Balancing Pre-Clinical Curriculum with Extra-Curriculars

[premedfanatic101]

Hi all. I’m a first year D.O student and had a question regarding my first couple weeks in school.

So far, we have had one unit and although I passed, I did not receive an “honors” designation or a “high pass” as my school notes for better performance in the block. I am also working on 3 separate research projects (2 are derm related) and have involved myself in a few other volunteer orgs that are taking much of my time. My question is, how important are pre-clinical grades going to be in matching in the future? Although it is difficult, I hope to match in derm or anesthesia, and thus was wanting to get started on research and co-curricular early.

Im not really sure how much class rank contributes to matching in these fields, and if it is significant, I will probably have to cut down on my research and other activities so I can try to aim for honors in my courses. I guess im just trying to figure out how to balance everything without giving too much of it up as well. Thanks so much!

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[AlteredScale]

You need to find the right balance, if you know that your studies are getting effected, then withdraw from a project that is too much a time sink with little in return. You don't have to quit everything.

 

[Goro]

PDs don't care about preclinical grades, except if you fail something

 

[ToKingdomCome]

Ezteacurriculars also Don’t mean much either

 

[DOVinciRobot]

The only extracurricular that matters is research. If you are even thinking about derm, then you need to be top of your class. You need to drop the volunteering because no one cares. This isn't pre-med anymore.