Do I need clinical volunteer experience?

[MSTPbound]

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As my name suggests, I'm planning to apply for MST programs next summer for Fall 2008 entry. Here are my stats:

- B.A. in Caribbean Studies/Dance, NYU, 3.49 GPA
- M.A. in Exercise Physiology, Columbia, 3.9 GPA
- Almost done with pre-reqs at public college (only Physics II left), 4.0 GPA
- Taught one semester of General Chemistry lab at public college last semester
- 2.5 years experience as personal fitness trainer
- 1 year experience doing clinical rehab research with impending publication (Strength Training as Parkinson's Disease Intervention)
- Starting full-time research position in molec physio and biophysics lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in January
- Also starting Kaplan MCAT course in January
- Planning to take April 2007 MCAT

So far, I feel like I've been doing all of the right things, but I am concerned about the volunteer experience; I feel as though between my Parkinsonian research experience and my work as a personal fitness trainer, I have exhibitied sufficient interest in the health and well-being of others to prove my desire to practice medicine. I do have some isolated volunteer experiences in the past, but primarily as a dancer and dance instructor in an inner-city youth after-school program.

Given my record, how much will weight will presence or absence of clinical volunteer experience bear on my application?

Thank you.

 

[ntmed]

You have some great experiences, But IMHO, you still need a meaninful exposure to clinical medicine. Most medical schools (probably all schools) require some type of direct experience in a clinical setting with sick patients.

The exact number of hours isn't the main issue. But you should have enough volunteer hours to convince yourself that this is what you really want to do, and so that you are able to talk confidently about your experiences if asked during your interviews. Volunteering 4 hours a week in an ER for one semester could be enough.

 

[montessori2md]

Hmmm, not an adcomm, and in the same boat as you (no MCAT yet, applying next cycle), but in MHO, I don't think it would hurt to shadow an MD, but I wouldn't think going and volunteering would necessarily help you, unless somehow the volunteer work was really clinical (ie, EMT type thing).

Obviously the adcomms are going to want to know that you know what you're getting into, and part of that would be knowing all of the BS of medicine that has nothing to do with the patient and everything to do with bureaucracy -but, if say your best friend is an md and you talk about his practice all the time, doesn't that count?

Then there is clinical experience where you see blood and guts, sick people, etc. Does your research involve time w/ patients, or is it lab stuff?

I think as nontrads it can be a bit harder to figure out whether we're meeting requirements or not, because we're not kids just out of school who've never done anything. Not to beat a dead horse, I know this has been said on this forum many times, I feel as though, because I've had a "real" job for several years, and know that any career comes with a certain amount of baggage, that I'm more capable of taking on the baggage of the MD without whining about insurance companies and annoying patients and staff. Hard to put that nicely in a PS though : )

 

[QofQuimica]

As my name suggests, I'm planning to apply for MST programs next summer for Fall 2008 entry. Here are my stats:

- B.A. in Caribbean Studies/Dance, NYU, 3.49 GPA
- M.A. in Exercise Physiology, Columbia, 3.9 GPA
- Almost done with pre-reqs at public college (only Physics II left), 4.0 GPA
- Taught one semester of General Chemistry lab at public college last semester
- 2.5 years experience as personal fitness trainer
- 1 year experience doing clinical rehab research with impending publication (Strength Training as Parkinson's Disease Intervention)
- Starting full-time research position in molec physio and biophysics lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in January
- Also starting Kaplan MCAT course in January
- Planning to take April 2007 MCAT

So far, I feel like I've been doing all of the right things, but I am concerned about the volunteer experience; I feel as though between my Parkinsonian research experience and my work as a personal fitness trainer, I have exhibitied sufficient interest in the health and well-being of others to prove my desire to practice medicine. I do have some isolated volunteer experiences in the past, but primarily as a dancer and dance instructor in an inner-city youth after-school program.

Given my record, how much will weight will presence or absence of clinical volunteer experience bear on my application?

Thank you.

You definitely are an interesting applicant. I think you should focus more on doing well on the MCAT and your classes. MSTPs don't seem to put as much emphasis on clinical experience and volunteering as straight MD programs do. If you want to talk to some MSTP students, we have a Physician Scientist forum. Actually, I think this thread probably would be better in there, because most non-trads are not applying for MSTPs.

 

[MSTPbound]

You have some great experiences, But IMHO, you still need a meaninful exposure to clinical medicine. Most medical schools (probably all schools) require some type of direct experience in a clinical setting with sick patients.

The exact number of hours isn't the main issue. But you should have enough volunteer hours to convince yourself that this is what you really want to do, and so that you are able to talk confidently about your experiences if asked during your interviews. Volunteering 4 hours a week in an ER for one semester could be enough.

I definitely appreciate your perspective; in my research I worked quite extensively with people who have Parkinson's disease; while it was in a laboratory setting and not in a clinical setting per se, I suppose I have trouble not viewing the experience as a clinical one. I'm just trying to gauge whether it would be worth trying to squeeze in the volunteer work in lieu of putting more time into:

-Research (molecular biology/biochem will demand a steep learning curve for me)
-MCAT prep
-Aceing my last pre-med class (Physics II)

Thanks again for the input... more food for thought!

 

[MSTPbound]

Hmmm, not an adcomm, and in the same boat as you (no MCAT yet, applying next cycle), but in MHO, I don't think it would hurt to shadow an MD, but I wouldn't think going and volunteering would necessarily help you, unless somehow the volunteer work was really clinical (ie, EMT type thing).

Obviously the adcomms are going to want to know that you know what you're getting into, and part of that would be knowing all of the BS of medicine that has nothing to do with the patient and everything to do with bureaucracy -but, if say your best friend is an md and you talk about his practice all the time, doesn't that count?

Then there is clinical experience where you see blood and guts, sick people, etc. Does your research involve time w/ patients, or is it lab stuff?

I think as nontrads it can be a bit harder to figure out whether we're meeting requirements or not, because we're not kids just out of school who've never done anything. Not to beat a dead horse, I know this has been said on this forum many times, I feel as though, because I've had a "real" job for several years, and know that any career comes with a certain amount of baggage, that I'm more capable of taking on the baggage of the MD without whining about insurance companies and annoying patients and staff. Hard to put that nicely in a PS though : )

Funny you should mention about my "best friend" being an MD... actually, my primary care physician has been one of my personal training clients for the past year and a half, and we have had a number of fascinating conversations regarding his practice... none in which any private information about patients was disclosed, of course... and I consider our conversations and our relationship an important part of my decision-making process.

Also, as I mentioned in my previous post, my first research experience enabled me to have regular interaction, and even develop friendships with, a number of elderly patients with Parkinson's disease, albeit in a laboratory setting (this should answer your question), and it seems to me that this should effectively replace patient interaction in a hospital - strictly in terms of developing a sincere appeciation for and understanding of the human condition. I honestly believe that in the latter case, my personal training experience has also been beneficial. All if this in addition to your point about the general case of non-traditional students having more "real-world" experience than the typical undergraduate applicant.

 

[MSTPbound]

You definitely are an interesting applicant. I think you should focus more on doing well on the MCAT and your classes. MSTPs don't seem to put as much emphasis on clinical experience and volunteering as straight MD programs do. If you want to talk to some MSTP students, we have a Physician Scientist forum. Actually, I think this thread probably would be better in there, because most non-trads are not applying for MSTPs.

I really appreciate the feedback Chem-Queen! Last summer, I ran into an NYU student in the library who had just finished taking his MCAT - he ended up doing quite well, and advised me that his success came simply from preparing for the MCAT in the same manner that he studied Organic chemistry. I Aced orgo I and II, but it was the first subject for which I had ever spent as much as 35 hours preparing in a single weekend in addition to an average of 4-6 hours daily during the week. If I take his advice, I really don't foresee being able to make time for volunteer-work, so I just wanted to be certain that this wasn't going to be a damaging blow to my application.

 

[Vader]

As my name suggests, I'm planning to apply for MST programs next summer for Fall 2008 entry. Here are my stats:

- B.A. in Caribbean Studies/Dance, NYU, 3.49 GPA
- M.A. in Exercise Physiology, Columbia, 3.9 GPA
- Almost done with pre-reqs at public college (only Physics II left), 4.0 GPA
- Taught one semester of General Chemistry lab at public college last semester
- 2.5 years experience as personal fitness trainer
- 1 year experience doing clinical rehab research with impending publication (Strength Training as Parkinson's Disease Intervention)
- Starting full-time research position in molec physio and biophysics lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in January
- Also starting Kaplan MCAT course in January
- Planning to take April 2007 MCAT

So far, I feel like I've been doing all of the right things, but I am concerned about the volunteer experience; I feel as though between my Parkinsonian research experience and my work as a personal fitness trainer, I have exhibitied sufficient interest in the health and well-being of others to prove my desire to practice medicine. I do have some isolated volunteer experiences in the past, but primarily as a dancer and dance instructor in an inner-city youth after-school program.

Given my record, how much will weight will presence or absence of clinical volunteer experience bear on my application?

Thank you.

It seems that you have had patient contact through your clinical research. I would actually worry more about 1) doing really well on the MCAT, and 2) maximize your research experience by working on your own independent project(s). Typically, MSTP applicants have 2-3 years or more of research experience when applying. So be sure to get the most out of your full-time research experience over the next year.

Good luck!