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- May 19, 2004
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Hi guys, I've done some searches on the forum to try and not bring up covered material, so I apologize in advance if I managed to miss some good advice. Hopefully you'll be willing to offer it again if that's the case 😉 .
About myself: I'm a Junior transferring into UCSD from a local community college, my major is Animal Physiology and Nueroscience but I'm leaning towards a change to Human Biology. I plan on trying to find and consult a pre-med advisor at UCSD when I finally start classes in the fall but since you are all part of such an educated community I feel like your answers would be just as in-depth and valid.
First off I'm curious about volunteering opportunities in my area. There's two big hospitals in my area, UCSD and Scripps. They both offer volunteer opportuntities from what I gather online, but from outside sources I hear the majority if not the entirety of their volunteer work consists of carting around folks from point A to B. I don't think that would offer me the exposure to the medical world I need before diving headfirst into med school. At first I was thinking of EMT training, but that would require a year's worth of training at the already full community college classes, and then I'd need to actually find a job which I hear would most likely be a private company bussing patients from hospital A to B. Then I got a recommendation today, my friend's aunt insisted that I look into being a part-time nursing assistant. What do you guys know or think about this option? How much schooling does it entail and is it even possible part-time with a pretty hectic school schedule? What other good opportunities are out there, not necessarily to set me apart from the rest, but just to get me involved in a world I know nothing about other than from what I've seen from Scrubs and ER? Actually getting payed to do this kind of work would be a great bonus as well, but not mandatory as I can find other means of acquiring funds.
My other generic question is what should I do about the MCAT? I heard from some of my schoolmates that I should take the April MCAT in order to get an advantage on the rolling admissions that med schools have. Is this true? This worries me because I recently switched to a pre-med major and will be taking my o.chem, general biology and general physics this year. I'll have the o.chem and biology done by april, but physics takes up 3 quarters so it would be most opportune for me to soak in all the information possible throughout the year, refresh myself over the summer and take the MCAT in August. Plus taking it in April means I'd lose a lot of study time for school from the preparation, perhaps I already answered my own question.
So if you can lend me any help whatsoever, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'll most likely have many more questions involving the job/volunteering opportunities but don't want to bog down the thread just yet 😀
About myself: I'm a Junior transferring into UCSD from a local community college, my major is Animal Physiology and Nueroscience but I'm leaning towards a change to Human Biology. I plan on trying to find and consult a pre-med advisor at UCSD when I finally start classes in the fall but since you are all part of such an educated community I feel like your answers would be just as in-depth and valid.
First off I'm curious about volunteering opportunities in my area. There's two big hospitals in my area, UCSD and Scripps. They both offer volunteer opportuntities from what I gather online, but from outside sources I hear the majority if not the entirety of their volunteer work consists of carting around folks from point A to B. I don't think that would offer me the exposure to the medical world I need before diving headfirst into med school. At first I was thinking of EMT training, but that would require a year's worth of training at the already full community college classes, and then I'd need to actually find a job which I hear would most likely be a private company bussing patients from hospital A to B. Then I got a recommendation today, my friend's aunt insisted that I look into being a part-time nursing assistant. What do you guys know or think about this option? How much schooling does it entail and is it even possible part-time with a pretty hectic school schedule? What other good opportunities are out there, not necessarily to set me apart from the rest, but just to get me involved in a world I know nothing about other than from what I've seen from Scrubs and ER? Actually getting payed to do this kind of work would be a great bonus as well, but not mandatory as I can find other means of acquiring funds.
My other generic question is what should I do about the MCAT? I heard from some of my schoolmates that I should take the April MCAT in order to get an advantage on the rolling admissions that med schools have. Is this true? This worries me because I recently switched to a pre-med major and will be taking my o.chem, general biology and general physics this year. I'll have the o.chem and biology done by april, but physics takes up 3 quarters so it would be most opportune for me to soak in all the information possible throughout the year, refresh myself over the summer and take the MCAT in August. Plus taking it in April means I'd lose a lot of study time for school from the preparation, perhaps I already answered my own question.
So if you can lend me any help whatsoever, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'll most likely have many more questions involving the job/volunteering opportunities but don't want to bog down the thread just yet 😀
