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BananaBlitz10

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So I'm going to a freshmen in Boston this fall and am struggling to figure out how I should plan out my EC's. I know that I want to shadow many different types of doctors and get involved in research once I finish my basic intro courses. I was also considering becoming a medical scribe in my upper class-men years. As far as volunteering goes I think that I would rather keep tutoring/teaching younger kids. I just wanted to ask that do you think I am going over-the-top about all these things or should I just focus academically first my freshmen year to gain that solid foundation and then start getting into my ecs? Also I know my school will provide many good resources about this, but I just wanted to ask some experienced people before I go in so I have a solid goal to work with and won't be so disorganized.

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It's good to think ahead and kind of have a roadmap of what you are going to be doing, but try to take things step by step. Your first semester, focus on getting adjusted to the school, learning what study style works for you, etc. If your school has a student org fair, you can check that out to see if there are any orgs you may be interested in and how you can get involved. After you adjust to college and know how to study, you can start off with one volunteering experience... tutoring kids is a good one... just note, it is better to have a few, longer lasting and meaningful experiences than many short term experiences

wrt shadowing many types of doctors -- it won't confer any additional benefit wrt med school admissions... you'll be fine just shadowing one or two for 50-100 hours...you will get to rotate through med school through specialties to see what you are interested in anyway, so don't worry about finding many doctors to shadow in UG... it's best to build a long term relationship with one doctor in case you want to get a LOR from him or her.
 
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So I'm going to a freshmen in Boston this fall and am struggling to figure out how I should plan out my EC's. I know that I want to shadow many different types of doctors and get involved in research once I finish my basic intro courses. I was also considering becoming a medical scribe in my upper class-men years. As far as volunteering goes I think that I would rather keep tutoring/teaching younger kids. I just wanted to ask that do you think I am going over-the-top about all these things or should I just focus academically first my freshmen year to gain that solid foundation and then start getting into my ecs? Also I know my school will provide many good resources about this, but I just wanted to ask some experienced people before I go in, so I have a solid goal to work with and won't be so disorganized.

During the fall of my freshman year, (upcoming junior now), I began to shadow a family doc next to my school and it was really great to get my feet wet and get exposed early on. I liked getting exposed to a wider variety of cases that you see in family medicine. As far as research goes I began doing biochem research and psych research freshman year as well, but had to ask around everywhere to find a PI who would let me in on a project. I found the biochem research and being a lab TA helpful in my intro courses but that's just me. Volunteering is always a good idea and i really enjoy the work with habitat for humanity. Things that get you involved with your surrounding community allow you to break out of your comfort zone. As far as being a medical scribe goes, I just became one a few months ago in the ED and I love it. You'll build a really close relationship with the doctors you work with and they will teach you a ton. However, it is a very significant time commitment and you will work 10 hour shifts at a time. Most importantly, DONT OVERBEAR YOURSELF WITH EC'S. They help round you out as a person, but if they are the reason you perform poorly in your courses, then they are not worth it. Hope this helps and good luck!
 
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