Hey guys... this is officially my very first post as I just registered to SDN (woohoo) so please be gentle with me! I am a pre-pharmacy student currently applying for entrance to Fall 2010.
I have read several of the threads regarding extra-curriculars, but I still have a couple questions that I can't seem to find the answers to:
1) I am applying to both med & pharm school. I love the aspirations of both careers, but in the end I will only choose one. Up to this point, I have done some volunteer work in the ER of a major hospital. This is the only volunteer work I have done so far. Should I list this in the Extracurricular Field even though the work I did was more related to medicine? Would this cause suspicion to pharm schools that I volunteered in medicine rather than in pharmacy? (Please note I originally wanted to pursue medicine, but the more I read about pharmacy the more I was attracted to it and I decided to pursue pharmacy in the past couple months. Plus med school is EXTREMELY competitive compared to pharmacy where it is still competitive but not as much. I meet all the pre-reqs for pharm school and I am taking the PCAT this August).
2) I was a member of the AMSA club (American Student Medical Association) at my school during the last year. Even though this was a club filled with activities for medical students, would it be ok to list it on my pharm school application? Or would that also raise doubts to pharm schools?
3) During my last year in my engineering undergrad, I joined the Taekwondo club just for poops & giggles and to meet & network with people... even though it was my last year. Should this type of EC go on my app, or would it be better to leave it off?
4) I originally got a computer engineering degree in my undergrad, and after working in IT for 2 years I decided to pursue a career in healthcare. So I have alot of work experience in IT. I managed to get a job as a retail pharm tech and worked from Oct '08 to end of Jan '09. I quit my job mainly b/c they were cutting hours and I was only working one shift every 2 weeks. I decided to focus on finishing my pre-reqs and study for the MCAT I took in May (and now the PCAT in Aug). In the "Work Experience" field, I will obviously list my pharm tech job. Should I also list my professional work in IT since I have so much experience in it?
Any advice would be much appreciated! 👍