ECs missing areas

[evo512]

Hello I am a junior at RPI, I wanted to know what extracurriculars I should be looking at doing next summer. I currently have 300+ hours of volunteering with boy scouts and my church that was from high school. I have ~20 hours from offering free private tutoring during college. I have 4 semesters. I have 21 shadowing hours under a DO surgeon in the air force as he did rounds in the ICU. I have 8 hours of shadowing him as he volunteered at a paramedic course and I got the chance to get hands on with a cadaver. I have 200 hours doing delivery driving as a job. I am a member of global medical brigade and also FCA. I also do some photography for small brands and social media accounts. What areas should I be looking to do stuff in over summer? I could potentially see about a clinical job over summer at Sloan-Ketterig (my friend has worked there multiple summers in a row and says he could likely get me a job there), maybe do medical research at a nearby medical school, do more shadowing back home with the same doctor or a different one, or look at doing biological research at RPI?

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[drbatsandwich]

I might be wrong, but I don’t think EC’s from high school count unless they are still ongoing. Boy Scouts and free tutoring is OK, but doesn’t really show exposure to or dedication to helping marginalized populations. You also definitely need to focus on clinical hours. Volunteering would be best, but paid is better than nothing. Also, do you have any leadership positions or experience working toward a common goal as part of a team?

 

[LunaOri]

You need more shadowing and clinical hours.

 

[penguinsfan71]

Clinical volunteering would be best, high school activities aren't really taken into account.

 

[candbgirl]

I’m not sure research is that important to your application. You haven’t shared your stats so...
You need 200+ hours of clinical experience-can be paid or volunteer. You need to be able to talk about why medicine, why you want to spend the next 35+ years dealing with the sick injured and dying!
50 hours of physician shadowing - you have some but you need a good bit of shadowing a primary care doc.
You also need 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering to those less fortunate than yourself in the community! This means the unserved/underserved in your community! You have to show your altruism.
Your high school stuff doesn’t count unless you continued the activities into college which it doesn’t sound like you did! Tutoring is okay but everyone has that. You need to get off campus and out of your comfort zone. You will be dealing with all types of people as a physician.

 

[evo512]

I might be wrong, but I don’t think EC’s from high school count unless they are still ongoing. Boy Scouts and free tutoring is OK, but doesn’t really show exposure to or dedication to helping marginalized populations. You also definitely need to focus on clinical hours. Volunteering would be best, but paid is better than nothing. Also, do you have any leadership positions or experience working toward a common goal as part of a team?

I did varsity athletics for 1.5 years as a track and field athlete for my college. I am doing it again this semester but I do not know if this will actually count with how COVID restrictions are, we have not had official practice but I have been helping lead captains practices. Does it help that my tutoring was done for students at different universities, including NYU and some public universities in Texas? Is being an Eagle Scout for Boy Scouts something I should include in my application even though it was accomplished in high school?

 

[evo512]

I’m not sure research is that important to your application. You haven’t shared your stats so...
You need 200+ hours of clinical experience-can be paid or volunteer. You need to be able to talk about why medicine, why you want to spend the next 35+ years dealing with the sick injured and dying!
50 hours of physician shadowing - you have some but you need a good bit of shadowing a primary care doc.
You also need 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering to those less fortunate than yourself in the community! This means the unserved/underserved in your community! You have to show your altruism.
Your high school stuff doesn’t count unless you continued the activities into college which it doesn’t sound like you did! Tutoring is okay but everyone has that. You need to get off campus and out of your comfort zone. You will be dealing with all types of people as a physician.

I have some hours volunteering with USO for military personnel in training and my tutoring have been in part for students not even at my own university, some of whom were underserved. I have not done any research, but I am talking to a professor at my university and my friend is trying to recommend me at Albany Med. for research. Does volunteering at a military hospital sound like something I should be looking at doing? I do not know if they are technically underserved but it is Brooks Army Medical center and they do have a lot of veterans who get care there.

 

[candbgirl]

Volunteering at the Army hospital is just fine. And should be very interesting.