Best bet?

[mmbrink6]

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Assuming I am not able to land an internship doing research, nor a shadowing gig, would an EMT cert and getting experience as an EMT be the next best bet, or are there other avenues to take so I may gain the necessary experience to be competitive for med school? I see a lot of pros to the EMT route, but at the same time, it is a semester. Time and money. Thoughts?

 

[Pigglyjuff]

Assuming I am not able to land an internship doing research, nor a shadowing gig, would an EMT cert and getting experience as an EMT be the next best bet, or are there other avenues to take so I may gain the necessary experience to be competitive for med school? I see a lot of pros to the EMT route, but at the same time, it is a semester. Time and money. Thoughts?

You could also scribe perhaps. I can't comment on the EMT cert. Search the forums on this one, there's a few past debates on getting EMT cert on here I remember. How come a shadowing gig won't pan out?

 

[mmbrink6]

You could also scribe perhaps. I can't comment on the EMT cert. Search the forums on this one, there's a few past debates on getting EMT cert on here I remember. How come a shadowing gig won't pan out?

I am waiting to hear back from EMA which is the scribe organization at the hospitals around here. Every physician I have emailed for a shadowing position doesn't accept pre-medical students..

 

[rzoo14]

If you have a year plus, do the emt. Otherwise its not worth the time and effort.
As for research and shadowing, email as many people as you can. Throw out a large net, you'll find something. Good luck.

 

[mmbrink6]

If you have a year plus, do the emt. Otherwise its not worth the time and effort.
As for research and shadowing, email as many people as you can. Throw out a large net, you'll find something. Good luck.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I sent out 41 requests via AOA this morning. We shall see what turns out. I am somewhat of a sophomore, so I am still considering the EMT certification.

 

[Goro]

Being an EMT is fine..plenty of patient contact there. But think outside the box too. You can volunteer at a nursing home, hospice, clinics, work at camps for sick or disabled children. Shadowing is something you will need because you need to know what a doctor's day is like, and, ideally, if you're aiming for DO, that you can see how MDs and DOs are similar and how they differ. Plus, the necessary clinician LOR comes from that.

Assuming I am not able to land an internship doing research, nor a shadowing gig, would an EMT cert and getting experience as an EMT be the next best bet, or are there other avenues to take so I may gain the necessary experience to be competitive for med school? I see a lot of pros to the EMT route, but at the same time, it is a semester. Time and money. Thoughts?

 

[survivordo]

You have to do some shadowing. Not only to "get in" but also to confirm that medicine (and being a doctor specifically) is what you want to do! It's a long road, you want to be sure!

Survivor DO

 

[mmbrink6]

You have to do some shadowing. Not only to "get in" but also to confirm that medicine (and being a doctor specifically) is what you want to do! It's a long road, you want to be sure!

Survivor DO

Good news is, I just landed three shadowing positions. One with the chief of vascular surgery at a hospital in Baltimore, one with a sports medicine physician also in Maryland, and one with an internist/ hematologist & oncologist in Florida (family friend.)

Thank you all!

 

[bcurtis]

Assuming I am not able to land an internship doing research, nor a shadowing gig, would an EMT cert and getting experience as an EMT be the next best bet, or are there other avenues to take so I may gain the necessary experience to be competitive for med school? I see a lot of pros to the EMT route, but at the same time, it is a semester. Time and money. Thoughts?

As a current EMT-B I agree with the above stated; if you have the time to get some paid worked under your belt (500hr seems to be a good healthy number). I got my certification right before my junior year with the intentions of working a full year once I graduated and worked on polishing my AACOMAS application with some grade replacements maybe; since I am a year ahead anyways. Good idea for a very good looking EC boost in my opinion. But don't make it look like you just did it to "polish" your application.

 

[Dreamstoo]

Assuming I am not able to land an internship doing research, nor a shadowing gig, would an EMT cert and getting experience as an EMT be the next best bet, or are there other avenues to take so I may gain the necessary experience to be competitive for med school? I see a lot of pros to the EMT route, but at the same time, it is a semester. Time and money. Thoughts?

Last summer I shadowed for 40 hours and 100 hours before college started (summer after senior year). This summer I'm going for 200 hours of volunteering and about 40-50 hours of being an EMT on weekends.

 

[maybemed2013]

Become a CNA. I don't know what the requirements are in your state but in the state of Florida you can take the test w/o a class.

I took a exam prep course ( 3,4,6 day reviews) and took the FL CNA test, passed and I am now working as a CNA. I have gain a lot of experience from this job. ( Hospice, Dementia, etc)

 

[mmbrink6]

Last summer I shadowed for 40 hours and 100 hours before college started (summer after senior year). This summer I'm going for 200 hours of volunteering and about 40-50 hours of being an EMT on weekends.

Nice! I just got accepted for a physician scribe job I applied for. So I will be assigned a physician to work side by side with in the emergency department. I will let that suffice while I can!