I Haven't Started Volunteering Yet...

[Ziderich]

Hello SDN, this is my first time posting and I was hoping you guys could answer a few questions I have.

Some background information about me; I am currently finishing my second semester of freshman year, however, I took 10 AP classes in high school so technically I am finishing my sophomore year of college. I received an A+ in all of the classes I took last semester and I am expected to get an A+ in every single class this semester as well. This means I have a 4.0 GPA and I have been working as a phlebotomist for the past few months and have 200+ hours clocked in working with patients and not in the lab. I am 18 years old and I have not started to volunteer or shadow any physicians. I was planning on taking the MCAT next year in April and apply to different medical schools in mid-June 2016. Over the summer I will take 9 credits but the rest of the time I will be volunteering and I have emailed several physicians to shadow.

My questions are:

Will I have enough time (from April 2015 to June 2016) to complete a great application?
How important is having some sort of research on your application? Or would it be more beneficial for me to focus only on clinical volunteer opportunities and shadowing physicians?
Would medical schools prefer me shadowing a few physicians for a longer period of time or many physicians for a shorter period of time?
Besides volunteering at hospitals/nursing homes and shadowing physicians, what other areas should I try to volunteer at?

Thank you for any feedback and I appreciate your time.

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[WedgeDawg]

1. Yes, you will be fine if you start soon

2. Most medical school matriculants have some sort of research, but it is not a requirement. If you are interested in top research schools, it's very important.

3. Doesn't matter

4. Wherever you think you can make a meaningful difference and experience personal growth.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello SDN, this is my first time posting and I was hoping you guys could answer a few questions I have.

Some background information about me; I am currently finishing my second semester of freshman year, however, I took 10 AP classes in high school so technically I am finishing my sophomore year of college. I received an A+ in all of the classes I took last semester and I am expected to get an A+ in every single class this semester as well. This means I have a 4.0 GPA and I have been working as a phlebotomist for the past few months and have 200+ hours clocked in working with patients and not in the lab. I am 18 years old and I have not started to volunteer or shadow any physicians. I was planning on taking the MCAT next year in April and apply to different medical schools in mid-June 2016. Over the summer I will take 9 credits but the rest of the time I will be volunteering and I have emailed several physicians to shadow.

My questions are:

Will I have enough time (from April 2015 to June 2016) to complete a great application?
How important is having some sort of research on your application? Or would it be more beneficial for me to focus only on clinical volunteer opportunities and shadowing physicians?
Would medical schools prefer me shadowing a few physicians for a longer period of time or many physicians for a shorter period of time?
Besides volunteering at hospitals/nursing homes and shadowing physicians, what other areas should I try to volunteer at?

Thank you for any feedback and I appreciate your time.

Nonmedical community service also beneficial to an application. So are leadership and teaching. You would have to be remarkably strong in some other field of endeavor to compensate for a lack of research. Have you considered taking a gap year to strengthen your application, after graduating in three years?

 

[Doug Underhill]

I seem to recall the average matriculant having like 150 hours of clinical volunteering. You can use that as a starting point.

 

[Ziderich]

I seem to recall the average matriculant having like 150 hours of clinical volunteering. You can use that as a starting point.

150 hours seems really low to me but if that is the average then I have no problem getting double that.

Nonmedical community service also beneficial to an application. So are leadership and teaching. You would have to be remarkably strong in some other field of endeavor to compensate for a lack of research. Have you considered taking a gap year to strengthen your application, after graduating in three years?

I really do not want to take a gap year. The only reason I would consider taking a gap year is if I didn't feel ready to take the MCAT and had to postpone it. I'm hoping that my volunteering over the next year and working as a phlebotomist will overshadow no research experience.

 

[Wild_Bill]

Kudos to you for being a rockstar and kicking butt in college and all, but I hope you can find some time for fun in that schedule. Life goes quick, especially college, and if you can't make time to enjoy yourself now, you'll be even harder pressed to find that time in later years. In all our premed neuroticism, it's important to seek out some opportunities simply because they're interesting, even if they have nothing to do with your career plans. It's those efforts that often prove to be the most rewarding, and being an interesting person is actually an important part of the application process.

You seem to be on the right track with all these considerations, so keep killin it, but remember to enjoy yourself. Sorry this doesn't actually answer any of the questions you posed.