Medical Do I have enough non-clinical volunteering?

[Goro]

Hello,

I'm considering applying in this upcoming cycle. I'm a former career paramedic who decided on pursuing medical school. My stats are as follows:

GPA: 4.0 (20 credits left) in Biomed with a minor in Philosophy

MCAT: Taking it 5/29 (COVID depending). Last practice exam 513

Research: 75 hours in biophysics (still researching, hoping for a publication) with 200 hours in philosophy of science concentrating in climate change ethics and epistemology (sent off for publishing by PI who is listing me as a research assistant; second author pubs in philosophy are extraordinarily rare)

Volunteering: 100 hours with foster kids approx 4 years ago. Starting 2 years ago I joined Crisis Text Line but had to slow down due to work. Picking it back up and hope to have approx. 100 hours over the last year. In addition, I've co-founded a medical response unit on my campus that is offered free of charge to students, faculty, and guests on the campus. I put in leadership time by writing medical protocols alongside my MD adviser as well as operations protocols. In order to staff this, my organization on campus teaches an Emergency Medical Responder course. I've volunteered over 450 hours to get this program off the ground. In addition, I've put in over 300 hours in clinical volunteering to make this happen.

Shadowing: 25 hours pure EM. During paramedic school was required to rotate through surgery, ICU, peds etc... so I can speak on my varied contact with physicians of all kinds though this wasn't formal shadowing.

My question is: how is my non-clinical volunteering going to factor in to this equation? Even with a stellar MCAT should I be even considering an application this year?

I think that you're fine

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[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks Goro! I was surprised to see that from you as I've seen you point out flaws in non-clinical volunteers who remain on campus. I was a bit worried that all of my stuff was concentrated with little reaching out beyond campus. Is it my experiences in the clinical world that make up for this?

Also, assuming my MCAT is 515+ do I have the potential to reach on up to a top 20 or two? Which one's are non-traditional friendly?

You said you were a career paramedic before going back to school. How long were you working? I think that the previous career as a paramedic allays many screeners' concerns you don't know about the health care system. Talk to those posting in the non-trad forums and you can get a better insight into schools that may be more friendly to those with your background.

That said, we don't take bets on school lists until official MCAT scores are posted. As I said before, find out from other non-trads on SDN which schools are more likely to give you a shot. I don't know how any of the "top 20" may treat you without you doing some investigation or networking.

 

[Goro]

Thanks Goro! I was surprised to see that from you as I've seen you point out flaws in non-clinical volunteers who remain on campus. I was a bit worried that all of my stuff was concentrated with little reaching out beyond campus. Is it my experiences in the clinical world that make up for this?

Also, assuming my MCAT is 515+ do I have the potential to reach on up to a top 20 or two? Which one's are non-traditional friendly?

With a 515+, yes.