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I am on track to apply to medical school in the summer of 2013; I still need to do a lot to strengthen my app, but one strong point I have so far is clinical experience. I've been work part-time as a CNA for about 7 months along with my coursework; this basically dominates my weekends, but it's good experience and the pay is nice 🙂
That being said, I already have a lot of hours, I'm not a huge fan of the job, and, because I already have so many hours, I wonder if my time might be better spent volunteering, doing extra shadowing, doing preemptive MCAT studying, or trying to do extra research this summer.
The way I see it, I have 3 options:
1) Quit CNA job at the end of this school year and try to get a lot of research/volunteering/etc this summer (I will also be taking a full load of courses, so it'd be hard to do everything). That'd leave me with ~550 hours of clinical work experience, and would allow me to take my first vacation in 15 months 😎
2) Quit job at end of the summer (before starting Orgo, Physics, and Soph Bio) so I can focus on MCAT/courses (and take a short vacation) = ~680 hours.
3) Work until end of first semester of next year, which would give me ~970 hours (and no vacation 🙁 ).
I am not a huge fan of the job (it's tiring, no days off allowed = no vacations, etc) and so was wondering if I'd experience diminishing returns for my clinical hours. I've heard it looks good to maintain a job during the schoolyear and to stay involved in healthcare long-term, and I would like to have a lot of ECs to boost my app, but is the difference between 550 and 700 hours that great?
Which option would you choose? Thanks for any advice.
That being said, I already have a lot of hours, I'm not a huge fan of the job, and, because I already have so many hours, I wonder if my time might be better spent volunteering, doing extra shadowing, doing preemptive MCAT studying, or trying to do extra research this summer.
The way I see it, I have 3 options:
1) Quit CNA job at the end of this school year and try to get a lot of research/volunteering/etc this summer (I will also be taking a full load of courses, so it'd be hard to do everything). That'd leave me with ~550 hours of clinical work experience, and would allow me to take my first vacation in 15 months 😎
2) Quit job at end of the summer (before starting Orgo, Physics, and Soph Bio) so I can focus on MCAT/courses (and take a short vacation) = ~680 hours.
3) Work until end of first semester of next year, which would give me ~970 hours (and no vacation 🙁 ).
I am not a huge fan of the job (it's tiring, no days off allowed = no vacations, etc) and so was wondering if I'd experience diminishing returns for my clinical hours. I've heard it looks good to maintain a job during the schoolyear and to stay involved in healthcare long-term, and I would like to have a lot of ECs to boost my app, but is the difference between 550 and 700 hours that great?
Which option would you choose? Thanks for any advice.
