Pre-Med Clubs

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DifferentialDiagnosis

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My gut instinct when I saw them at my university was "Uhh.. no thanks, I have SDN"

BUT

I took a flier and it mentions "Shadowing Networks"

What do you guys think about joining premed clubs? Did it help you connect with doctors and network?

I'm not sure about you guys, but I don't think I could handle being with a ton of neurotic premeds like myself for too long. How was your experience?

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The president of my school's premed club was arrested for stealing stuff from a clinic so he could "feel like a real doctor" and they brought speakers in from the Caribbean. And this is just from me auditing their meetings a few times. No thanks!
 
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Not a fan, my own neuroticism is enough for me without 50+ other kids who think the same way making me lose my hair...

I think you can do fine shadowing/volunteering/etc without the clubs if you're a self-starter.
 
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If a club offers shadowing, go ahead and join it. You don't have to be very involved or put it on your app. If they require a lot of activity, then I'd say it's up to you.


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I feel like the pre med clubs at my school are just really group efforts to game the system. At club fair the officers told me that they provide the hook up with hospitals and volunteering gigs, and that if you stick around long enough you'd get an officer position out of it. It seems kind of unscrupulous, but I think it's worth it for their connection to hospitals/volunteer opportunities, and to meet other pre meds.
 
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Ours offered no real resources. Just some try-hard box-checking pre-meds trying to pad their resumes with leadership positions over a small amount of students in sparsely attended and poorly organized club meetings. Don't think they really did any service (or anything) other than summer service trip to Costa Rica. I'll bet they exaggerated their responsibilities fro AMCAS though D: Needless to say I went to a grand total of 2 meetings.
 
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My pre-health professions club is awesome. We do community volunteering, an on-campus blood drive each semester, and we host a speaker from a different health profession each week. You can also gain leadership experience and shadowing opps. I am currently the MD chair, where I bring in MD speakers and serve as a resource for pre-meds needing help. Our club adviser is my school's health professions adviser and is also a clinical professor at one medical school and an ADCOM for another. As she is also the person who helps write the committee letters for applicants, you best join.
 
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I was a member of my school's club, but only in writing. The reason I joined was because they had guest MD speakers. They also had shadowing programs, and useful events. I never participated in the stupid little meetings though, and I didn't list it on my med school application.
 
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My gut instinct when I saw them at my university was "Uhh.. no thanks, I have SDN"

BUT

I took a flier and it mentions "Shadowing Networks"

What do you guys think about joining premed clubs? Did it help you connect with doctors and network?

I'm not sure about you guys, but I don't think I could handle being with a ton of neurotic premeds like myself for too long. How was your experience?
You don't need to be in one, but its always good to listen to speakers
 
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Not going to lie, pretty jelly of y'all that had well put together pre-health resources at your undergrad.
 
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The club at my school is too ginormous to really be helpful. While it does offer resources, the shadowing/volunteering gigs are limited and are very competitive. Do adcoms really even care about membership though?
 
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The club at my school is too ginormous to really be helpful. While it does offer resources, the shadowing/volunteering gigs are limited and are very competitive. Do adcoms really even care about membership though?

Only if you hold some leadership position.
 
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Makes sense. I'll probably chase a position in a different club that means more to me/isn't as competitive.
 
My pre-health professions club is awesome. We do community volunteering, an on-campus blood drive each semester, and we host a speaker from a different health profession each week. You can also gain leadership experience and shadowing opps. I am currently the MD chair, where I bring in MD speakers and serve as a resource for pre-meds needing help. Our club adviser is my school's health professions adviser and is also a clinical professor at one medical school and an ADCOM for another. As she is also the person who helps write the committee letters for applicants, you best join.

Jesus, wtf school does this?!
 
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I'm actually gonna try and start up the club again at my school. Any advice in what to get together? I figured some group community service and exchange of some resources.
 
You have the right idea. Forget ice cream social, movie nights and gimmick club stuff. Actually go out and do something meaningful. You will have a bunch of smart, highly-motivated students who need community service at your disposal. Whether or not it's clinical, go use your brains to tutor some kids, set up a program to drive elderly, poor or disabled patients to the hospital, organize blood drives or use your unique strengths.

Also, have people in medical school or the medical field available to give talks or advice.

Shadowing/clinical time resources might be great if hard to set up.
 
Premed clubs are useless and meaningless on an application , all it does it put you in a room with a ton of people lying about grades and scores
 
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The most people that joined the club at my school were the ones with the worst stats, insecurity in ability causes people to hold on more, if people are actually comfortable with themselves and their chances they don't need to talk about it all day unless you're actually in the application cycle that's a different story
 
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When I was a premed, I remember avoiding these clubs. Not only do they attract and promote the highest levels of neuroticism, they aren't even looked upon that highly by ADCOMs. Their only use comes from shadowing connections in my opinion.
 
You have the right idea. Forget ice cream social, movie nights and gimmick club stuff. Actually go out and do something meaningful. You will have a bunch of smart, highly-motivated students who need community service at your disposal. Whether or not it's clinical, go use your brains to tutor some kids, set up a program to drive elderly, poor or disabled patients to the hospital, organize blood drives or use your unique strengths.

Also, have people in medical school or the medical field available to give talks or advice.

Shadowing/clinical time resources might be great if hard to set up.
Thanks. The reason it stopped for awhile was because it was hard to get people to show up. We'd have talks set up any maybe 5 people would show. We are a small school. Its never been a social club and people figure being in the bio club was enough work.
 
Wow a lot of hate in here. I am at a university in NC and also apart of the premed club at the school.

Our meetings involve volunteering and pitches from the local university. In the last spring semester alone we heard from Duke UNC, Emory and Wake.

I would encourage everyone to at least try it. Sign up for their email list at the very least and show up for events you want to be apart of.
 
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