Need more volunteer AND shadowing hours...

[FutureSurgical]

Long story short: I've been volunteering at two different hospitals each week and only earned 51 hours... I was expecting at least 75 hours after this summer, which bummed me out. I need more hours and with my schedule this fall, I am tight on free time it is. To add, I had 3 different doctors "lined-up" per se to let me shadow, each with surgical hours. Well, 2 of them both didn't want to deal the the HIPAA paperwork while the third let me shadow in his clinic for 3 hours and, despite having the whole summer set aside to work, volunteer, and shadow, that's all I could get (he couldn't let me in for a surgical day...).

I will be taking 18 hours this semester, 3 hours of which will be doing research in a lab for 12 hours/week, be on the university's Rugby team during the season, and holding 2 leadership positions. Although I am very determined this semester to really change myself (less-than-stellar GPA for DO schools from another long story), GPA has found itself to be at the top of the list. I know that I only place the blame on myself for having a bad GPA, but I don't want to spend 1-2 gap years just to get more clinical exposure and more volunteering.

How did you guys juggle being a full-time student, holding leadership positions, volunteering, maintaining a stellar GPA, and a social life? I can deal with 4-5 hours of sleep fine, as long as I have a day off on the weekend. I really want to have the social aspect of college like I did freshman year when I got a 3.5 GPA while having a lot of fun.

Also, for those who don't/didn't have any connections to any healthcare professionals (i.e. premeds that don't have any doctors/nurses/PAs in the family), how did you get your shadowing hours? Cold-calling/emailing isn't working for me (I have a total of 40.5 hours...) I am slowly giving up hope on getting accepted next cycle and forced to live at home scribing or paying out the ass for an SMP.

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[HCHopeful]

First of all. Volunteering at two hospitals each week should add up to much more than 51 hours in a summer. If you've been doing this all summer and only averaged less than 5 hours a week between two hospitals, I really doubt there was significant planning in order to maximize the experience.

As far as shadowing, I find it hard to believe the doctors simply didn't want to deal with paperwork. One doc I shadowd literally handed me a single piece of paper. I signed it. The end.

Honestly, your past and present seem to be telling me one thing. You like excuses. You want to go back to freshman year when you had fun AND had a 3.5 (still below average GPA). You just couldn't get the hours all summer. And your doctors just couldn't come through. Come on.

Now that I'm done pointing out the flaws. Here's some advice.

Do whatever it takes to get shadowing. If that is cold calling, do it. Same goes for volunteering. Organizations are always looking for volunteers. Even better, they're looking for enthusiastic volunteers. Show them you want to be there and ask for more hours.

We all give up something on this quest. You can't have everything. Decide what you need the least and cut it out. Clearly you need to up your GPA so focus on that. I would recommend cutting down on social life, but you seem opposed.

Anyway, good luck. I know it seems harsh, but sometimes we all need a reality check. I've had a lot of those on this forum.

 

[kyamh]

OP, this is kind of like the wake-up call some students get when transitioning from high school to college. The effort you have been putting forth is not good enough. Do better. Try harder. Work smarter.

If you can't succeed at getting great grades while balancing other interests and at communicating with volunteer groups and with physicians who you want to shadow...then maybe you aren't mature/competent enough at this point in your life to be successful in medical school. Other students can do the things you are struggling to do. Shape up or consider giving yourself a few extra years to mature and to become a more efficient and dedicated person.

 

[Kochanie]

What did you do the whole summer? I'm doing 9 weeks of intensive Orgo and still will manage to get 100 clinic, 50 shadowing, + 100 hospital hours during and after (mostly after). Biggest tip I can give, don't wait until the last minute!

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

You're right. It's not easy, especially getting the shadowing hours. I did everything I could. Tried lots and lots of cold calling. Finally it clicked when I got in touch with a doctor who knew a friend of a friend of a colleague who came from my dad's office. (No, my father is NOT in medicine in the least. And he's a plane ride away!) One thing I discovered: actually go to their medical office. Don't text. Don't email. Don't even call because you'll get a receptionist who couldn't care less. As for the HIPPA, it's a real issue. You will not be as successful trying to shadow in a hospital setting. Instead, look for doctors who do procedures in their office if you're interested in surgery. You won't make the mistake and think you're in one of the TV hospital dramas, but at least you'll catch some interesting action.

 

[FutureSurgical]

First of all. Volunteering at two hospitals each week should add up to much more than 51 hours in a summer. If you've been doing this all summer and only averaged less than 5 hours a week between two hospitals, I really doubt there was significant planning in order to maximize the experience.

Didn't want to put this down in the original post since it's a longer story, but the first one was an ER gig that only gives 4 hours/week and a bunch of high schoolers beat me to the "better hours" so to speak. I worked every week, even when I was sick. However, I had a volunteer come in on her shift and only one volunteer can sign in at a time, which meant only one volunteer per 4 hour shift. The second hospital is the same story almost. I volunteered at a children's hospital once a week (can't take more shifts) for 3 hours. Same thing again, another volunteer would come in, except he could sign in with me. But one week I stayed for 4 hours doing a group kid's project, which took 4 hours to do. The volunteer after me bitched because I wasn't allowing him "to do his service". In fact, he told the volunteer coordinator and she bitched at me as well.

Honestly, your past and present seem to be telling me one thing. You like excuses. You want to go back to freshman year when you had fun AND had a 3.5 (still below average GPA). You just couldn't get the hours all summer. And your doctors just couldn't come through. Come on.

That was one of the responses I got from a physician over the phone: "Sorry, we just have to fill out some paperwork on our end concerning HIPAA as well as some other confidentiality forms. This takes time that we just don't have." The other one left me a long email saying pretty much the same thing. I did sign the same thing you mentioned. It was just one HIPAA form that I have signed before when volunteering. Once again, this was out of my control.

Now that I'm done pointing out the flaws. Here's some advice.

Do whatever it takes to get shadowing. If that is cold calling, do it. Same goes for volunteering. Organizations are always looking for volunteers. Even better, they're looking for enthusiastic volunteers. Show them you want to be there and ask for more hours.

This was what I was afraid of, but I'm willing to keep at it. I didn't know if there was any way other than cold-calling/emailing. Guess I'm sticking to it!

We all give up something on this quest. You can't have everything. Decide what you need the least and cut it out. Clearly you need to up your GPA so focus on that. I would recommend cutting down on social life, but you seem opposed.

Anyway, good luck. I know it seems harsh, but sometimes we all need a reality check. I've had a lot of those on this forum.

There's a long reason why I am not willing to give up social life. A sob-story that I decided to leave out because it's long. Seems like the only thing I can give up is sleep, which I am accustomed to. I'm still making my "master plan", which shows how much free time I will have.

End result: I'm not giving up a huge aspect of college that will keep me from burning out way too fast before medical school.

 

[FutureSurgical]

OP, this is kind of like the wake-up call some students get when transitioning from high school to college. The effort you have been putting forth is not good enough. Do better. Try harder. Work smarter.

If you can't succeed at getting great grades while balancing other interests and at communicating with volunteer groups and with physicians who you want to shadow...then maybe you aren't mature/competent enough at this point in your life to be successful in medical school. Other students can do the things you are struggling to do. Shape up or consider giving yourself a few extra years to mature and to become a more efficient and dedicated person.

See, it wasn't a problem adjusting. High school GPA was a 4.1 with honors and made a 3.5 my first year in college. Yes, a 3.5 isn't spectacular. But with the course-load I dealt with as well as staying social and doing various other projects, I was very happy with the start I had. Like I said before, there was a very personal reason why I did so poorly (if you want to know exactly what my GPA is, it's a 3.13 cGPA/2.95 sGPA). I won't post it here because I don't want to make it into a "boohoo pity me" thread. If you REALLY want to know my story, PM me. I legitimately came here for some advice on how to better myself and how people on here found ways to juggle everything. Gap year(s) aren't possible for me unless I somehow found the cash to pay for an SMP, if GPA ended up being a factor.

 

[FutureSurgical]

What did you do the whole summer? I'm doing 9 weeks of intensive Orgo and still will manage to get 100 clinic, 50 shadowing, + 100 hospital hours during and after (mostly after). Biggest tip I can give, don't wait until the last minute!

I have been trying every week this summer to get some sort of shadowing. There seems to be no love coming my way haha. I don't know how you managed all of that WITH intensive organic but congratulations to you! There are a bunch of clinics in my college town, so I might just visit each one until I get some love.

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Why are you taking 18 hours this semester? Trying to do it all, including your sports, and your clubs (is your social life added to that?) may be trying to do too much. Spread it out, because the reality is, you're probably not doing anything very well.

 

[Kochanie]

I have been trying every week this summer to get some sort of shadowing. There seems to be no love coming my way haha. I don't know how you managed all of that WITH intensive organic but congratulations to you! There are a bunch of clinics in my college town, so I might just visit each one until I get some love.

I've been doing 4-5 hours a week at a hospital and will do a LOT during my 4 weeks of "break" haha, try to volunteer at least once a week. It seems like a lot, but it really isn't and it adds up fast. Then during breaks, do as much as you can, I'd suggest doing them at places where you can sign up for shifts and/or have steady weekly shifts.

Shadowing is hard. But the good thing is you don't need a lot of hours so keep trying and be persistent. Besides shadowing residents for a few hours, I have nothing much lined up either since I'm still in school.

 

[FutureSurgical]

Why are you taking 18 hours this semester? Trying to do it all, including your sports, and your clubs (is your social life added to that?) may be trying to do too much. Spread it out, because the reality is, you're probably not doing anything very well.

Ouch. But it's true. I've been trying so hard to do this. I love medicine and I really do want to be a physician, but I may just not be good enough. Not sure at this point if I should give up or not. Cut my losses and find something else.

EDIT: was in a depressive mood when I started this thread. I dropped to 15 hours and will start contacting hospitals/clinics when I move back to school.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

First of all, I agree with everyone who said, "Stop making excuses." Adcoms want to see that you take full responsibility for your mistakes and learn from them so that you don't repeat them.

Secondly, you're gonna have to keep trying with the shadowing because adcoms don't care who did or didn't have connections. I was lucky enough to live in a small town and my dad (small business owner with no ties to medicine) had 2 friends who were happy to let me shadow them whenever I wanted.

Thirdly, adcoms expect you to make sacrifices on this journey. Refusing to give up even a bit of your social life is a sign of immaturity, which adcoms will see during the interview, if you can make it to that stage. Adcoms will not accept candidates who lack maturity.

Lastly, don't try to do 18 credits while doing so many EC's. Adcoms want to see excellence and long-term commitment to a few EC's, not mediocrity and/or sparse commitment to many EC's. It is not healthy to sacrifice sleep in order to try to balance everything. Honestly, your "master plan" will fail if you don't cut out a lot of the "fun time" and "social life" that you so desperately want to hold onto.

I don't know what kind of school you attend, but this is coming from a WUSTL alum. I've seen too many premeds (and non-premeds) suffer from overcommitment and ultimately lower grades than they wanted. Overcommitment to too many activities + not enough sleep + refusal to give up some of their social life = not enough time to study = lower grades.

 

[FutureSurgical]

First of all, I agree with everyone who said, "Stop making excuses." Adcoms want to see that you take full responsibility for your mistakes and learn from them so that you don't repeat them.

Secondly, you're gonna have to keep trying with the shadowing because adcoms don't care who did or didn't have connections. I was lucky enough to live in a small town and my dad (small business owner with no ties to medicine) had 2 friends who were happy to let me shadow them whenever I wanted.

Thirdly, adcoms expect you to make sacrifices on this journey. Refusing to give up even a bit of your social life is a sign of immaturity, which adcoms will see during the interview, if you can make it to that stage. Adcoms will not accept candidates who lack maturity.

Lastly, don't try to do 18 credits while doing so many EC's. Adcoms want to see excellence and long-term commitment to a few EC's, not mediocrity and/or sparse commitment to many EC's. It is not healthy to sacrifice sleep in order to try to balance everything. Honestly, your "master plan" will fail if you don't cut out a lot of the "fun time" and "social life" that you so desperately want to hold onto.

I don't know what kind of school you attend, but this is coming from a WUSTL alum. I've seen too many premeds (and non-premeds) suffer from overcommitment and ultimately lower grades than they wanted. Overcommitment to too many activities + not enough sleep + refusal to give up some of their social life = not enough time to study = lower grades.

I gave up social life almost completely last year due to have a full-time job with 16 hours, which triggered a deep depression that I had struggled with in high school and (almost) eliminated in college. I really want to reconnect with the social aspect of college. What I mean with "social aspect" is interacting with people. Not going to a frat party every weekend, but spending a few hours every few days or week just talking and chilling. Also, playing rugby with the team will count largely as my social aspect of college. I am 100% this will have to be during the weekend if I don't have some test that next week. My priority is GPA. I will give up a lot of social parts of contact if the grades demand it. I wasn't very clear on what I meant, which is where I confused you all.

My first two years are filled with stuff that didn't last. My resume is 3 pages long, but with 1 semester - 1 year of leadership positions, which is what I want to fix. The VP position is what I will be sticking with for the next two years.

Please note that I didn't use "not knowing anyone in healthcare" as an excuse, rather an explanation for my rather insignificant hours in that area and wanted legitimate advice on how to reach to doctors.

Lastly, I really didn't try to give an excuse. I can see how it was that way because I didn't want to go into detail as to why my GPA was rather low (NOT adjustment issues, certainly wasn't because I was "lazy".) I really do want to better myself and show adcoms that I do have what it takes.

 

[IL Pre Med]

You sound like you're not ready for a medical education, which is reflected by your credentials. You need to give up your social life to a degree and focus on your responsibilities. Whatever you need to do, you do it. I amassed almost 1000 hours of hospital volunteering over the course of two years by staying consistent and dedicated. You need to evaluate your priorities and if med school really is something you want you'll find a way to make everything work. Like everyone else said, you need to basically just do everything better.

 

[FutureSurgical]

You sound like you're not ready for a medical education, which is reflected by your credentials. You need to give up your social life to a degree and focus on your responsibilities. Whatever you need to do, you do it. I amassed almost 1000 hours of hospital volunteering over the course of two years by staying consistent and dedicated. You need to evaluate your priorities and if med school really is something you want you'll find a way to make everything work. Like everyone else said, you need to basically just do everything better.

Can I ask if you were a full-time student doing this? I can't really "drop" my college education for several reasons. I have gotten therapy to help with the depression. so I believe that I am ready to go back to school.

I made this thread in hopes that people would share personal qualms or advice that they could share with juggling everything. Didn't really ask for some "wake-up call" because I already got that when I saw my GPA last spring and got help for it.

 

[IL Pre Med]

Can I ask if you were a full-time student doing this? I can't really "drop" my college education for several reasons. I have gotten therapy to help with the depression. so I believe that I am ready to go back to school.

I made this thread in hopes that people would share personal qualms or advice that they could share with juggling everything. Didn't really ask for some "wake-up call" because I already got that when I saw my GPA last spring and got help for it.

Full time graduate program 19-20 credits per semester. Still worked for drinking money too and worked out five times a week. Key concept is time-management

 

[aegistitan]

If you're having trouble getting shadowing positions I recommend doing the following, especially if you're still on summer break. You can still get 50 or so hours in a month

1. Write a very neat CV - make sure to include your GPA, your 3.5 alone should be enough to get you through the door.
2. Print out a decent number of these (5 - 30) depending on how broadly you want to apply
3. Go to google maps and type this: "doctor near [insert zipcode]", you should see many red dots appear (many different specialties) - assuming you live in a well populated area. If you happen to live in a rural area there should be a local family medicine primary care doc that would be more than willing to help you. I find the family med guys to be very willing to take on premeds. If you want to shadow a DO, there is a website for that but I don't know it off the top of my head.
4. Do you have a car? If not, drive around with a friend. As stated before, do not call. The receptionists do not care. You want to target as many of the google maps hot spots as you can. Walk in and ask the receptionist if the doctor is willing to take on a premed for shadowing purposes. Usually they will want you to leave your CV, or you may get a chance to talk to the doc on the spot. Remember that not all doctor's offices are well advertised. There could be two or more in one building. If it is a group practice, approach the receptionist for each individual physician.

I did the above method myself. And in my area I got a decent amount of responses (2 responses/5 attempts). Sometimes the receptionist/office manager will think you want to shadow a PA, make sure they understand that you only want to shadow the physician.

Also, you may want to check at your local hospice. Hospice and Palliative medicine is very interesting, and all of the docs I know seem to be very friendly and welcoming.

 

[sunflower18]

I think time management is really important. For most of my semesters in undergrad, I worked 50 hours a week via 3 different jobs and various volunteer gigs, and I got a 4.0 almost every semester (cGPA now after junior year: 3.95). I did this by staying very organized and on top of my work. I made sure that academics were my first priority. The social aspect you're referring to was a bit harder to balance, but I got a lot of social contact through my jobs -- I worked doing things I really enjoyed, and I got to know and be good friends with other employees or volunteers. Then it was sort of knocking two things out at once -- I was working, but I was loving what I was doing and having fun with other people at the same time. Also, as far as shadowing without any health practitioners in the family -- do you have a personal doctor? Do any of your friends or family members see doctors? Try them! Almost all of my shadowing hours came from connections via my own PCP.

I will also agree with others here. Don't make excuses for why you couldn't do this or that. To you, they might be perfectly understandable reasons. But to us, it sounds like you're just blaming factors other than yourself. Taking responsibility shows maturity and ownership of your life. You say that you only got 51 hours but were expecting 75? That was within your control. You could have picked up volunteering at another hospital, or proposed a special project that would allow you to spend more time volunteering, or spent your time in a more productive way. The lack of hours didn't just happen to you -- own up to that. It's a tricky distinction to learn, but it really will be important down the line. I've had to learn to take responsibility for my actions in the past few years as well.

Good luck OP! You can do it!

 

[FutureSurgical]

I think time management is really important. For most of my semesters in undergrad, I worked 50 hours a week via 3 different jobs and various volunteer gigs, and I got a 4.0 almost every semester (cGPA now after junior year: 3.95). I did this by staying very organized and on top of my work. I made sure that academics were my first priority.

Can I ask how you personally did that? I really want to work on my time management skills. I feel like my GPA is too far gone now.

Also, as far as shadowing without any health practitioners in the family -- do you have a personal doctor? Do any of your friends or family members see doctors? Try them! Almost all of my shadowing hours came from connections via my own PCP.

No PCP. Mom lost her job and subsequent health insurance. She got another job but it doesn't give us a PCP. But there are a bunch of clinics in the college town so I'll be going there to find doctors to shadow.

I will also agree with others here. Don't make excuses for why you couldn't do this or that. To you, they might be perfectly understandable reasons. But to us, it sounds like you're just blaming factors other than yourself. Taking responsibility shows maturity and ownership of your life. You say that you only got 51 hours but were expecting 75? That was within your control. You could have picked up volunteering at another hospital, or proposed a special project that would allow you to spend more time volunteering, or spent your time in a more productive way. The lack of hours didn't just happen to you -- own up to that. It's a tricky distinction to learn, but it really will be important down the line. I've had to learn to take responsibility for my actions in the past few years as well.

Good luck OP! You can do it!

Fine. I'm done making excuses. Depression will not control my life anymore.

 

[sunflower18]

Can I ask how you personally did that? I really want to work on my time management skills. I feel like my GPA is too far gone now.

I made a lot of lists in order to keep track of what I needed to do. I thought about how long each assignment would take, and I scheduled in time to do that. For example, "Study for quiz -- 12:00 pm-3:00 pm; Write lab report -- 3:30 pm-6:30pm" but for every hour for the entire week. I found that if I had a schedule to keep me on track, I was more likely to get things done. I also did not go to to parties on Friday or Saturday nights so that I could get work done. I socialized with friends over lunch or dinner, or we studied together, or we hung out for a few hours on a given evening. But, for example when I was scribing, I worked either all day Saturday and Sunday or all night Friday and Saturday. There wasn't much time for homework, as I needed to sleep and unwind a bit too, but I tried to do 5-10 hours of homework every weekend. The vast majority of my homework was done during the week; I just made good use of my time and didn't let myself get too distracted. I usually got ~5 hours of sleep a night.

No PCP. Mom lost her job and subsequent health insurance. She got another job but it doesn't give us a PCP. But there are a bunch of clinics in the college town so I'll be going there to find doctors to shadow.

Do you have any friends who have doctors? Any other family members? You could contact the pediatrician you used before your mom lost health insurance. Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you. I don't have personal experience in finding doctors other than via connections to my own physicians and their friends.

Fine. I'm done making excuses. Depression will not control my life anymore.

I want to make something really, really clear because this is a dangerous misinterpretation of what I meant: Depression is not an excuse. It is a very real medical condition. I do not think that you are using depression as an excuse. I think that a medical explanation as to why you were unable to get a good GPA or keep up with activities is perfectly acceptable. What I was referring to was you saying that the volunteer coordinator got upset with you for spending more than 4 hours on your shift, or HIPAA paperwork being delayed, etc. THOSE are excuses that sound like whining and immaturity. If you instead said, "Unfortunately due to a medical condition, I was unable to keep up with my classes during the first semester of my sophomore year. I have since started taking medications that have alleviated my condition, and I have not had a relapse since that time. It is under control and I know exactly what steps I need to take if it presents itself again during my medical training or career." then there wouldn't be an issue. That is a mature response to a medical problem beyond your control.

Does that differentiation make sense? It's really important.

 

[FutureSurgical]

I made a lot of lists in order to keep track of what I needed to do. I thought about how long each assignment would take, and I scheduled in time to do that. For example, "Study for quiz -- 12:00 pm-3:00 pm; Write lab report -- 3:30 pm-6:30pm" but for every hour for the entire week. I found that if I had a schedule to keep me on track, I was more likely to get things done. I also did not go to to parties on Friday or Saturday nights so that I could get work done. I socialized with friends over lunch or dinner, or we studied together, or we hung out for a few hours on a given evening. But, for example when I was scribing, I worked either all day Saturday and Sunday or all night Friday and Saturday. There wasn't much time for homework, as I needed to sleep and unwind a bit too, but I tried to do 5-10 hours of homework every weekend. The vast majority of my homework was done during the week; I just made good use of my time and didn't let myself get too distracted. I usually got ~5 hours of sleep a night.



Do you have any friends who have doctors? Any other family members? You could contact the pediatrician you used before your mom lost health insurance. Other than that, I'm not sure what to tell you. I don't have personal experience in finding doctors other than via connections to my own physicians and their friends.



I want to make something really, really clear because this is a dangerous misinterpretation of what I meant: Depression is not an excuse. It is a very real medical condition. I do not think that you are using depression as an excuse. I think that a medical explanation as to why you were unable to get a good GPA or keep up with activities is perfectly acceptable. What I was referring to was you saying that the volunteer coordinator got upset with you for spending more than 4 hours on your shift, or HIPAA paperwork being delayed, etc. THOSE are excuses that sound like whining and immaturity. If you instead said, "Unfortunately due to a medical condition, I was unable to keep up with my classes during the first semester of my sophomore year. I have since started taking medications that have alleviated my condition, and I have not had a relapse since that time. It is under control and I know exactly what steps I need to take if it presents itself again during my medical training or career." then there wouldn't be an issue. That is a mature response to a medical problem beyond your control.

Does that differentiation make sense? It's really important.

Thank you for this. Really helped. I can see now where everyone was making a comment. As I was reading this I had a friend tell me of some opportunities this fall. I am making a schedule as of now to plan when to study, do research, etc.

 

[mvenus929]

Why are you so against a gap year? It doesn't have to focus on your GPA, but instead, you can get a job and volunteer/shadow/whatever while you're not working.

 

[FutureSurgical]

Why are you so against a gap year? It doesn't have to focus on your GPA, but instead, you can get a job and volunteer/shadow/whatever while you're not working.

Only if it's GPA based. If all rejected me due to volunteering/clinical/shadowing problems, then I would do it.