Activity Longevity Importance

[LondonVibes]

How big of a factor is longevity in determining the value (in ADCOMs eyes) of a clinical exposure or volunteering activity (e.g. Does 8 months and 170 hours of volunteering look better than 3 months and 170 hours of volunteering)?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[KLMD44]

Yes, longevity is important, however, in my opinion something is better than nothing. Ideally, taking one or two gap years to show longevity in your experiences and to strengthen your application overall is best.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Generally, fewer but high quality / longer duration activities that you are committed to is better than a shotgun approach of lots of different things over short or sporadic periods. It shows dedication / commitment and helps you write a cohesive narrative that can easily be seen by AdCom reviewing your application / history. I'm just an applicant, but worked for me.

 

[Catalystik]

Does 8 months and 170 hours of volunteering look better than 3 months and 170 hours of volunteering?

Yes.

 

[deleted1025488]

The example you gave is pretty extreme but I think practically yeah. However, if you have a 3-month activity and it's one of your major activities that probably would look a bit weird. I think I remember reading something from Georgetown that experiences/positions need to be longer than 4 months for them to qualify in the first place.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

How big of a factor is longevity in determining the value (in ADCOMs eyes) of a clinical exposure or volunteering activity (e.g. Does 8 months and 170 hours of volunteering look better than 3 months and 170 hours of volunteering)?

Yes, but if your rest of application is very strong you should be Ok with short stints

 

[account4premed]

Also, how long does an activity have to be before it's considered long-term? Most of my activities are around 1-1.5 years since I just move on after I feel like I've learned or gained all that I could. I didn't realize longevity was considered important, so I don't have anything for 2+ years, does that look bad?

 

[deleted1080380]

Also, how long does an activity have to be before it's considered long-term? Most of my activities are around 1-1.5 years since I just move on after I feel like I've learned or gained all that I could. I didn't realize longevity was considered important, so I don't have anything for 2+ years, does that look bad?

That's long enough. I think you'd end up having red flags if all of your activities began in the beginning of your junior year, which shows zero commitment to medicine or altruistic activities before the year you have to apply. But then again who really knows; one of my friends last year had zero clinical experience except for a scribing gig that started in March of his application year and "would continue for the following year" (it didn't) and he got into Yale and JHU.