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Rushnrhcp

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Hey everyone,

I'm relatively new to the forums, made the account a while ago but never used it. Now that I'm a little further along into my collegiate career, I was hoping to get some honest feedback on my accomplishments. I'm hoping for constructive criticism on where to improve as well as reassurance that I'm not completely off track :). Thanks in advance, and here we go:

Major: Biomedical Engineering
Year: Sophomore
cGPA: 3.98 (stupid A- in a social science class, eh..)
BCPM GPA: 4.00

Work Experience:

Clinical Assistant at a Cardiology clinic over the summer for two years. About three months, working 40 hours a week. Patient contact, learned a lot, all that good stuff. Question: I also was able to watch A LOT of Interventional Cardiologists in the Cath Lab (they knew I was premed, and so let me shadow during my 'work' hours.) Can I use this as shadoing hours since I was being paid?

Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader for Chem 1 and Engineering Calc 2. Time commitment was about 20 hours a week, I facilitated group study sessions.

Leadership:

I am the president of Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) at school.

I am the vice president of Nutrition and Health Awareness (NHA), another health club.

I am a leader for a volunteer group at Project CURE twice a month.

Research:

I started my own cancer research project about a year ago, working about 10 hours a week. No publications yet.

Volunteering:

3 hours every other weekend at Project CURE, where I lead a team of around 10-15 volunteers as we sort through and test donated medical equipment that will be sent around the world.

2 hours a week as a mentor for local middle school students in an after school engineering club, teaching them engineering concepts and helping them prepare for an engineering competition.

2 hours a week in NHA, teaching kids the importance of health, nutrition, and hygiene.

Shadowing:

Cardiologist while working, but I don't know if this counts? Probably about 30 hours.

General Surgeon who performed A LOT of laparoscopic surgeries. Probably about 15 hours.

ER doc, two shifts of about 4 hours.

An old mentor of mine who is a Pulmonologist (now works at Harvard :D), probably about 10 hours.

Various clinic sessions with orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, and oncologist, probably close to 10 hours.

Hobbies:

I exercise a lot. I love swimming, tennis, SOCCER, ping pong, bocce ball, surfing, skiing, etc.

I'm a little worried because I haven't kept up with the exact hours of each activity. The numbers for shadowing are estimates (probably lower than they actually are) and I have the contact info for most if not all of the activities and shadowing. Will this be good enough for the applications, or should I work to compile the actual data?

I am a good test taker, and I plan to devote the entire summer '13 to study for the mcat to hopefully take it in August ( I will take a gap year). I scored a 35 on the ACT and a 2380 on the SAT, so hopefully that standard test taking luck will continue until the MCAT.

Thanks for reading the novel guys. I really appreciate any input.
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DOUCHE.



























I am jealous. I am not the best at WAMC for applicants like you, so some may better respond, but you seem like a golden candidate. Do well on the mcat, keep doing what you are doing, and you will for sure get in. probably to an awesome school.
 
FrkyBgStok said:
you seem like a golden candidate. Do well on the mcat, keep doing what you are doing, and you will for sure get in. probably to an awesome school.
Click to expand...
'Nuf said.

Rushnrhcp said:
Hey everyone,

I'm relatively new to the forums, made the account a while ago but never used it. Now that I'm a little further along into my collegiate career, I was hoping to get some honest feedback on my accomplishments. I'm hoping for constructive criticism on where to improve as well as reassurance that I'm not completely off track :). Thanks in advance, and here we go:

Major: Biomedical Engineering
Year: Sophomore
cGPA: 3.98 (stupid A- in a social science class, eh..)
BCPM GPA: 4.00

Work Experience:

Clinical Assistant at a Cardiology clinic over the summer for two years. About three months, working 40 hours a week. Patient contact, learned a lot, all that good stuff. Question: I also was able to watch A LOT of Interventional Cardiologists in the Cath Lab (they knew I was premed, and so let me shadow during my 'work' hours.) Can I use this as shadoing hours since I was being paid?

Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader for Chem 1 and Engineering Calc 2. Time commitment was about 20 hours a week, I facilitated group study sessions.

Leadership:

I am the president of Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) at school.

I am the vice president of Nutrition and Health Awareness (NHA), another health club.

I am a leader for a volunteer group at Project CURE twice a month.

Research:

I started my own cancer research project about a year ago, working about 10 hours a week. No publications yet.

Volunteering:

3 hours every other weekend at Project CURE, where I lead a team of around 10-15 volunteers as we sort through and test donated medical equipment that will be sent around the world.

2 hours a week as a mentor for local middle school students in an after school engineering club, teaching them engineering concepts and helping them prepare for an engineering competition.

2 hours a week in NHA, teaching kids the importance of health, nutrition, and hygiene.

Shadowing:

Cardiologist while working, but I don't know if this counts? Probably about 30 hours.

General Surgeon who performed A LOT of laparoscopic surgeries. Probably about 15 hours.

ER doc, two shifts of about 4 hours.

An old mentor of mine who is a Pulmonologist (now works at Harvard :D), probably about 10 hours.

Various clinic sessions with orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, and oncologist, probably close to 10 hours.

Hobbies:

I exercise a lot. I love swimming, tennis, SOCCER, ping pong, bocce ball, surfing, skiing, etc.

I'm a little worried because I haven't kept up with the exact hours of each activity. The numbers for shadowing are estimates (probably lower than they actually are) and I have the contact info for most if not all of the activities and shadowing. Will this be good enough for the applications, or should I work to compile the actual data?

I am a good test taker, and I plan to devote the entire summer '13 to study for the mcat to hopefully take it in August ( I will take a gap year). I scored a 35 on the ACT and a 2380 on the SAT, so hopefully that standard test taking luck will continue until the MCAT.

Thanks for reading the novel guys. I really appreciate any input.
Click to expand...
Do your best to make a honest estimate of hours. Perfection is not required. I'm glad you got the contact info.
 
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Your ECs are very advanced for being a sophomore and obviously your GPA is great. If you're looking for areas of improvement, I would add a primary care physician to your shadowing.
 
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Rushnrhcp said:
Work Experience:

Clinical Assistant at a Cardiology clinic over the summer for two years. About three months, working 40 hours a week. Patient contact, learned a lot, all that good stuff. Question: I also was able to watch A LOT of Interventional Cardiologists in the Cath Lab (they knew I was premed, and so let me shadow during my 'work' hours.) Can I use this as shadoing hours since I was being paid?

Thanks for reading the novel guys. I really appreciate any input.
Click to expand...

Hi there, how are you? I really like this post, it is very easy to read and critique. Yes, you can use those paid hours for shadowing...when reporting the hours calculate them something like this: Total Cardiac Hours - Shadowed Hours = Reported Cardiac Hours.

Your GPA, and the high MCAT, are going to be very attracting and promising to Ad Coms...this alone can win you seats.

On the weaknessess, you really have an opening in non-clinical activites...leadership, teamwork, reserach...those are all strong - and all medical related. One might look at those 2 hours a week as a mentor with some questions about your dedications to others. Also, do strive to gain some publiciations or awards that could set you apart from other strong applicants!

The best luck and the most wonderful wishes to you, enjoy your undergraduate experiences!
 
Thanks, and yes I figured if I made it easier to read it might encourage people to reply. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I'm hopeful I can do well on it.

I was thinking I should focus on clinical volunteering, since that seems to be the biggest weakness in my application... I've looked into volunteer opportunities at local hospitals but the tasks seem rather pointless, i.e. restocking supplies, working the front desk, working the gift shop, etc. Do you eventually move up the ranks, so to speak, and get opportunities to help out in more interesting areas?

And to sector9, I've read a few people who've recommended that applicants shadow primary care docs, but I'm not sure why they emphasize that... Is is because they treat the more basic elements of medicine? Sorry if that comes off as rude, but I hope you understand what I'm saying.
 
Rushnrhcp said:
Thanks, and yes I figured if I made it easier to read it might encourage people to reply. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I'm hopeful I can do well on it.

I was thinking I should focus on clinical volunteering, since that seems to be the biggest weakness in my application... I've looked into volunteer opportunities at local hospitals but the tasks seem rather pointless, i.e. restocking supplies, working the front desk, working the gift shop, etc. Do you eventually move up the ranks, so to speak, and get opportunities to help out in more interesting areas?

And to sector9, I've read a few people who've recommended that applicants shadow primary care docs, but I'm not sure why they emphasize that... Is is because they treat the more basic elements of medicine? Sorry if that comes off as rude, but I hope you understand what I'm saying.
Click to expand...

People reading this should know I was refering to your non-clinical activites defecit (your CURE and nutrition sort into medical/clinical activity categories, whille your only nonmedical is mentoring)...and for you, more clinical volunteering is good! Thank you for replying to my post, and please remain open to change directions - you have LOTS of potential.
 
Last edited:
Rushnrhcp said:
Thanks, and yes I figured if I made it easier to read it might encourage people to reply. I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I'm hopeful I can do well on it.

I was thinking I should focus on clinical volunteering, since that seems to be the biggest weakness in my application... I've looked into volunteer opportunities at local hospitals but the tasks seem rather pointless, i.e. restocking supplies, working the front desk, working the gift shop, etc. Do you eventually move up the ranks, so to speak, and get opportunities to help out in more interesting areas?

And to sector9, I've read a few people who've recommended that applicants shadow primary care docs, but I'm not sure why they emphasize that... Is is because they treat the more basic elements of medicine? Sorry if that comes off as rude, but I hope you understand what I'm saying.
Click to expand...

it is recommended to shadow a primary care physician because there is such a shortage of PCPs that med schools like people interested in it. but really, if you shadowed 5 different doctors, and all 5 were the 5 highest paid specialties, I would question why you are going into medicine. So if you shadow a PCP, it can show that you are interested in medicine and not just about money.
 
Rushnrhcp said:
And to sector9, I've read a few people who've recommended that applicants shadow primary care docs, but I'm not sure why they emphasize that... Is is because they treat the more basic elements of medicine? Sorry if that comes off as rude, but I hope you understand what I'm saying.
Click to expand...
PCPs are more "in the trenches" of medicine so to speak. Primary care specialties represent the vast majority of your core medical school rotations too, so it's good to get some exposure to primary care before applying. There are also a lot of residency slots open for primary care so chances are you'll end up there, to be perfectly honest.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll look into the Primary Care shadowing. Does it matter if this shadowing is clinic or hospital based?

Also, if anybody else has any input it would be greatly appreciated! (unashamed bumping :) )
 
Rushnrhcp said:
I'll look into the Primary Care shadowing. Does it matter if this shadowing is clinic or hospital based?
Click to expand...
Ideally it would be office-based so you have a strong experience with physician-patient interaction, which includes longitudinal care, education, advocacy, insurance issues, and problem solving.

Another reason for the primary care physician shadowing recommendation is that even if you become a surgeon or a subspecialist, your referrals will come from pediatricians, family docs, internists, OBGYN, and Psychiatrists, so it's good to have an understanding of this dynamic.
 
The job I worked in the Cardio clinic was office based- I learned a lot everything from histories and medication to taking vitals, checking pacemakers/lupe recorders, blood testing, and billing.

Also, I know that typically high school achievements are considered insignificant, but I was wondering if I should include that I was a National Merit Finalist or any other of the national awards(mu alpha theta, national latin honor society, national french honor society).

Thanks again guys.
 
Rushnrhcp said:
Also, I know that typically high school achievements are considered insignificant, but I was wondering if I should include that I was a National Merit Finalist or any other of the national awards(mu alpha theta, national latin honor society, national french honor society).
Click to expand...
I would not include HS honors. Only the ones from the college years will be regarded, and the rest would look like padding.
 
Catalystik said:
Ideally it would be office-based so you have a strong experience with physician-patient interaction, which includes longitudinal care, education, advocacy, insurance issues, and problem solving.

Another reason for the primary care physician shadowing recommendation is that even if you become a surgeon or a subspecialist, your referrals will come from pediatricians, family docs, internists, OBGYN, and Psychiatrists, so it's good to have an understanding of this dynamic.
Click to expand...

+1
There are other people on ones patient care team...
 
You have not yet built a hospital in Africa or vaccinated an entire Amazon tribe for smallpox. Therefore, you may have a chance at Carib medical schools.




In case it was not apparent, this is a joke
 
Hey guys, it's been a few years since I've posted but I'm now a senior and preparing to apply for medical school this coming June with the intention of taking a year off. I thought I would update this and see what people thought (all help gratefully accepted :p).

Since the OP, here's how I stand.

Major: Biomedical Engineering
BCPM GPA: 4.00
cGPA: i think roughly 3.97, I have one A- (3 creds) and one C (1 cred engineering porgramming class ugh)
Mcat: In the process of taking, I'll update once it has been taken.

Work Experience:

I haven't worked at the cardiac/cancer clinic anymore (still have two summers).
Been an SI Leader for 2.5 years: 6 months Engineering Calc 2&3, 6 months Orgo 1 and 6 months Orgo 2 (same prof), 12 months Chm 1 (same prof)

Leadership

Only change in leadership roles was that I was elected the President of NHA for this year. It's been a big year though, we're working on establishing a non-profit to expand what we do (teach elementary students the benefits of healthy living and exercise), we won office space and cash as part of a competition (Obesity Solutions).

On that note, we won Obesity Solutions out of 50 competitors. Big money, office space, mentors for establishing a non-profit, legal advice, yada yada, but this hasn't come through yet.

Research:

As far as research has gone, I've been working on the same project for what will be 3 years now. There's been a lot of going back and forth, but I've finally settled on a project the last 12 months and have been working on it. I will have presented the research and 2, maybe 3 symposiums but no pubs. Might be one on the way, but I'm not counting on it. However, this research will have been both my capstone project and my undergraduate thesis.

Volunteer

I haven't volunteered at Project Cure for 2 years, only did that the first two years. Haven't mentored for two years. Only volunteer work I've done since sophomore year was NHA (2-4 hours a week) and various engineering events (open house, BME day, etc.). Most of my volunteer work was my first two years (I'm very aware of the bad trend here...) since I've just become so busy in the lab, with classes, with work, and with mcat stuff.

I will be starting a hospice thing this month and hope to continue next year on my year off.

Awards:

As stated, won Obesity Solutions.
Won an engineering scholarship.
Inducted into Tau Beta Pi (engineering honor society) as a first semester junior.
Inducted into Alpha Eta Mu Beta (BME honor society) first semester junior.

Shadowing:
More oncology, lots of primary care.

LOR: 2 or 3 docs (have had more than than say they would love to write me one so I'm not concerned here), 2 science faculty, one engineering faculty, one boss. any others I should get?

Thanks for all/any input! Sorry about the novel again :p
 
One is generally expected to acquire LORs from two science faculty who have taught you and can comment on your academic prowess, as well as one from your PI. If there is some overlap, that's fine.

If there is a faculty advisor or somesuch for the Nutrition and Health Awareness Organization who can comment on your accomplishments/leadership/$$award, that LOR would be nice to acquire as well.
 
To increase your chances at getting in, it is best to have a 4.0c. Also, despite your so-so extracurriculars, you would have an okay shot with maybe a 41 mcat or higher. Make sure to apply very broadly.

(Sarcasm)
 
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