deanbluntfan
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First post, Canadian here sophomore at the best uni in Canada (not UofT) wondering about my ECs as I plan to apply to Canadian med as IP Ontario and USMD as international as well since Canadian med applications are brutal. I was just wondering about my ECs and what I could improve on moving into my junior/senior years, ideally not taking a gap year/doing Masters and applying to US schools that accept a non-trivial number of Canadian applicants.
Research:
~100 hours doing microscopy/RNAi injections/culture maintenance and stuff like that, LOR will likely be weak/not worth pursuing since I am not close with the PI
~50 hours + 100 projected hours meta-analysis -> publishing as non-primary author in The Lancet in <6 months (LOR will worth pursuing as PI is also MD, and has very high position in administration in uni health centre)
300+ hours this summer in a lab via Canadian research award for undergrads (close with PI and can get strong LOR)
Currently in all 3 labs at once so 1st one may be dropped
Posters/Publications:
Poster at undergrad research symposium on original research, abstract also submitted to peer-reviewed campus journal
Meta-analysis publishing as non-primary in the Lancet in <6 months
Likely a poster from summer research project
Clinical:
50 hours shadowing OBGYN via medical observership program (shadowing is basically illegal in Canada so more hours are very unlikely, though I have a strong experience to write about)
50 hours so far + projected ~200+ in Hospital doing program helping dementia, cognitively/physically debilitated patients recover (in: emergency, geriatrics, internal medicine: helping with walks, cognitive activities, etc. strong experiences to write about my growth there thus far)
Awards/Recognitions:
Engagement Award for Mentoring (from university, for TAing 100 level biology course, if monetary value matters: $300 CAD)
Canadian Institute of Health Research/Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate Research Award (basically a grant for summer health research, I'm not sure if this is equivalent to a "national" award, however very few students per uni are awarded, if monetary value matters: $10,000 CAD)
Unfortunately at my university there is no "Dean's list"
Other:
50 hours TAing for 100 level biology course (helping exam review, etc.)
Top 10 for Science Communication Case Competition
70 hours/2wks as a counsellor for a mini-med camp teaching grades 7-12 suturing, cell culturing, dissections etc. (if it means anything, I attended the camp when I was younger, if thats useful as a story for AMCAS or something)
Reading as a hobby and I collect newspapers
Personally, I think I am lacking leadership and non-generic pre-med ECs, which I will try to aim for in continuation with clinical next year. Is there anything I'm missing? Are my hours too low? I know there are lots of mentions about service ECs. Anything else I'm missing to be as competitive as possible, given GPA and MCAT aren't an issue?
Thank you!
Research:
~100 hours doing microscopy/RNAi injections/culture maintenance and stuff like that, LOR will likely be weak/not worth pursuing since I am not close with the PI
~50 hours + 100 projected hours meta-analysis -> publishing as non-primary author in The Lancet in <6 months (LOR will worth pursuing as PI is also MD, and has very high position in administration in uni health centre)
300+ hours this summer in a lab via Canadian research award for undergrads (close with PI and can get strong LOR)
Currently in all 3 labs at once so 1st one may be dropped
Posters/Publications:
Poster at undergrad research symposium on original research, abstract also submitted to peer-reviewed campus journal
Meta-analysis publishing as non-primary in the Lancet in <6 months
Likely a poster from summer research project
Clinical:
50 hours shadowing OBGYN via medical observership program (shadowing is basically illegal in Canada so more hours are very unlikely, though I have a strong experience to write about)
50 hours so far + projected ~200+ in Hospital doing program helping dementia, cognitively/physically debilitated patients recover (in: emergency, geriatrics, internal medicine: helping with walks, cognitive activities, etc. strong experiences to write about my growth there thus far)
Awards/Recognitions:
Engagement Award for Mentoring (from university, for TAing 100 level biology course, if monetary value matters: $300 CAD)
Canadian Institute of Health Research/Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate Research Award (basically a grant for summer health research, I'm not sure if this is equivalent to a "national" award, however very few students per uni are awarded, if monetary value matters: $10,000 CAD)
Unfortunately at my university there is no "Dean's list"
Other:
50 hours TAing for 100 level biology course (helping exam review, etc.)
Top 10 for Science Communication Case Competition
70 hours/2wks as a counsellor for a mini-med camp teaching grades 7-12 suturing, cell culturing, dissections etc. (if it means anything, I attended the camp when I was younger, if thats useful as a story for AMCAS or something)
Reading as a hobby and I collect newspapers
Personally, I think I am lacking leadership and non-generic pre-med ECs, which I will try to aim for in continuation with clinical next year. Is there anything I'm missing? Are my hours too low? I know there are lots of mentions about service ECs. Anything else I'm missing to be as competitive as possible, given GPA and MCAT aren't an issue?
Thank you!
