Clinical hours for med school???

[deleted1004337]

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Hello,

I plan to apply next cycle (2020-2021) but currently have 0 clinical volunteer hours (unless you count some patient lab help i did while i was a hospital volunteer). I applied to some clinical volunteer places and will probs start in october. which means, by the time i submit my application, i will have only have ~72 hours. Is this good? this is a volunteer place that is close to my heart and isnt meaningless or is not being "used" to just check the box for med school. But, i genuinely haven't been able to commit to a clinical place that i liked because i am a full-time researcher and i am still taking classes. but, now that i have found a place, i am afraid that med schools will think its being used as a last-minute thing and im afraid that ~72 hours is not enough.
Please help me think.

here are my stats:
cGPA: 3.3
sGPA: 3.0
MCAT: yet to take
non-clinical volunteer hours: 200
research hours: over 1000

 

[Moko]

I plan to apply next cycle (2020-2021) but currently have 0 clinical volunteer hours (unless you count some patient lab help i did while i was a hospital volunteer). I applied to some clinical volunteer places and will probs start in october. which means, by the time i submit my application, i will have only have ~72 hours. Is this good? this is a volunteer place that is close to my heart and isnt meaningless or is not being "used" to just check the box for med school. But, i genuinely haven't been able to commit to a clinical place that i liked because i am a full-time researcher and i am still taking classes. but, now that i have found a place, i am afraid that med schools will think its being used as a last-minute thing and im afraid that ~72 hours is not enough.
Please help me think.

here are my stats:
cGPA: 3.3
sGPA: 3.0
MCAT: yet to take
non-clinical volunteer hours: 200
research hours: over 1000

The projected 72 hours over 9 months = 8 hours per month. Do you have any other clinical experience? If not, you will need to beef up the # of clinical volunteering hours, e.g by volunteering several hours every weekend, etc.

Unless you are URM, your GPA 3.3/3.0 is not competitive for MD schools, and you will likely require additional post-bac coursework, which would also give you time to beef up your ECs

 

[993444]

The projected 72 hours over 9 months = 8 hours per month. Do you have any other clinical experience? If not, you will need to beef up the # of clinical volunteering hours, e.g by volunteering several hours every weekend, etc.

Unless you are URM, your GPA 3.3/3.0 is not competitive for MD schools, and you may require additional post-bac coursework.

Is 8-10 hours of clinical volunteering per month ok during the application year if I already have enough clinical experience and I'm holding down a full time job and doing non-clinical volunteer work?

 

[Catalystik]

I plan to apply next cycle (2020-2021) but currently have 0 clinical volunteer hours (unless you count some patient lab help i did while i was a hospital volunteer). I applied to some clinical volunteer places and will probs start in october. which means, by the time i submit my application, i will have only have ~72 hours. Is this good? this is a volunteer place that is close to my heart and isnt meaningless or is not being "used" to just check the box for med school. But, i genuinely haven't been able to commit to a clinical place that i liked because i am a full-time researcher and i am still taking classes. but, now that i have found a place, i am afraid that med schools will think its being used as a last-minute thing and im afraid that ~72 hours is not enough.

here are my stats:
cGPA: 3.3
sGPA: 3.0
MCAT: yet to take
non-clinical volunteer hours: 200
research hours: over 1000

Having 72 clinical volunteer clinical hours is meager. Testing medicine as a potential vocation for less than a year won't look good either. Or have you already done some significant physician shadowing? If you can't double that before applying next June, consider waiting another year before you apply, as your GPA could use the extra time to rise further, if you keep taking classes.

 

[Catalystik]

Is 8-10 hours of clinical volunteering per month ok during the application year if I already have enough clinical experience and I'm holding down a full time job and doing non-clinical volunteer work?

Yes.

 

[Moko]

Is 8-10 hours of clinical volunteering per month ok during the application year if I already have enough clinical experience and I'm holding down a full time job and doing non-clinical volunteer work?

Totally fine

 

[993444]

Totally fine

Thank you Moko. And I hope I can now be accepted into the SDN Dog Gang?

 

[deleted1004337]

Having 72 clinical volunteer clinical hours is meager. Testing medicine as a potential vocation for less than a year won't look good either. Or have you already done some significant physician shadowing? If you can't double that before applying next June, consider waiting another year before you apply, as your GPA could use the extra time to rise further, if you keep taking classes.

I have 56 hours of shadowing right now and am currently getting more. I also just landed another clinical experience opportunity and will be doing that and with my current/ on going clinical experience, I will be potentially be looking at 200+ hours before I apply in June.
But then again, I havent taken my mcat so once i get my score, i will re-evaluate my decision on applying next cycle or not.

 

[Catalystik]

I have 56 hours of shadowing right now and am currently getting more. I also just landed another clinical experience opportunity and will be doing that and with my current/ on going clinical experience, I will be potentially be looking at 200+ hours before I apply in June.
But then again, I havent taken my mcat so once i get my score, i will re-evaluate my decision on applying next cycle or not.

56 US physician shadowing hours are enough if it includes a primary care doc. When did you start getting these hours?

150-200+ active clinical experience hours would be good, or does that include shadowing time too?

 

[deleted1004337]

56 US physician shadowing hours are enough if it includes a primary care doc. When did you start getting these hours?

150-200+ active clinical experience hours would be good, or does that include shadowing time too?

56 shadowing hours does not include a PCP. but, im talking to a PCP right now, so hopefully, i can land that as well. I did them February 2017, June 2018 and June 2019 and currently doing one.
150-200+ clinical experience hours would not include shadowing.

on the applications, would shadowing go under "other" or would it be with my other clinical experience?

 

[Catalystik]

1) 56 shadowing hours does not include a PCP. but, im talking to a PCP right now, so hopefully, i can land that as well. I did them February 2017, June 2018 and June 2019 and currently doing one.

2) 150-200+ clinical experience hours would not include shadowing.

3) on the applications, would shadowing go under "other" or would it be with my other clinical experience?

1) That you had demonstrable interest in medicine a couple of years ago will help excuse the more-recently acquired active clinical experience, ie, you are less likely to be perceived as having made an impulsive decision to go into medicine.

2) Perfect.

3) On the AMCAS application, there is a selectable category for Shadowing/Clinical Observation and another for Volunteer/Community Service-Medical/Clinical. You would enter them separately with the appropriate tag. "Other" is also available, but you wouldn't use it for this purpose.

Someone else may chime in about how its done on the AACOMAS application.

 

[candbgirl]

Your GPAs are awfully low. You really need to think about doing a post bacc before you take the MCAT. With a 3.0 sGPA you might(probably) have big gaps in your knowledge of the required science areas. Are you planning to apply to DO schools?

 

[deleted1004337]

Your GPAs are awfully low. You really need to think about doing a post bacc before you take the MCAT. With a 3.0 sGPA you might(probably) have big gaps in your knowledge of the required science areas. Are you planning to apply to DO schools?

Yes. I am definitely doing a post-bacc, whether that's through a specific program or a DIY one at my undergrad university- I'm not sure yet. What are your thoughts?
I am slowly starting to study for the MCAT but I will only take it when I know the score is very good on the practice exams.
Yes, I am applying to MD and DO schools, and I'm not a URM.

 

[SweetBurger]

not to hijack the thread but how DOA would an application be with about 110 clinical volunteering hours with roughly 50 volunteering hours? (asking for a friend)

 

[Catalystik]

not to hijack the thread but how DOA would an application be with about 110 clinical volunteering hours with roughly 50 volunteering hours? (asking for a friend)

Your question warrants its own thread as much more information is needed.

 

[el_duderino]

You don't need clinical volunteering. You need clinical experience and volunteering. Those don't need to go together. I'd even say it's better if they're separate. A well-rounded person is involved in their community.

 

[ciestar]

You don't need clinical volunteering. You need clinical experience and volunteering. Those don't need to go together. I'd even say it's better if they're separate. A well-rounded person is involved in their community.

I had zero clinical volunteering. It seems to be propagated a lot on SDN that you must have clinical volunteering and you absolutely don’t.

 

[Dr panda]

I had zero clinical volunteering. It seems to be propagated a lot on SDN that you must have clinical volunteering and you absolutely don’t.

Though I agree with your point, it is still important to realize that the competition is getting worse every year, what was not that important 5 years ago could be a deal breaker in 5 years from now, so if you have an opportunity to improve your app, why not to use it (just my 2 cents).

 

[ciestar]

Though I agree with your point, it is still important to realize that the competition is getting worse every year, what was not that important 5 years ago could be a deal breaker in 5 years from now, so if you have an opportunity to improve your app, why not to use it (just my 2 cents).

I had a lot of nonclinical volunteering. I got 10 II. No clinical volunteering wasn’t a weak spot. (Also had over 200 hours of clinical experience...)

 

[Dr panda]

I had a lot of nonclinical volunteering. I got 10 II. No clinical volunteering wasn’t a weak spot. (Also had over 200 hours of clinical experience...)

What were your stats?

 

[Catalystik]

currently have 0 clinical volunteer hours (unless you count some patient lab help i did while i was a hospital volunteer).

Could you explain what you mean by that? Did you get this experience during the college years? What was your role? How many hours? Why did you think it might not "count?"

 

[ciestar]

What were your stats?

3.73/3.79/31 (11/8/12)
I was very average stats-wise

 

[el_duderino]

Though I agree with your point, it is still important to realize that the competition is getting worse every year, what was not that important 5 years ago could be a deal breaker in 5 years from now, so if you have an opportunity to improve your app, why not to use it (just my 2 cents).

The underlying assumption here is that clinical volunteering improves your application. That's not necessarily true.

You need to show commitment to others, and you need to show that you know what it's like to be around and work with patients. A strong history of volunteering shows the former, and some kind of clinical experience shows the latter. If you establish that, throwing some clinical volunteering on top doesn't make your app better. There's nothing special about clinical volunteering. In fact, you run the risk of appearing to be box-ticking if your volunteering is primarily clinical, I think.

 

[LizzyM]

tl;dr. Clinical experience is essential. It can be paid or volunteer. Volunteerism is highly valued; it may be clinical or non-clinical but non-clinical with people in extreme need is best.

 

[Catalystik]

Clinical experience is essential. It can be paid or volunteer.

And in some circumstances, can be gained through curricular requirements.

 

[deleted1004337]

Could you explain what you mean by that? Did you get this experience during the college years? What was your role? How many hours? Why did you think it might not "count?"

I have lots of hours but what I did was I was in the Emergency Department, went through the patient's beds or rooms and helped with what they needed, helped people register in the waiting area, answered phone calls and helped with patient transport. Would this count as clinical experience?

 

[el_duderino]

I have lots of hours but what I did was I was in the Emergency Department, went through the patient's beds or rooms and helped with what they needed, helped people register in the waiting area, answered phone calls and helped with patient transport. Would this count as clinical experience?

Yes, absolutely. Interacting with patients is clinical experience.

 

[Catalystik]

I have lots of hours but what I did was I was in the Emergency Department, went through the patient's beds or rooms and helped with what they needed, helped people register in the waiting area, answered phone calls and helped with patient transport. Would this count as clinical experience?

Yes.