Confused about the sequence I should be completing my EC's

[wykwang]

Hey everyone, whenever I read med apps or chance me threads I always see people say stuff like:

50 hours clinical volunteering
100 hours volunteering non clinical
30 hours physician shadowing
6 months scribing

etc.,

However, I'm very confused as a sophomore at the sequence I should be doing these things.
For example, right now I'm currently volunteer tutoring at a local elementary school for kids who are not reading at their grade level, but this simply seems like it isn't enough for where I'm at. I have a few questions about other EC's that I need to do.

-When in my premed timeline should I be scribing and for how long?
-What precisely is the difference between clinical and nonclinical volunteering?
-Let's say for example, one summer I focus heavily on hospital volunteering and get 100 hours or more, does this mean for the next few years of premed I don't have to do hospital volunteering anymore? I have that "checked" of my med school application?

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[masnerj]

Bottom line, you shouldn't be doing things to "check them off" (even though almost everyone does this to some extent). I have no direct knowledge but from what I have learned on here and in conversations with many accepted students, what is important is how you fit the activity to a narrative and what you gained from it and whether or not you can talk about it in depth.

That being said, I also don't think that hours are the best way to straight up compare. Student A could have ~150 hrs of clinical volunteering at a hospital over 2 years while Student B could have ~150 clinical volunteering hours over a single summer. I don't think that these two students have comparable clinical experience due to one being a consistent activity over a long period of time while the other being heavily concentrated during one summer (which also looks more like checking off a box).


Just something to think about.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[wykwang]

Yeah, I put "checking off" in quotes because I was trying to convey how insincere in nature some of the questions were. Your point is exactly what I was trying to get at. 150 hours evenly spaced over the course of 2 years or so seems more solid to me than 150 hours over the course of one summer, but most premeds I see post here don't see to give much regard to the time frame, but rather that they can simply "check it off" their list or something. Thank you for your response!

 

[masnerj]

Hey everyone, whenever I read med apps or chance me threads I always see people say stuff like:

50 hours clinical volunteering
100 hours volunteering non clinical
30 hours physician shadowing
6 months scribing

etc.,

However, I'm very confused as a sophomore at the sequence I should be doing these things.
For example, right now I'm currently volunteer tutoring at a local elementary school for kids who are not reading at their grade level, but this simply seems like it isn't enough for where I'm at. I have a few questions about other EC's that I need to do.

-When in my premed timeline should I be scribing and for how long?
-What precisely is the difference between clinical and nonclinical volunteering?
-Let's say for example, one summer I focus heavily on hospital volunteering and get 100 hours or more, does this mean for the next few years of premed I don't have to do hospital volunteering anymore? I have that "checked" of my med school application?

Also, to answer some of your other questions as current senior applying to medical schools this coming cycle and someone that has done a variety of activities in the last few years:

1) Scribing isn't a required activity for premeds to get clinical experience. It certainly is a great experience (although it pays poorly) but typically its hard to do it while still in school, but power to those that do it. Typically it is seen with people taking gap years and it is done more as a full-time or part-time activity coupled with other things. I, for example, am strongly considering scribing for my gap year in order to further increase my clinical experience and for it to potentially be something I can talk about in future interviews (hopefully ones that happen lol).

2) Clinical volunteering is a type of clinical experience where there is exposure to patients in a hospital or medical setting. As the popular saying on SDN, "if you can smell the patients, its clinical experience." Look for clinical volunteering opportunities that allow you opportunities to interact with and talk to patients. Opportunities that are primarily desk-related or administrative don't count as clinical experience. Nonclinical volunteering is any type of volunteering or community service activity that isn't a clinical experience. This can range from volunteering at religious centers to tutoring economically disadvantaged children in the local community.