Extra Cirriculars, etc. as post bacc

[Faze2]

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1) So I am doing my post bacc classes, taking two per semester. I am working in an ER pretty much full time but doing clerical work, which kinda sucks. And I'm a guy. Not to sound sexist, but being a male registrar is kind of immasculating. I have been looking for jobs as a research assistant or something like that but they seem to be hard to find. I haven't gotten a response to any of my emails. I have reseach experience from my undergrad, but it's in Economics. Anyone know a better way to get a research position, cause this is getting annoying?

2) In college I did a few ECs, but not many cause i was always working, and I do mean always. And the ones I did I wasn't too involved with. I would like to do more now that I am back in school, but it is tough with having to work a lot. Is it okay to make up for a lack of ECs with more clinical ecperience and shadowing? I volunteered 100+ hours at HUP (PENN) and I think I can shadow there if I want, even though I am not PENN student.

What more stuff should I do to make myself a better candidate? Should I do ECs at the school I am attending, to make up for the lack of them in undergrad, or should I focus more on other factors of my application? I'd love to do a lot of ECs, but time may be a problem. A nurse where I work said I should be a Medic, and he talked about it like it was not that hard to become, as far as getting certified, but I cannot really afford to not work as much while being certified, so that may be a problem. I do have a little extra time to do things to better my application, I just wanted to know from your guys experience what the best ECs, or best jobs, etc., are to make me a better applicant. In other words, I wouldn't want to go through getting certified to be a Medic or a CNA if I didn't really impress med schools. I'd rather do the absolute best thing to make me a stronger candidate.

 

[spicedmanna]

A nurse where I work said I should be a Medic, and he talked about it like it was not that hard to become, as far as getting certified, but I cannot really afford to not work as much while being certified, so that may be a problem. I do have a little extra time to do things to better my application, I just wanted to know from your guys experience what the best ECs, or best jobs, etc., are to make me a better applicant. In other words, I wouldn't want to go through getting certified to be a Medic or a CNA if I didn't really impress med schools. I'd rather do the absolute best thing to make me a stronger candidate.

I'm going to address the medic part of your post. From my knowledge you cannot actually become a medic (meaning EMT-I, or EMT-P) without first becoming an EMT-Basic and working for at least a year on emergency calls. I'm going to assume that by "medic", you mean EMT-B. It's true the actual certification isn't that hard to come by, especially if you are already volunteering at a fire station, or rescue squad. It generally takes about one semester. While the actual certification itself isn't all that impressive, if you actually use it to respond to emergency calls, then that's good clinical experience and would most certainly be looked upon favorably. You are receiving direct patient contact and would actually be treating patients, which is a lot more than most applicants have done. In my opinion, at least in my state, it's better to volunteer as an EMT than do it as a job. If you have the time to become EMT-B certified and to use it in a volunteer position, I say do it. If you want to work at a hospital, then CNA, or other hospital tech certification, is a good way to go. But again, you need to use it, not just get the cert.

If you don't want to spend the time to get any certs, and you want some clinical experience, try volunteering at a free clinic. I've heard that while you do your share of scut work, they tend to involve you more if you show dedication. This is all heresay, though, since I've never worked in one.

 

[Faze2]

Just to add to what I wrote earlier, my basic concern is I have seen a lot of profiles where people have a ridiculous amount of ECs, research experience, leadership experience, etc. And I am worried that I do not have enough. One of my issues is that I am only 25, so I have not been out of school for that long, so I have not had that much time to get some of the experience that everyone else has had. Since I hope to matriculate in the Fall of 08 or 09, I feel like i won;t have as much time to do everything that I want to. I also see that a lot of people with all this crazy experience are 30+, so they have had a lot more time to gain a lot of other experience.

 

[spicedmanna]

Just to add to what I wrote earlier, my basic concern is I have seen a lot of profiles where people have a ridiculous amount of ECs, research experience, leadership experience, etc. And I am worried that I do not have enough. One of my issues is that I am only 25, so I have not been out of school for that long, so I have not had that much time to get some of the experience that everyone else has had. Since I hope to matriculate in the Fall of 08 or 09, I feel like i won;t have as much time to do everything that I want to. I also see that a lot of people with all this crazy experience are 30+, so they have had a lot more time to gain a lot of other experience.

Well, all I can say is do activities that inspire you; do some clinical work, some volunteer work, research work (if you want), and some shadowing, if needed. It is much more important for you to have quality experiences, than to have lots of them, in my opinion. It matters more how you approach each experience and what you get out of it, than piling on lots of hours. If you've done some quality work, then I wouldn't be so concerned. The little bit of time left between now and application time (what is it, like 6 months?) won't make a too much of an impact, as someone else mentioned in another thread. Don't do it to pad your application; it'll be obvious to adcomms that you are doing just that. Also, there's no magic amount of EC hours that will get you into medical school.

Basically, if you go allopathic, your undergraduate GPA and MCAT score are important initially, and then if those are good, they'll take everything into account. That's where being able to talk intelligently about some great, quality experiences will help you out. I think there is a tendency to overplay EC's to try to compensate for lower stats, but the lower stats overshadow good EC's just about every time, unless you did something remarkable indeed.