Clinical Volunteering or Research?

[rab0016]

First time poster here, alright here goes...

I'm a Junior hoping to apply for the 2013 cycle. I have a great MCAT and nearly perfect GPA but my EC's are lacking, to say the least. I have around 20-30 hours shadowing and I'm taking a preceptorship class this semester that will get me about 30 more. Unfortunately I practically no clinical volunteering experience for a combination of reasons ultimately falling on me for not pursuing it harder. I have been working in a neuro lab since September doing research and I should have at least one publication by the time I'm sending in applications, maybe 2-3 by interview time.

Anyway all this to say I realize I'm scraping this all together last minute and should have started my freshman year but that ship has sailed. I'm basically at the point of prioritizing what activities to focus on and my schedule is filling up fast. The schools I'm looking at are higher-tier research oriented schools so my question is this: should I join another lab and try to double up on some research experience (another prof. has offered me a spot in his lab) or should I do everything I can to get in some volunteer hours before my app goes out?

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[lalalaaaaaa]

First time poster here, alright here goes...

I'm a Junior hoping to apply for the 2013 cycle. I have a great MCAT and nearly perfect GPA but my EC's are lacking, to say the least. I have around 20-30 hours shadowing and I'm taking a preceptorship class this semester that will get me about 30 more. Unfortunately I practically no clinical volunteering experience for a combination of reasons ultimately falling on me for not pursuing it harder. I have been working in a neuro lab since September doing research and I should have at least one publication by the time I'm sending in applications, maybe 2-3 by interview time.

Anyway all this to say I realize I'm scraping this all together last minute and should have started my freshman year but that ship has sailed. I'm basically at the point of prioritizing what activities to focus on and my schedule is filling up fast. The schools I'm looking at are higher-tier research oriented schools so my question is this: should I join another lab and try to double up on some research experience (another prof. has offered me a spot in his lab) or should I do everything I can to get in some volunteer hours before my app goes out?

I have a lot of bench research and little clinical experience that is comprised mainly of shadowing one doc for about 150 hr and some hospital volunteering. I have one interview and I think not having more clinical is holding me back for sure. This is just my experience, but looking back, when I was in your shoes I should have done more clinical instead of so much research.

It sounds like you're in a pretty good position though so don't sweat it.
Good luck!

 

[AnthroMD]

I think you should think about getting more clinical volunteer experience. Research is always great to have, but you could run the risk of stretching yourself too thin by joining 2 labs. Definitely keep shadowing! Also, you might be able to find some clinical research that involves seeing real patients instead of working with rodents that run around in a cage on all fours (not to poke fun at bench research ). Maybe see if you can become a study coordinator? Try knocking out two birds with one stone. That's what I did.

Good luck!!

First time poster here, alright here goes...

I'm a Junior hoping to apply for the 2013 cycle. I have a great MCAT and nearly perfect GPA but my EC's are lacking, to say the least. I have around 20-30 hours shadowing and I'm taking a preceptorship class this semester that will get me about 30 more. Unfortunately I practically no clinical volunteering experience for a combination of reasons ultimately falling on me for not pursuing it harder. I have been working in a neuro lab since September doing research and I should have at least one publication by the time I'm sending in applications, maybe 2-3 by interview time.

Anyway all this to say I realize I'm scraping this all together last minute and should have started my freshman year but that ship has sailed. I'm basically at the point of prioritizing what activities to focus on and my schedule is filling up fast. The schools I'm looking at are higher-tier research oriented schools so my question is this: should I join another lab and try to double up on some research experience (another prof. has offered me a spot in his lab) or should I do everything I can to get in some volunteer hours before my app goes out?

 

[alexrgross]

I think you should think about getting more clinical volunteer experience. Research is always great to have, but you could run the risk of stretching yourself too thin by joining 2 labs. Definitely keep shadowing! Also, you might be able to find some clinical research that involves seeing real patients instead of working with rodents that run around in a cage on all fours (not to poke fun at bench research ). Maybe see if you can become a study coordinator? Try knocking out two birds with one stone. That's what I did.

Good luck!!

this, balance the EC's