Extra extracurriculars?

[sieburth]

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I'm a junior studio art major, so far only been in jazz band (dropped), a writing tutor, a chemistry lab tutor, and an EMT with no volunteer time logged because I was certified out-of-state.
Overall GPA: 3.74
Science GPA: 3.95
If I volunteer at a homeless shelter for the next year and a half, do a clinical internship this summer, and get a few months of volunteer time as an EMT (as I plan to do):
What else do I need to do? How much of a "commitment to medicine" do pre-meds really need to demonstrate?
My adviser never gives straight answers so advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[bannie22]

I like your advisor.

Hospital experience would be nice too.
I dont really know what to say.
My advice is to do whatever you like.

Which worked out decent for me.

 

[Catalystik]

I'd try to aim for 1.5 years of clinical experience gained at a rate of 4 hours per week to have about the average amount listed by applicants. Longevity of involvement is preferred over mega hours gained in a short time, like over a summer. I'd consider a year of clinical experience, where you interact with sick people, to be a minimum. Having some nonmedical community service too, is ideal, so definitely get involved with the homeless shelter where you'll probably see a high incidence of mental illness. It's nice to see a prolonged commitment with some of your ECs. Don't forget to get in some physician shadowing as well. You've already got something to say for Teaching and Artistic Endeavors. Do you plan to get in some Research as well?

 

[J ROD]

What about the MCAT?

 

[sieburth]

Thanks for the quick replies!
I don't have research experience, but I'll probably do it senior year or over the summer, and odds are it'll be minimal. I also haven't yet taken the MCAT but standardized testing has so far proven to be my friend so I'm optimistic.

As for volunteering at a hospital:
The only one nearby would have me pushing carts, otherwise it's a 30 min commute.
Is hospital experience doing nothing really that valuable? Or is there a way to do something substantive as an undergrad?

 

[Catalystik]

You don't have to volunteer at a hospital to get clinical experience. You could also look into nearby nursing homes, family-planning or low-income clinics, hospice, or even a private practice (though I'd question the altruism demonstrated by the last, as it's really just for you to gain experience). Recall that you have three purposes in doing this type of work: To get comfortable with a clinical environment and maybe understand OSHA rules, HIPAA laws, disease transmission, and test your tolerance for odors, germs, vomit, and blood, etc. To become comfortable interacting with sick people. and to provide community service. Even when your tasks are boring or repetitive, hold this last purpose in mind. A commitment to medicine means acting beyond your own good and you need to demonstrate that you can do this, even if it means wiping down beds and stocking linen cabinets. If you can get a hospital gig transporting patients from area to area, I'd consider that a good source of patient contact and ideal for getting to see the entire hospital environment.

Remember that if you don't start the research experience before you submit, it will not be on your application. A summer experience would be fine to try it out and show your scientific curiosity. Maybe you'll like it and further your involvement.

 

[J ROD]

You don't have to volunteer at a hospital to get clinical experience. You could also look into nearby nursing homes, family-planning or low-income clinics, hospice, or even a private practice (though I'd question the altruism demonstrated by the last, as it's really just for you to gain experience). Recall that you have three purposes in doing this type of work: To get comfortable with a clinical environment and maybe understand OSHA rules, HIPAA laws, disease transmission, and test your tolerance for odors, germs, vomit, and blood, etc. To become comfortable interacting with sick people. and to provide community service. Even when your tasks are boring or repetitive, hold this last purpose in mind. A commitment to medicine means acting beyond your own good and you need to demonstrate that you can do this, even if it means wiping down beds and stocking linen cabinets. If you can get a hospital gig transporting patients from area to area, I'd consider that a good source of patient contact and ideal for getting to see the entire hospital environment.
👍
Remember that if you don't start the reasrch experience beforeyou submit, it will not be on your application. A summer experience would be fine to try it out and show your scientific curiosity. Maybe you'll like it and further your involvment.

👍

 

[sieburth]

Wonderful.
Volunteering as an EMT on 911 calls will satisfy all of that, especially in terms of getting me comfortable with blood, working with patients, etc. Motor vehicle accidents get pretty grisly and pretty tense. Someone in my class even had two people die in cardiac arrest during his first two shifts while he was giving compressions.
Likely the better part of the directly medically-oriented volunteering will have to happen after I graduate, but I feel much clearer on what to do now. Thanks!
Seems like putting together a decent med school application isn't so difficult after all.

 

[J ROD]

Wonderful.
Volunteering as an EMT on 911 calls will satisfy all of that, especially in terms of getting me comfortable with blood, working with patients, etc. Motor vehicle accidents get pretty grisly and pretty tense. Someone in my class even had two people die in cardiac arrest during his first two shifts while he was giving compressions.
Likely the better part of the directly medically-oriented volunteering will have to happen after I graduate, but I feel much clearer on what to do now. Thanks!
Seems like putting together a decent med school application isn't so difficult after all.

not really.....hard....just takes a knowledge and the effort to get it done!! 👍

 

[Catalystik]

We're happy to help.

 

[DendWrite]

Nice GPA! As people said, you need clinical experience for sure. I'd make sure to get that first, and then with what time you have left over do the homeless shelter volunteering gig. Clinical experience basically trumps everything else...make sure that you have about a year's worth at least when you are applying. With some clinical experience (and maybe a little shadowing) and a nice MCAT score, you will be set.