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Hi! I was wondering if I should be concerned for my AMCAS application in regards to my clinical hours.
Here's what my application will show - In 2017 (my sophomore year of college), I worked as a trauma scribe for 103 hours (two months). In 2019-2020, I volunteered for 89 hours in a pediatric oncology and hematology unit of a hospital where I played with the pediatric patients while they were doing their treatments or waiting for their doctors.
For the volunteering, it was cut short by coronavirus, and I would've had at least 150 hours if not for the semester ending early. Also, my application is more focused around pediatrics and primary care as I have other experience with children and teens, and I shadowed a pediatrician for 100 hours in 2018.
I'm concerned that my hours from scribing may be somewhat disregarded due to the fact that I quit after a short period, and my reason for quitting was because I couldn't handle the reality of the job with 17 credits hours at unis. In hindsight, I have learned a lot more about balancing my time and persevering since then, but I wonder how much you see this experience as affecting my application, especially since it's 1 of only 2 clinical experiences.
Anyways, my question is - what do you think when you just see those two as my only clinical experiences (besides the peds shadowing which doesn't really count)? Do you see it as a red flag that I included my scribe job despite its short term? Am I in bad shape for applying? My GPA (3.87c, 3.82s), MCAT (514), non-clinical volunteering (1000+ h), research (800 h)and leadership (Pres of sorority among lots of other positions) are not really a concern for me, but I know clinical experience is super super super important so I wonder if it's a glaring red flag to AdComs and I shouldn't bother applying this year.
Thank you for your help in advance!!
It's a little sparse, but I think the other wealth of experiences you have could make up for it. The real question is when are you applying and what can you do about it? If you're applying this year, too late! Too bad!
If you're applying next year, find some more clinical experience, maybe some shadowing if you can swing it, and go for it.
By the way, you don't need to say why you quit your job on the application, and if asked, just say you had a great experience and left so you could focus on school. Many college students never get jobs at all.
Thank you for replying! I'm applying this cycle so you're right in that I can't do much about it besides pursuing more clinical volunteering and shadowing this year in anticipation of potentially having to reapply or sending updates to schools.
Although I wish I had calculated all this sooner like some time last year, I never really thought about my involvement in terms of the number of hours I was racking up. Anyways, I really appreciate your time and advice