Focused on pyschiatry as an undergrad?

[a luminous time]

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Hi. This is one of my first posts on the forum, though I've been browsing here for at least a few years now. So on to my question:

I'm currently a neuroscience major at a California university. Because of a personal history of recovery from addiction and trauma (the recovery beginning nearly 3.5 years ago), I've been deeply drawn toward psychiatry as a career, so I can help those who suffer from the multitude of mental, emotional, and spiritual issues I have.

At this point, I am a Junior, and I am looking toward applying to medical schools this coming summer. My extra-curriculars have involved brief periods (no longer than a semester, some less), of volunteering in two hospitals, teaching preventive medicine to kindergarten students, mentoring inner-city children, and an international medical brigade, as well as (almost) a semester of basic science research (developmental neurobiology). I've realized I don't much like being in a surgery recovery room, or medical surgical unit of a hospital, nor did I enjoy the bench research much at all. But working with others in a counseling setting is my joy and passion, as is the study of science, thus a career in psychiatry seems self-evident.

I recently withdrew from a hospital volunteering internship, and left the lab I was working in because I wasn't enjoying myself at all. In addition to those functions, I've been involved in 12-step recovery oriented meetings and one-on-one work an average of 15 hours a week for since returning to school 1 year into my sobriety. So my question is, would it be foolish of me to at this point focus solely on 12-step recovery related work, and forgo the more standard medical volunteering and research opportunities to pursue this work, which is what I truly enjoy, and is a place in which my experience makes a unique contribution to another persons life versus the somewhat mediocre accomplishment of making hospital beds for 4 hours?

My GPA is very good, on par with the best medical schools in the country, and I expect my MCAT score to be solid and in the range of most of the schools I want to apply to. But I am very concerned about my lack on continuity in traditional extra-curricular activities, and my lack of interest in said activities. I'm searching furiously to find a volunteer program that I'd enjoy, but so far no luck. I suppose this post lacks a certain amount of coherence, but I hope that my general dilemma can be gleaned from the information presented up to this point.

I look forward to your replies and will gladly provide more information where needed.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

The value of volunteering, IMHO, is to show outward evidence of your internal character. It shows that you care about something besides grades and wages, can work effectively with people to accomplish goals, etc. Your story, I believe, illustrates those things far more effectively than a typical "pre-med checklist" volunteer experience. You're going to find some negative voices out there due to the fact that you have been through what you have, but you will also find support. I would start NOW to find 1 or 2 physicians in recovery to get their perspective, and so you can be aware of the risks and pitfalls unique to our profession. (You might start with your state chapter of ASAM--American Society of Addiction Medicine. PM me for some additional suggestions. )

 

[whopper]

I hate saying this but grades it appears matter more than volunteering, at least when I was applying into medical school. Its a numbers game--there's hundreds (possibly thousands) of applicants for each spot. Since the task for admissions is enormous, they need to take shortcuts & solely rely on scores--until perhaps the end process-the interview & final evaluation of applicants with the entire admissions board as a group.

I've only seen 2 cases where an applicant's extra-curriculars got them in above their grades (and those applicant's grades were decent though not spectacular, a GPA of about 3.4 & an MCAT of 30, & a GPA of about 3.3 & an MCAT of about 29). In 1 case the applicant was a Gulf War veteran and had some truly extreme stories of bravery. The other--the person spent hundreds of hours a month over years doing volunteer work.

Volunteer work it seems to me gives you an edge against other applicants in the same GPA & MCAT score range, but only that. It will likely not trump you over someone with better scores, or demote you below someone with worse scores.

I've also seen several applicants with truly exceptional volunteer & extracurriculars and it got them no where. He spent 2 years of intense research & got a masters degree, hoping it'd get him into an allopathic school (he was accepted into several osteopathic schools but wanted the M.D. & was willing to work hard for it-by the way I got nothing against D.O.s). That extra work didn't seem to help him at all. When he applied again--after several publications and an added masters--he basically got into the same schools he applied to before.

I do though strongly urge anyone to do volunteer work for the obvious & ethical reasons.

Your work in 12 step programs actually may even be more worthy of consideration. I hate saying it but several volunteer oppurtunities I've seen were no more meaningful than perhaps handing out candy or things of that sort. Several types of employment such as being a mental health therapist or an employee in a 12 step program bear more meaning & sincerity than being a candy striper in a hospital.

My buddy who got in mostly based on his Gulf War experience--he was a paid soldier (ok yes he wasn't drafted--but that's not exactly volunteer work either). His story of being told he had a 95% likelihood of being killed on a mission that was coming up in 5 hrs, being told to write a letter to his family should he be dead was much more intense & proved his character & sincerity to go into medicine much more than most volunteery work I've heard.

 

[sikegeek]

I definitely agree with the idea that volunteer work should be meaningful to you. That way it shows passion. Showing passion about something is underrated, or at least something people tend not to think about as an asset they way grades/test scores are.
Sticking with the 12 step thing is a great idea. I would be hesitant to talk about your own recovery though......