1 good quality EC vs. many regular ECs?

[robgarcia]

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I want to know about this. Should I concentrate on doing a great EC (many hours in volunteer work at a hospital w/ patient experience) or create a balance and do many ECs at a time, without so much time involved in a specific one.

To be precise, I mean about dividing my time into 2 or more ECs

1. patient voluntary work at a hospital and
2. regular community work.

should I concentrate in 1 or both at the same time?

what would be better for med school?

 

[J ROD]

I would do 4hrs/wk at the hospital, and 2hr/wk or so at a couple of other places....

get some shadowing in too!!

 

[bannie22]

do both... why not? 🙂

 

[Brent8927]

Personally I'd prefer to focus on one opportunity if it's a "this-or-that" type of situation.

Honestly though, I don't know if either is better. I've been told by some admissions committee members they like to see diversity, but others say they like to see an in-depth commitment. So it's a toss up!

If you can, do both--focus on one thing primarily and stick around for a year or two (or three or four...), and pick up a couple of volunteer/research and other opportunities on the side. That's what would really be ideal.

Overall--do what you enjoy, and what you want to do. You'll do much better and have more energy. You'll be much happier too!

 

[robgarcia]

What do you think would carry more weight?

volunteer work?
Research?
Shadowing?
Leadership?
Teaching?

 

[Narmerguy]

What do you think would carry more weight?

volunteer work?
Research?
Shadowing?
Leadership?
Teaching?

Depends on your level of development in each as well as the Adcom reading your application. Your application has to be looked at as a whole.

 

[slowbutsteady]

You need:

1. extensive clinical work (which can include research and/or volunteer work)
2. extensive research work (which can include clinical experience)
3. extensive volunteer work (which can include clinical work)


I believe that a strong applicant has significant experience in these three areas, and, as you can see, some of them can overlap. Overlapping is ideal.

Spreading yourself too thin can look like lack of commitment and application padding. I think you can do all three of these things with a serious, long term commitment to TWO activities -- just make sure the two things check all three boxes.

Personally, I think pure shadowing is kinda BS. There are many, many ways to "observe" what doctors do while actually DOING something yourself.

I did two years of research (with poster and publication) that included, as part of the job, daily patient contact and testing. (check: research and clinical)

I spent 6 months in a South Asian country living with a family and working in a rural hospital. My primary duty was teaching English to doctors and nurses in the evening. My days were spent in the OR and elsewhere right next to the surgeon translating everything he was doing into English. (check: volunteer and clinical "shadowing" and getting out of your "comfort zone")

My MCAT was good and my GPA was "marginal." I got 10 interviews and 6 acceptances. Every interviewer talked constantly about my experiences. Never mentioned my grades.

 

[maltonole]

You need:

1. extensive clinical work (which can include research and/or volunteer work)
2. extensive research work (which can include clinical experience)
3. extensive volunteer work (which can include clinical work)


I believe that a strong applicant has significant experience in these three areas, and, as you can see, some of them can overlap. Overlapping is ideal.

Spreading yourself too thin can look like lack of commitment and application padding. I think you can do all three of these things with a serious, long term commitment to TWO activities -- just make sure the two things check all three boxes.

Personally, I think pure shadowing is kinda BS. There are many, many ways to "observe" what doctors do while actually DOING something yourself.

I did two years of research (with poster and publication) that included, as part of the job, daily patient contact and testing. (check: research and clinical)

I spent 6 months in a South Asian country living with a family and working in a rural hospital. My primary duty was teaching English to doctors and nurses in the evening. My days were spent in the OR and elsewhere right next to the surgeon translating everything he was doing into English. (check: volunteer and clinical "shadowing" and getting out of your "comfort zone")

My MCAT was good and my GPA was "marginal." I got 10 interviews and 6 acceptances. Every interviewer talked constantly about my experiences. Never mentioned my grades.

What South Asian country did you work in and how did you end up doing it? It sounds pretty cool.

 

[locus000]

I want to know about this. Should I concentrate on doing a great EC (many hours in volunteer work at a hospital w/ patient experience) or create a balance and do many ECs at a time, without so much time involved in a specific one.

To be precise, I mean about dividing my time into 2 or more ECs

1. patient voluntary work at a hospital and
2. regular community work.

should I concentrate in 1 or both at the same time?

what would be better for med school?

you need both. but focus more on hospital voluntary (60% to 40%).. but the more the merrier!!