High School Senior Seeking Advise

[futuredoc2030s]

Hello All,
New member of this forum.
I'm a high school senior planning to go to med school after college. Having done some research about volunteer and clinical experience, is it worthwhile to start sooner - as in the summer before entering college.
For example, any coursework toward EMT, CNA or MA, I was thinking about getting this done in the summer before college, and perhaps spending some time getting the 100-200 hours of clinical experience. Not sure whether this is doable or even acceptable for med schools - any activity/experience prior to college.
Appreciate your thoughts and inputs!
Thank you.

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[AJS59]

Hello All,
New member of this forum.
I'm a high school senior planning to go to med school after college. Having done some research about volunteer and clinical experience, is it worthwhile to start sooner - as in the summer before entering college.
For example, any coursework toward EMT, CNA or MA, I was thinking about getting this done in the summer before college, and perhaps spending some time getting the 100-200 hours of clinical experience. Not sure whether this is doable or even acceptable for med schools - any activity/experience prior to college.
Appreciate your thoughts and inputs!
Thank you.

You can, but the question to you should be is it worth it. I say to a lot of gung-ho premeds in high school: remember that this time of your life only comes around once, and this is the most free you will be until you retire.

In other words, I'd say use the time to go travel, hang with friends, do literally anything else before college. You'll be happier for it.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I think if you’re going to do the whole EMT thing or whatnot the summer before is a good time to do the classes. You’ll not have that much free time again.

Nothing wrong with having one last summer either. I didn’t have the luxury of doing that since I grew up working class; I was doing as much manual labor as possible to get college somewhat cash flowed. But if you’re in a better financial situation and want to chill that’s fine

 

[Tomiee]

Hello All,
New member of this forum.
I'm a high school senior planning to go to med school after college. Having done some research about volunteer and clinical experience, is it worthwhile to start sooner - as in the summer before entering college.
For example, any coursework toward EMT, CNA or MA, I was thinking about getting this done in the summer before college, and perhaps spending some time getting the 100-200 hours of clinical experience. Not sure whether this is doable or even acceptable for med schools - any activity/experience prior to college.
Appreciate your thoughts and inputs!
Thank you.

Hi and welcome

Well, the good news is that any relevant clinical experience is independent of whether you are in college. If you do X amount of hours before you start school you can add them.

You have two options: wait for school to start and get experience, or start now and into year 1. If I had the option back in the day, I would look into opportunities when I have so much free time. I would do scribing because of the low barrier to entry. If you would rather use the free time and relax then that's okay, just make sure you have at least some plan or idea of what you will do once school starts.

Also, consider how much pre-med resources your school offers and make sure to take full advantage of it. My institution was VERY limited and so I had to figure it out by myself. Had I known that I needed to figure things out by myself I would have planned earlier.

Oh, and a good networking opportunity would be to volunteer at a hospital near you. You will get a lot of experience seeing how things are and can talk to the staff and docs there which may open doors for you in the future.

Good luck!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Read

Community College and Vocational Certifications for Prehealth Applicants - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[LunaOri]

If you can get certified as an EMT (or MA, or phlebotomist) before college, you will be able to have a longitudinal clinical experience picking up shifts during your school breaks. A few hours a month over 4 years really adds up!

 

[FairEver]

Hello All,
New member of this forum.
I'm a high school senior planning to go to med school after college. Having done some research about volunteer and clinical experience, is it worthwhile to start sooner - as in the summer before entering college.
For example, any coursework toward EMT, CNA or MA, I was thinking about getting this done in the summer before college, and perhaps spending some time getting the 100-200 hours of clinical experience. Not sure whether this is doable or even acceptable for med schools - any activity/experience prior to college.
Appreciate your thoughts and inputs!
Thank you.

Wonderful time to get the certification out of the way. But, you might want to get some rest and relaxation before school starts. You have four more years to accrue clinical hours.

 

[futuredoc2030s]

Thank you all very much. This is really helpful.