Clinical Volunteering vs Research

[numbersloth]

Unexpectedly, I was accepted to both positions I applied to. I have the opportunity to either do clinical volunteer work at a big hospital in NYC and take physics over the summer, or I could do computational biology research at a very prestigious university in Mass. I'm not sure which opportunity to take. As of right now I have no clinical volunteer experience and was looking to use this summer to gauge whether this really is the right path for me before delving into a lot of hard pre-reqs next year. However, the research opportunity seems too good to pass up and I know I need research experience as well. Anyone have any idea which opportunity to take? Do you think it would still be possible for me to call up some hospitals in Boston and ask if they still have volunteer positions open?

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[Lucca]

Do you have any research as of now? Do you want a research career?

If the answer to both questions is no then the answer is clear: Take the clinical volunteering. It is the more important component of your application and having no clinical experience is worse than having no research.

 

[mbeus]

It really depends on a)whether you want to do MD/PhD or a research-based career as a physician and b)where you want to go to medical school. If you want to go to a top school, you will likely need research to get it. Also agree with above that no clinical experience is much, much worse than no research.

 

[Holmwood]

So long as you manage to find a way to include clinical work into your application, you should just do the research over the summer at mass.

Volunteer scheduling tends to be very flexible. If you aren't able to do volunteer work during the summer, you can still do it during the regular school terms. Research, on the other hand, is extremely time consuming. You may not have the opportunity to do research outside of summer sessions alongside your regular schoolwork during the regular terms (as you mentioned taking rigorous pre-reqs next term).

 

[Scribblers]

I don't see why you couldn't do both. Clinical volunteering can very easily be a small but steady commitment that you donate a few hours a week to doing. By no means does it need to be a big standalone activity. It might be more difficult to find something on a regular basis that fits in with a summer research schedule, but certainly not impossible in the city.

In addition, if you're just looking to test the waters, shadowing might be the better place to start since that would give you a more accurate picture of what medicine actually is. Hospital volunteers understandably tend to be put in places where screw ups have the smallest consequences, which often limits how much of the hot dog making process you actually get to see.

 

[numbersloth]

For shadowing, should I just call all the hospitals in the area? I don't have any connections...

 

[numbersloth]

It really depends on a)whether you want to do MD/PhD or a research-based career as a physician and b)where you want to go to medical school. If you want to go to a top school, you will likely need research to get it. Also agree with above that no clinical experience is much, much worse than no research.

I really would love to do an MD/PHD or an MD/MS in BioStats or CompBio. I'm looking at more research oriented med schools and specialities such as oncology/hematology

 

[mbeus]

I really would love to do an MD/PHD or an MD/MS in BioStats or CompBio. I'm looking at more research oriented med schools and specialities such as oncology/hematology

Well then you may want to take the research position. However, you will need to find a way to get clinical experience. You will not get into medical school without it.