Expected EC involvement for non-traditional students

[wiloghby]

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Hi everyone,

As a non-traditional student (27 years old), I am taking post-bacc coursework (16-20 credits per semester including summers) while also needing to work (as an academic tutor) to pay my bills and keep my house in ways that many 22 year olds don't have to. Do adcomms take that into account when looking at ECs?

I have my EMT-B and have done some (non-EMT) volunteering in a local ER but had to suspend that volunteer work this spring because of the courseload on top of a few new private tutoring students. I am hoping to actually get on an emergency squad by the end of this summer which will probably be a 6 hr/week commitment for the next 1-2 years, but I don't know how much other volunteering I will have time for.

Is this a typical problem for non-traditional students? Or do I need to stop my gainful employment in a non-medical field in order to do this? What was worked for nontraditional students who have already gotten in?

 

[Deekle]

Yes, It's a typical issue. I worked 30-50 hours a week, took 15-18 credit hours, and volunteered 10 hours a week at my local ED on top of my responsibilities to my wife and two kids. Adcoms do take this into account, but I wouldn't say that you don't have to worry about EC's. While there may not be a formal expectation for non-trads, you need
to remember that you are competing for a spot with trads and non-trads alike. The more you can manage, the better you look. Stretch yourself as far as you can while still keeping your balance. If grades suffer, cut back. Grades are more important than EC's for non-trads. You'll have to make some sacrifices, but that's not going to change when you get into med school, so you might as well get used to it now.

 

[notbobtrustme]

I think the consensus is that you still need some volunteering regardless of age and situation. There are exceptions to the rule, but in the admissions process, you want to be among the majority not minority.

 

[DrMidlife]

Some notes:

1. The most important thing is getting A's by mastering the content. If you can't get A's and build MCAT momentum, you have to scale back. Nobody is going to pay attention to your EC's if your GPA/MCAT are low.

2. Jobs are ECs. Whatever you did for a living after college counts as an EC. Teaching is an EC.

3. That house may be your downfall. If you suffer now to keep it, and later have to deal with it from far away during med school & residency, will it be worth it? You can't control the location of your med school or residency.

4. You may be trading high quality clinical opportunities for low quality paid work. Tutoring is an odd choice for a job you'd prioritize over coursework or clinical exposure. Consider a plan where you compromise your income in the short term in favor of taking a high paying job during your application year. If you have options to finance your studies now, and can pay off debt by working a good job before you start med school, that could be a more effective plan.

5. You have to see more than the ER, to get a mature perspective on healthcare. Take advantage of ad hoc opportunities to meet the non-acute patient population and its providers. In particular, make sure that you get access to physicians who are far from the ER and close to retirement. Think of ER docs and hospitalists as the welcome committee - get them to help you connect with oncologists and endocrinologists and ob/gyns and palliative care docs and family practice docs. When you've had a chance to listen to a retiring male ob/gyn go off on the state of medical practice, or similar, you've been initiated.

Best of luck to you.

 

[violinist23]

I don't feel like starting another thread and this question is relevant here: does anyone have experience working as a patient tech during postbac or premed?