Gap year: choosing between options

[AtlanticPacific]

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Hi Everyone,
I've been struggling to figure out how to spend my gap year and have been getting mixed advice. Some have told me to get experience and exposure that will strengthen the weak areas of my application while others have told me to continue building on a theme of service that has been somewhat prominent during my undergraduate.

option 1) Unpaid clinical research for the summer (Just started volunteering for this clinical research position and my manager said that I could quit if I happen to find a job/paid position. I would be able to continue clinical volunteering and shadowing the surgeon leading the project as well as his colleagues during the summer) + City Year (from July to June)
option 2) Do unpaid clinical research + volunteering + shadowing for the entire gap year
option 3) Scribe (I will be hearing back from a number of companies starting this week
option 4) Work as a patient care tech in the unit I have volunteered for the last 3 years (I have not contacted the employer yet but the nurses I have spoken with say that I should be able to get the position)

Relevant notes:
Demographics/Info
-Not an URM
-Senior year student with a biology related major

Academics
-MCAT: 31 (12PS, 9VR, 10BS)
-cGPA: 3.52
-sGPA: 3.45
-Increasing trend in GPA
-5 total reference letters: 3 solid science ref letters, 1 solid non-science ref letter from an ethics professor, 1 ref letter from a faculty adviser from a student organization I helped start
Clinical experience
-About 40 hours of shadowing (Various surgeons, nephrology, neurology) but I will be continuing to shadow up until I graduate and expect about 50-60 hours
-200 + hours of clinical volunteering over 3 years

Extracurricular experience
-1 Year of Research experience with a social psychology project
-Co-founded a mental-health organization on campus and have been involved with several other mental health groups, one of which I have been involved with since my freshman year. (I actually do not have much formal community service experience but my pre-health adviser said that this can count since these focus on the mental health of the college community I am a part of. Thoughts?)
-Was involved with a cultural organization for 1 year
-Involved on and off with a volunteer organization but I dont think that it is appropriate to put on my application

Concerns/Thoughts/Questions
-Thought: I personally feel that the first option (combination of clinical research/shadowing + city year) would be the best route to take. From peers and mentors I have spoken with they feel that this might also help round out my application while continuing to cater to challenges facing a community.
-Concern: Although I would be able to shadow and volunteer in the months leading up to starting my service year with City Year, I have heard that students should continue to shadow and volunteer (especially to prepare for the possible case of rejection from all medical schools). I have read from other posts on SDN that it is difficult to do this (it seems like city year corp members are expected to work on some weekends). Unfortunately there are no health related Americorp sites within driving distance and I was wondering if you feel that failing to continue with clinical experience would make a significant difference in how competitive I am?
-Thought: I have not shadowed a primary care doctor or shadowed long term. Option 1 would allow me to continue shadowing the doctor that leads the research project I am involved with as well as shadow his colleagues that I have started to shadow. Do you think that I would be at a disadvantage without shadowing a primary care physician?
-Concern: Struggled with depression my first semester which got my undergraduate started off to a poor start. This did inspire most of my extracurricular activities and contributed to my interest in medicine. I'm not sure how medical schools take this kind of thing into consideration. I have not received a grade lower than a B- but did withdraw from a course in my first term.
-Question: She mentioned schools may sometimes reserve seats for pre-medical graduates that are involved in TFA, City Year and the Peacecorp and I was wondering if anyone could verify this?

-For the sake of anonymity, I have kept some of my descriptions brief but if any information might be helpful, I'd be glad to provide whatever else I can.
-This is my first post on SDN and if I placed this in the wrong category or have made a similar mistake, please let me know!

Thanks all for your time and advice!

-AtlanticPacific

 

[NeuResurgens]

Holy cow, this is a long post. I think you're doing what I sometimes do, which is overthink things. I think doing what you would enjoy and feel best about is your best option. As far as I know, volunteer organizations are pretty flexible, so I feel like you could volunteer and still shadow.

 

[BeachBaby]

I work as a scribe and have learned so much - medical abbreviations, conditions, hierachy, flow
But you might be paid more as a tech and have hands on patient contact
Maybe it's what you like most

 

[AtlanticPacific]

Thanks for your responses! Do you think that involvement in student organizations "catered" to the community is seen as community service? Do you think that I would be at a disadvantage without medically related research or community service experience?

 

[lifetothefullest]

There are also other non-medical experiences that might lead to self-development, etc. that med schools like to see. For example, there are many Fulbright English teaching fellowships available worldwide and that would be an amazing thing to have on your resume - just getting out there and exploring the world.

 

[Karabo]

I've had a few friends who did city year, and they still were able to work part time (few shifts a week), so you should still be able to shadow and volunteer if you want.

There are some schools that really like americorps/city year/ peace corps (Rochester, Tulane, etc), and all schools like volunteering, but you'll be miserable if you do it just to check a box. I think it is a great program though, if you like mentoring adolescents! I've never done city year, but I'm currently doing the peace corps. There are some really bad days when I just want to go home and earn an actual salary, but then the kids show up and brighten my day. Similarly, with city year, you will probably get frustrated and have bad days, but if you like what you do, it will be worth it.

You should ultimately choose whichever option will make you the happiest. Choose what you are most excited about because then you will be able to talk about it passionately during interviews.