How little is too little?

[Noomm]

Basically, I have 0 clinical experience in college. I do, however, have research and volunteering experience.

If I'm planning on applying this cycle, and I get started on volunteering/shadowing right away, would that be enough to apply with?

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[cantankerous]

Some clinical volunteer places (hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) let write down how many hours you did for the day.

Now, you can fudge some of those hours.... NOT that I have done it. I have a friend.

 

[allantois]

It depends on what you mean by clinical experience. If you have no shadowing hours, then don't bother to apply.

 

[Noomm]

Some clinical volunteer places (hospitals, nursing homes, etc.) let write down how many hours you did for the day.

Now, you can fudge some of those hours.... NOT that I have done it. I have a friend.

I guess I'm speaking more about the length of my volunteering more than anything else. Is about a year of volunteering sufficient?

 

[genericpremedstudent]

Your application should be the best it can be. If you lack clinical exposure and/or shadowing, you owe it to yourself to sit this round out and catch up

 

[LizzyM]

How much time have you spent in the presence of patients? In what circumstances (employment, volunteering, shadowing)? If this number is <100 as of TODAY then it is too soon to apply. If you have not yet submitted your AMCAS application for verification, in my opinion, it is too late to apply this year and you should wait until May 2016 to begin filling out your application. Too late and with too little in the experience section means doing it over again next year and with the stigma of being a reapplicant. As with the MCAT, the rule for applying is: do it right, do it once.

 

[evansh]

What if you have extensive patient contact >4000 hours, but only around 10-15 hours of shadowing?

 

[Noomm]

How much time have you spent in the presence of patients? In what circumstances (employment, volunteering, shadowing)? If this number is <100 as of TODAY then it is too soon to apply. If you have not yet submitted your AMCAS application for verification, in my opinion, it is too late to apply this year and you should wait until May 2016 to begin filling out your application. Too late and with too little in the experience section means doing it over again next year and with the stigma of being a reapplicant. As with the MCAT, the rule for applying is: do it right, do it once.

Oh wait when I said THIS YEAR I meant this school year. As in May 2016.

 

[starlite911]

Oh wait when I said THIS YEAR I meant this school year. As in May 2016.

In that case, I think it is fine provided you do it at least 4 hours a week and actually have contact with patients.
For what it's worth, I entered the wrong YEAR on my AMCAS, so it looks like I have only been volunteering a year instead of the two I actually have, and I already have 5 II.

Edit: I am also in the midst of my gap year and will probably have an additional 200 hours of clinical volunteer experience, ~1000 hours clinical research experience, and a couple more shadowing hours here and there if things pan out.

 

[sovereign0]

Clinical experience is pretty much mandatory. If you haven't spent any time working with patients, how could you possibly know that you want to spend the rest of your life doing so? Even if you can drum up a philosophical reason, medical schools will want to see a track record that supports your philosophy.

Starting after you submit will probably be too little, too late. But if you are applying for 2016 AMCAS, you could be ok if you start now. Many secondaries (and the personal statement) revolve, in some form, around your clinical experiences and how they shaped you. You do not want to be left with shallow experiences that don't give you adequate basis for responding to these questions.