Benefits of joining pre-med or pre-health club in college

[tennisball80]

-Networking between other pre-meds
-Useful information (research, GPA, MCAT, ECs, Easy professors, etc..)

What else ?

Is there a really benefit of joining a premed or pre-health club in college ?

Thanks for any comments in advance.

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[niranjan162]

-Networking between other pre-meds
-Useful information (research, GPA, MCAT, ECs, Easy professors, etc..)

What else ?

Is there a really benefit of joining a premed or pre-health club in college ?

Thanks for any comments in advance.

http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:x0dVArW1cxBV4M:http://www.onvolcano.com/thanks.jpg

Resume padding. Maybe you get a discount on an MCAT prep class or something ($100 off a $1700 class) essentially pointless though. If you dont wanna join dont.

As far as clubs are concerned do things you like doing. If you join a million clubs its easy to call you out on it and show you have no real commitment by asking you a few questions about it.

the most important thing is clinical experience i.e. shadowing etc. Try doing it at weird times, like 3 in the morning if you can work some nite shifts. This allows you to get a real feel for what its like, and you can bring this up in interview and talk about it. Most pre-meds do some crap shadowing from like 9-4 or wutever, probably cuz its hard to get people whom you can shadow.

But heres how I looked it at it. I did things that would give me a real sense (as much as you can get at least) of what it was like to be a dr. shadowing for long periods of time at nite etc. and this is what ADCOMs wanna know. Do you understand what it will be like?

Answer this question for yourself and you can easily answer it for others.

 

[Depakote]

Not too much. I never joined. Maybe they have a network of physicians that are more open to being shadowed.

The clubs would occasionally have speakers come in and such, but the speaking engagements were open to all so I'd still attend those. 😎

 

[Dr Lyss]

I didn't really get involved with the premed club. You get access to a lot of useful information and can help organize medical school visits and speakers -- but like Depakote said beyond organizing it there was no benefit because anyone could go. People in the premed club got to work with the premed advisors a lot, who ultimately write the committee letter so that is another benefit. I think it is only truly beneficial to your resume if you are able to become president or hold some kind of title of importance & you can discuss your responsibilities.

 

[tennisball80]

I can predict a competition between pre-meds for the president position in premed club.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

Meh, all the examples I've seen have been composed of like 8 tight knit friends who hold the office positions in the club and try to get everyone in Intro Bio I to attend their meetings. Most of us usually didn't attend. However, sometimes they organize things like admissions panels and med student panels, as well as hold test prep drawings, etc. Read: $1700 course for $0. But, again, you didn't have to be a member to participate in anything. Just if you wanted to get the tshirt. 😉

 

[45408]

Not too much. I never joined. Maybe they have a network of physicians that are more open to being shadowed.

The clubs would occasionally have speakers come in and such, but the speaking engagements were open to all so I'd still attend those. 😎

I didn't really get involved

.....
because anyone could go.

Most of us usually didn't attend.
.....
you didn't have to be a member to participate in anything. Just if you wanted to get the tshirt. 😉

So it's cool if you don't join, because "those guys are all too uptight," but then you go to their events anyways. 😎

Most organizations can get more money from the school (which comes out of your tuition anyways, regardless if you join any groups) if they have more members, so if you're going to benefit from what they're doing, it would be good of you to join, so they can continue doing those things.

SDN provides a ton of useful information, but it can be nice to have people "on the ground" where you are, because they know the local connections and can give you specific advice on classes at your school, local jobs available, research positions, etc.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

So it's cool if you don't join, because "those guys are all too uptight," but then you go to their events anyways. 😎

If I wasn't too busy working and researching in the evenings, when their functions were, I might've attended some. There was no point in my joining, if I had no time to commit to them. 😎

 

[tennisball80]

So it's cool if you don't join, because "those guys are all too uptight," but then you go to their events anyways. 😎

Most organizations can get more money from the school (which comes out of your tuition anyways, regardless if you join any groups) if they have more members, so if you're going to benefit from what they're doing, it would be good of you to join, so they can continue doing those things.

SDN provides a ton of useful information, but it can be nice to have people "on the ground" where you are, because they know the local connections and can give you specific advice on classes at your school, local jobs available, research positions, etc.

Do the president get some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ?

 

[Maygyver]

Free food. But more seriously, they are good for getting to know people in the actual fields you are looking to go into. For example, if the pre-dental one, you will get to see current dental students at the school and admissions committee members, etc. If you have time, join them, if not, it won't break you, but you will just have to do more work on your own. Part of it depends on how big your school is. I go to Ohio State so there are a ton of clubs with a lot of members in each.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Do the president get some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ?

No. I wouldn't join it unless you just want to for some reason. All the info they dole out and more can be easily found on SDN, the events are open to everyone, and it won't help your resume at all unless you're an officer and actively involved.

 

[tennisball80]

Resume padding. Maybe you get a discount on an MCAT prep class or something ($100 off a $1700 class) essentially pointless though. If you dont wanna join dont.

As far as clubs are concerned do things you like doing. If you join a million clubs its easy to call you out on it and show you have no real commitment by asking you a few questions about it.

the most important thing is clinical experience i.e. shadowing etc. Try doing it at weird times, like 3 in the morning if you can work some nite shifts. This allows you to get a real feel for what its like, and you can bring this up in interview and talk about it. Most pre-meds do some crap shadowing from like 9-4 or wutever, probably cuz its hard to get people whom you can shadow.

But heres how I looked it at it. I did things that would give me a real sense (as much as you can get at least) of what it was like to be a dr. shadowing for long periods of time at nite etc. and this is what ADCOMs wanna know. Do you understand what it will be like?

Answer this question for yourself and you can easily answer it for others.

So you shadowed a doc whole day like 24 hours to see the work load ?

 

[45408]

No. I wouldn't join it unless you just want to for some reason. All the info they dole out and more can be easily found on SDN, the events are open to everyone, and it won't help your resume at all unless you're an officer and actively involved.

With regards to admissions, MCAT info, and general info, SDN is definitely the best, but it was completely useless for local info. My group had plenty of good connections locally. Apples and oranges.

 

[Law2Doc]

-Networking between other pre-meds
-Useful information (research, GPA, MCAT, ECs, Easy professors, etc..)

What else ?

Is there a really benefit of joining a premed or pre-health club in college ?

Thanks for any comments in advance.

http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:x0dVArW1cxBV4M:http://www.onvolcano.com/thanks.jpg

There is no benefit, except perhaps being keyed in to the timeline and requirements. But you can get all this info from SDN.

 

[MilkmanAl]

With regards to admissions, MCAT info, and general info, SDN is definitely the best, but it was completely useless for local info. My group had plenty of good connections locally. Apples and oranges.

Local info meaning volunteer and shadowing opportunities, MCAT classes, and stuff like that, I presume?

 

[tennisball80]

Yeah, but Local information can be found at Yellowpages too

 

[45408]

Yeah, but Local information can be found at Yellowpages too

That's not going to tell you anything useful.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

That's not going to tell you anything useful.

Agreed. Don't underestimate the amount of important local information that is not disseminated well. A pre med club is often a very good way to obtain such info. Another method is via your pre health office's listserve.

 

[tennisball80]

That's not going to tell you anything useful.

Agreed. Don't underestimate the amount of important local information that is not disseminated well. A pre med club is often a very good way to obtain such info. Another method is via your pre health office's listserve.

I gonna join pre-med club then once I am in college. It would be cool if I can be one of the officer.

 

[45408]

Local info meaning volunteer and shadowing opportunities, MCAT classes, and stuff like that, I presume?

Things like that, as well as people who know what kinds of jobs are available (e.g., this is a good city for a pre-med to be an EMT-B and run plenty of 911 calls), what professors have good research labs, and school-specific info (ours had old exams for all the pre-reqs).