Generally, fewer but high quality / longer duration activities that you are committed to is better than a shotgun approach of lots of different things for short periods. It shows dedication / commitment and helps you write a cohesive narrative that can easily be seen by AdCom reviewing your application / history. I'd suggest 12-18 duration of clinical, 18 months research, and for non-clinical I think it's smart to commit to some organizations early and just do at a low-level consistently for 2-3 years (like just a few hours a month but steady). I'm just an applicant, but worked for me. I don't think there are necessarily hard and fast figures.
It is advisable to do it over 1-2 years span but I know candidates who did all clinical stuff in short durations and got several T10 IIs. In the end it comes down to your overall application.
It's too variable for such generalized benchmarks. Some people get excellent clinical experience over the summers/breaks. Some do it longitudinally. Same applies for research and other activities. It just depends. For reference, I had 9 months of clinical employment, 6 months of hospital volunteering, and small bursts of shadowing throughout 3 years; many interviewers commented on how good my clinical experiences were because I wrote and spoke well about them. A friend of mine had clinical research over 1 summer, 1 summer of clinic volunteering, and shadowing here and there throughout 2 years or so - she was also successful.
If you're worried about yours, list them and we can help from there.
If you're worried about yours, list them and we can help from there.
It's fine, I had basically 0 activities freshman year as well. You seem to be on good pace with your clinical activities. Keep up the volunteering/interpreting and you'll be fine. Your nonclinical volunteering is great, and your research is exceptional.
Similar threads
