Does being a part time student your whole college career look bad when applying to medical school?

[jsat]

So, my whole college career I have always been a part time student because I have needed to work to afford to live/pay for school. I have had a few semesters where I had 15 credits, but the vast majority were 12 or less. I don't know if it makes a difference that I have been working as an engineer full time the whole time. Does this hurt my chances for applying?

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[LeaveNoTrace]

It does not hurt your chances. Not if you’ve been working full time while attending school part-time. That’s neutral to positive. How’s your nonclinical volunteering and clinical experience?

 

[jsat]

It does not hurt your chances. Not if you’ve been working full time while attending school part-time. That’s neutral to positive. How’s your nonclinical volunteering and clinical experience?

I have volunteered as a firefighter/EMT and field training officer for about 5 years now as well as volunteering to tutor for the biology/chemistry dept at my school. I don't have any other volunteer experience other than that mainly just because volunteering for the FD is time intensive ~36-50 hours a month due to lack of volunteers.

I also have done research for free/no credits and am published that way.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Firefighting is nonclinical volunteering. EMT is clinical volunteering. You absolutely need shadowing, including primary care, and it might be helpful if you got some clinical volunteering in a hospital. Even so, 1000+ hours as a firefighter and 1000+ hours as an EMT is no joke.

 

[jsat]

Firefighting is nonclinical volunteering. EMT is clinical volunteering. You absolutely need shadowing, including primary care, and it might be helpful if you got some clinical volunteering in a hospital. Even so, 1000+ hours as a firefighter and 1000+ hours as an EMT is no joke.

I guess I never thought of firefighting that way because it's all done in the same job. Yeah if I had to guess its around 2500 hours. I have a pretty strong letter of recommendation from a family medicine physician about 2 years back now. I have also shadowed an orthopedic surgeon, neonatologist, and anesthesiologists (2 different ones). Although only shadowed the PCP long enough to secure a letter all the others were just a day or two.

Do you think it matters the physician letter is from so far back?

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

No, it doesn’t. You could split your hours: if you did 60/40 firefighting/EMT calls, write up your hours that way: 1500 hours firefighting, and 1000 hours as an EMT. It would help if you did some volunteering in a hospital or clinic in the presence of physicians.

 

[jsat]

No, it doesn’t. You could split your hours: if you did 60/40 firefighting/EMT calls, write up your hours that way: 1500 hours firefighting, and 1000 hours as an EMT. It would help if you did some volunteering in a hospital or clinic in the presence of physicians.

Yeah, unfortunately in the firefighting world it's more like 8% fire calls to 92% medical, but I get what you are saying. I will look into hospital volunteering once the MCAT is behind me in January. I appreciate the help

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Still, the fire calls are nonclinical volunteering. Was the field training work firefighting-related? That counts as nonclinical volunteering as well.

 

[jsat]

Still, the fire calls are nonclinical volunteering. Was the field training work firefighting-related? That counts as nonclinical volunteering as well.

No just for the EMS side. I'd like to hope I am on the high end for volunteering hours because at a certain point you need to make money over volunteering. Especially when you have a mortgage, have to pay your own loans, etc.

My path has certainly not been linear that's for sure

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

You are definitely on the high side for volunteering hours. You’ll want 200-300 hours of nonclinical volunteering, though; you already have 200 with firefighting and another hundred, maybe two hundred, from tutoring. You’re good on that front.

 

[jsat]

You are definitely on the high side for volunteering hours. You’ll want 200-300 hours of nonclinical volunteering, though; you already have 200 with firefighting and another hundred, maybe two hundred, from tutoring. You’re good on that front.

Thanks again for the feedback.