A few volunteering and EC questions

[IceCastle]

I recently began volunteering at lab where my responsibilities purely deal with working with computers. I analyze flow cytometry clinical stem cell data. I was wondering if this can be considered research.

Besides being a member of one club, that is really the only EC that I have right now (I am a freshman). I also will also be volunteering at a hospital for about 4 hours a week starting pretty soon. However, I feel as though I haven't really done any substantial activities, and was wondering what I could do in that regard to make myself a more competitive applicant for medical school admissions. Thanks.

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[virusgirl]

This is absolutely considered research. I do mass spectrometry research, and I spend about 90% of my time at a computer.

Research is a great thing to start as a freshman, and since it's so early in your academic career you have plenty of time to start other things. Volunteering in a hospital is good (I do it too), but it is very bread-and-butter for most applicants in that everyone and their dog does it, so if you have the opportunity, I would maybe try some more diverse volunteer experiences as well (they don't even need to be medical). While I do volunteer at a hospital right now, I spent several years working at a homeless shelter, which was a great experience. Also, regardless of how clinical your volunteering, I think it is important to SHADOW as many people as you can. Honestly, that's the only way you can understand what medicine is like from a doctor's perspective.

That's all the advice I have regarding your ECs... I think it's good for people to do something a little different if they can, to stand out -- someone on here was into Asian dragon dancing or something like that, which you can be certain most premed students aren't doing! Do well in your classes, do well on the MCAT, and you should be fine!