support for the application process. This includes personal statement review, mock interviews, strategic advising, and letters of recommendation. Over the course of the fellowship, you’re not just working in healthcare—you’re being actively mentored and prepared to take the next step successfully.

Q. If I leave the fellowship early, why would I need to repay tuition assistance (Section 127 benefits) and a portion of my training costs?

We believe in being transparent about this upfront. The fellowship is built around a 26-month commitment, typically from your start date through matriculation, because of the level of investment we make in each Fellow.

The repayment policy is not intended as a penalty. Rather, it ensures fairness and alignment. When someone joins the program, they receive significant training, mentorship, and financial support over time—including benefits like relocation assistance and Section 127 tuition or student loan reimbursement.

If a Fellow leaves before completing the program, we’re not able to fully realize that investment. The repayment policy simply ensures that those who receive these benefits are the ones who stay through the full experience.

For Fellows who plan to complete the program—and most do—this policy never comes into play. It’s simply part of maintaining a high-investment, high-commitment program.

Q. Why do you invest so much in training Gap-Year Fellows? What’s the catch?

It’s a fair question—and the answer is that this model benefits everyone involved, including our Fellows.

By investing deeply in our program, we attract some of the strongest pre-med, pre-PA, and pre-optometry applicants in the country—students who are serious about using their gap years to grow, contribute, and prepare for competitive professional programs.

When you bring together a group of highly motivated, high-achieving Fellows, something powerful happens: they elevate each other. In our experience, a significant portion of what Fellows learn comes from their peers. By building a cohort of “the best of the best,” we create an environment where everyone improves faster and performs at a higher level.

That approach has allowed us to recruit nationally. For our incoming 2026-2028 class, for example, only a small minority of Fellows were from our local region—most came from across the U.S. specifically to be part of this program. We’ve also been contacted by students originally planning only on gap-year who interviewed with our program and switched to taking two gap years so they could accept an offer in our program.

For our practice, this creates a virtuous cycle. Exceptional Fellows lead to exceptional patient care, which strengthens our clinical environment and reputation. That, in turn, attracts even stronger future applicants.

So there’s no hidden catch—the alignment is the point.

We invest heavily in our Fellows, and in return, we build a team that delivers outstanding care and creates one of the most rigorous and rewarding gap-year fellowship experiences available anywhere for pre-med, pre-PA, and pre-optometry students.