“I was always that kid who knew they wanted to be a doctor,” says Berlin Barnett. She chose her university studies accordingly—a major in Cell Biology and Physiology with a minor in Gerontology at BYU—and began planning for medical school. But she soon found herself facing an important question: should she take a gap year between her undergraduate degree and medical school, as many medical students choose to do?
She discussed the question with a number of doctors, who all told her they wished they’d “done something meaningful” in their twenties. “I was pretty dumbfounded by this response,” she says, “because the doctors I was talking to were board-certified neurosurgeons, dermatologists, and family medicine doctors.”
But on further reflection, she says, this reaction makes sense: “When committing to a path of medicine, you sacrifice a lot, but especially the time in your twenties that a lot of people spend traveling or ‘self-discovering.’ I think a lot of doctors regret not traveling more or taking time to explore themselves before medical school, and this was a regret I didn't want to have.”
So, with the encouragement of these trusted physicians, she made her decision: she would take a gap year to travel and have meaningful experiences, which would also give her more time to perfect her medical school applications. But that led to a new question: what should she do during that year?
The Perfect Gap Year
Barnett first heard about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program from her sister, who was pursuing International Studies in college. She also had a close friend who was planning to apply for a Fulbright for his gap year before medical school. “After hearing him talk about it,” she says, “I felt like the Fulbright program really aligned with my goals for my gap year. I wanted to be able to make an impact and serve others in a place where I was needed, travel, and maybe learn another language. Fulbright really wraps that all up into one experience.”
In the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, students apply for a specific country and for one of three types of awards: research, graduate study, or English Teaching Assistant (ETA). Barnett was drawn to English teaching because, she says, “I wanted a change of pace from what I studied in college. I did a lot of research, specifically on male reproductive physiology and epigenetics, so I figured doing research during my gap year might burn me out before medical school.” She felt that teaching would also give her time to explore other interests and hobbies.
She chose Kyrgyzstan because, having grown up in Colorado, she’s drawn to mountains and being outdoors. During her time at BYU, she says, being near the mountains gave her a piece of home and a place to escape in times of stress. “This was a big reason why I chose Kyrgyzstan—I wanted to be in the mountains and outside as much as possible, and to really explore an area of the world I wouldn’t otherwise travel to. I can’t say I would’ve ever thought of coming here before the Fulbright, but Kyrgyzstan has some of the most beautiful mountains in the world.”
She began the Fulbright process in April of 2024, which involved preparing her essays and application, refining them with the help of the Kennedy Center’s scholarships office and the BYU National Scholarships and Prestigious Fellowships office, submitting her application, doing an interview, and then waiting for months. The entire process took over a year: “Very good preparation for medical school applications,” she jokes. She was in the process of applying to medical schools at the same time and was able list “Fulbright semifinalist” on her applications. She learned she’d received the Fulbright award in May 2025, the day after submitting her med school applications, and graduated from BYU the next month.
The Life of a Fulbrighter
Barnett arrived in Kyrgyzstan in September 2025, visiting Jordan and Türkiye along the way. After doing an orientation in the capital city of Bishkek, she moved two hours away to Tokmok, a city of 71,000. “It really feels like I have the best of both worlds here,” she says. “Tokmok is a medium-sized town with great views of the mountains, but when I want to go try new restaurants or see my American friends I can head into the capital fairly easily.”
In Tokmok, she teaches English at the International University of Central Asia. “Despite this being a university,” she says, “it’s run more like an American high school, and has about as many students as a typical high school would. Because the quality of primary and high school education is lacking in the surrounding villages, where many students are from, the university has to compensate by teaching a lot of high school–style curriculum as well as university-style curriculum. This keeps students very busy.”
At the university, Barnett teaches a general English course for first year students, an information technology English course, and a fluent English course. As a lover of reading, she enjoys assigning English-language books to her students; at present, her first-year students are enjoying the Magic Treehouse series. The fluent English course is for seniors with a high level of English ability, and she says that her students are amazing: “It’s mainly a discussion-based course where we talk about complicated questions surrounding identity, politics, poverty, etc., and break them down. I try to challenge their ideas about the world and help them to think more deeply about how their culture has affected their identity and life decisions, and they never cease to teach me something new.” She also teaches a class at her university that’s open to high school students in the area (this semester's book: Ella Enchanted).
As a Fulbrighter, she’s had many other opportunities to get involved in her school and community. For instance, she runs a talking club at her university, where students can practice speaking English. “I try to include lots of American culture during this time and let students ask as many questions as they want,” she says. “They particularly love talking about Donald Trump and seem fascinated with the more controversial parts of American culture, and frankly I can’t blame them. We’ve had some awesome discussions and been able to really foster that cross cultural exchange, which is the goal of the Fulbright program.”
Barnett’s also been invited to deliver several seminars in and around her city. “I gave a talk back in October during a teaching seminar at my university, where I talked about improving English retention for students through spaced repetition. This gave me a chance to really use my knowledge of neuroscience (shoutout to Dr. Michael Brown of BYU’s neuroscience program) and biology, and to explain to teachers how students' brains work when it comes to retaining things.” As part of the C5+1 program, she gave a talk in Bishkek for professionals about business and leadership skills. “I had two parents who worked on Wall Street, so this felt like the culmination of an entire childhood of lectures,” she says.
A typical workday for Barnett involves prepping for class in the morning, eating lunch at the university with her teacher friends—“Not only is the food amazing, but it only costs about $2 USD”—and teaching in the afternoon. In the evenings, she does more prep, works on hobbies (she’s recently gotten into junk journaling, helping her “make a keepsake that I’ll have for the rest of my life”), and calls her family back home. “I try to take my Kyrgyz friends to dinner at least once a week,” she adds, “because it keeps me social and helps me to maintain and make friendships here.”
As the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in her area—“a strange but cool feeling”—she’s unable to attend her usual church services. But she’s befriended local Christians and attends church services and activities with them on the weekends. “It’s really helped me (slowly) improve my Russian skills and learn more about the Baptist faith,” she says. They also take her to their favorite shops and restaurants around town, and Barnett says, “They have fully fellowshipped me in a way I couldn’t have expected and have helped me to feel like I have a family here.”
She enjoys getting outside as much as she can, and because her classes all fall between Tuesday and Thursday, she’s able to take long weekend trips; she’s currently planning one to Almaty, Kazakhstan with a fellow Fulbrighter. Speaking of fellow Fulbrighters, there are 4 other ETAs in Kyrgyzstan at present, 3 of whom live in Bishkek; Barnett visits them often. She’s also befriended a few Fulbright Scholars who are teaching and researching at universities in Bishkek. “It’s been awesome to build a Fulbright community here and really feel that I have American friends who can relate to the struggles I am going through,” she says.
A Future in Medicine
In the meantime, Barnett’s medical school applications have borne fruit. “During my time in Kyrgyzstan I had the privilege to interview with a few medical schools over Zoom, and I was recently accepted! To put it lightly, I am ecstatic. Upon the completion of my Fulbright, I will attend medical school.”
Her time in Kyrgyzstan, she says, has been a great introduction to global health and different health systems. She’s seen that many people there live with chronic pain and birth defects that could be treatable in the US, and the quality of care is often low, if people have access to it at all. And she’s experienced this firsthand as well: “Upon arriving in Kyrgyzstan, I became really sick and considered coming home on more than one occasion. I started to lose weight and just became sicker as the months went on. Eventually I found a few treatments that worked for me, and was able to see a doctor in Germany, who gave me some different options for care.”
She recovered and is doing much better now. “This experience, coupled with what I’ve witnessed among the population, really opened my eyes to the privilege we experience with our healthcare system in the United States, and motivated me to use my future skills as a physician to help those in need.”
She’s always been interested in participating in Doctors Without Borders, and she says that she can picture herself returning to Kyrgyzstan or traveling to other countries to use her medical skills. However, those plans have a different shape now than they used to. “Before coming on the Fulbright,” she says, “I thought that the best answer was always to go and provide the medical care, give the free surgeries, or donate the medical supplies. I now see that the future of expanding care in developing countries is to provide the training and harness the skills of willing and talented individuals inside and outside of the healthcare field”—people who’d like to increase access to care in their home countries but aren’t able to get the schooling they need. “This increased understanding has motivated me to explore a global health distinction track in medical school, where I would be able to do international rotations and be a part of nonprofit medical work in the United States and abroad.”
Everything to Gain
For Barnett, taking a gap year before medical school and pursuing this experience in Kyrgyzstan has been a wonderful decision—"not only because of the Fulbright program, but also because it allowed me more time to work on my medical school application and add things that I originally wouldn't have had.”
She’s also appreciated the experiences she’s had as a Fulbrighter in Kyrgyzstan. “The culture here is really one of kindness,” she said in blog post. “People are really nice. Everyone calls me beautiful and wants me to speak at events […] It’s empowering to have your ideas heard and implemented.” Her time there has also helped her see and value things she used to take for granted back home, she said in the same blog post: “There is much to be said about the benefits of a simpler life for revealing what’s actually important, and that’s starting to become apparent to me.”
To any students considering applying, she says, “My main advice would be to take the leap of faith and apply! I didn’t serve a mission during my time at BYU, so moving abroad was really a new experience for me. I have felt all of the loneliness, isolation, and, frankly, anxiety that can sometimes come with moving to a different country. I have tried to take all of those feelings in stride, and really become ‘comfortable with the uncomfortable.’ This is an idea I know I will confront over and over again throughout my life, but it’s still one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from my Fulbright so far.”
She concludes, “I would advise students who are considering applying to take the risk, be vulnerable, and really put themselves out there, not just for the Fulbright committee but also when experiencing a new culture and way of life. Speaking frankly, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain at this time in my life, and I’ve tried to take advantage of that as much as possible. I would encourage other students to do the same!”
Want to learn more about the Fulbright program and how to apply? Click here.