How lax are MD/DO programs due to COVID-19?

[KingPogan]

I'm likely applying next cycle or the cycle following that one. Anyone know if MD/DO schools are going to relax their EC/volunteering/clinical requirements at all due to COVID-19? I imagine it varies by school.

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[yokiguz]

I'm likely applying next cycle or the cycle following that one. Anyone know if MD/DO schools are going to relax their EC/volunteering/clinical requirements at all due to COVID-19? I imagine it varies by school.

Depends all on the quality of applicants. My guess is no.

 

[KingPogan]

Depends all on the quality of applicants. My guess is no.

Yeah, that's what I feared. Pretty insane to expect people to risk their lives as premeds. I dunno.

 

[yokiguz]

Yeah, that's what I feared. Pretty insane to expect people to risk their lives as premeds. I dunno.

No one is asking you to risk your life. Maybe take a gap year if you are worried?

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

If you're unable to find in-person volunteer opportunities during COVID (of which I am sure there are still plenty), there are a multitude of ways you can volunteer your time and efforts to help people virtually/remotely.

Adcoms are going to look more favorably upon applicants who find ways to innovate during these times rather than those who feign "well I couldn't do anything during COVID".

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Many places are limiting volunteer exposure to patients. This is for the patient's and your protection. Volunteering will become harder to find until vaccines and effective treatments are available.Covid wont be going away anytime soon. As a physician, you will exposed to many diseases that are a threat your health and life. AIDS used to be universally fatal, yet we took care of those patients. Get used to the idea that there are inherent health risks to being a physician. If its not Covid, it will be something else in the future.

 

[ValeRx]

AIDS used to be universally fatal, yet we took care of those patients.

There's a big difference between needle sticks or having sex with patients with AIDS vs simply being in close proximity to someone coughing/breathing to transmit disease.

 

[deleted1032897]

Let's not forget a good reason why adcoms (hopefully) want to see sufficient experience... so that they know you really know what you're getting into! What's more convincing to you: "over the last 3 years consistently working with patients and interacting with physicians, I've realized" vs. "over the last 3 years of really wanting to be a physician and help people but only really interacting with patients and physicians like 6 times, I realized"? Not being able to get the experience this year probably doesn't dissuade them from worrying about accepting you when you ultimately haven't had what they see as sufficient enough experience yet.

 

[gyngyn]

There's a big difference between needle sticks or having sex with patients with AIDS vs simply being in close proximity to someone coughing/breathing to transmit disease.

We didn't know how it was transmitted for quite some time.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

There's a big difference between needle sticks or having sex with patients with AIDS vs simply being in close proximity to someone coughing/breathing to transmit disease.

No argument. But the fact remains, if you contracted Hiv via a needle stick, blood transfusion, splashed in the face with blood or bodily fluids, you were going to die. This is where universal precautions came from. I have no desire to hash out the nuance between how Covid19 and Aids is transmitted, only to reinforce the fact as a physician, you will be exposed to diseases that threaten your health and life. This is the crux of my point

 

[eigen]

Yeah, that's what I feared. Pretty insane to expect people to risk their lives as premeds. I dunno.

I see frequently on here assertions of what pre-med students think admissions committees "expect" of them phrased like this.

No admissions committee that I know is going to expect you to risk your life or put yourself in an unwise circumstance to get experience. With the caveat, of course, that you're going into a profession where some baseline risk is expected.

But they do expect a baseline amount of real healthcare experience from applicants. But you can go work for a few years, get that experience after the height of the current pandemic has passed, and then apply to medical school. You, as an applicant who wants to apply next year, is the one who is creating the expectation that you risk your life to make it happen.

It's been said over and over here, but I'll repeat it: gap years are a good thing. I routinely work with students who have graduated 3-5 years ago and been working since who are stellar applicants because of that experience.

 

[ValeRx]

No argument. But the fact remains, if you contracted Hiv via a needle stick, blood transfusion, splashed in the face with blood or bodily fluids, you were going to die. This is where universal precautions came from. I have no desire to hash out the nuance between how Covid19 and Aids is transmitted, only to reinforce the fact as a physician, you will be exposed to diseases that threaten your health and life. This is the crux of my point

Agreed

 

[Goro]

I'm likely applying next cycle or the cycle following that one. Anyone know if MD/DO schools are going to relax their EC/volunteering/clinical requirements at all due to COVID-19? I imagine it varies by school.

My school isn't.

Here's a harsh truth, your safety, as well as that of your family and Society is more important than your medical plans. So if necessary take a gap year until you could flush out the holes in your application.

Applications are up this year, as they are in every year when the economy tanks. There will not be a lack of well-qualified applicants.

 

[Goro]

There's a big difference between needle sticks or having sex with patients with AIDS vs simply being in close proximity to someone coughing/breathing to transmit disease.

You are forgetting that there was a good half-decade From the time AIDS was first observed until the virus was isolated that clinicians did not know what was causing it.

They still treated those patients anyway.

 

[Rogue42]

Yeah, I know. They aren't.

 

[yokiguz]

No one is asking you to risk your life. Maybe take a gap year if you are worried?

Re-read this and it came off very rude/condescending. Let me put it differently.

Who knows if the quality of candidates will decrease next cycle. My guess is non-trads with gap years will have the advantage as they may have extensive experience already. Those who waiting until senior/junior year to get experience will be getting shafted.

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

Those who waiting until senior/junior year to get experience will be getting shafted.

Those who wait until their Junior or Senior year to acquire medical experiences typically get shafted anyway when applying to medical school.

If you knew it was what you wanted to do earlier, you should have experiences that exemplify that. An applicant that has the epiphany later in college and applies anyway, despite having good grades, has no business expecting anything when applying to medical school. Not only are they applying with little to no clinical exposure, they’re competing against other undergrads who do have that exposure, as well as non-trads that either have drastically more exposure, or more life experiences that younger applicants do not have. An applicant applying with such little exposure has no clue what they are getting themselves into in pursuit of a career in medicine.

 

[Goro]

Who knows if the quality of candidates will decrease next cycle. My guess is non-trads with gap years will have the advantage as they may have extensive experience already. Those who waiting until senior/junior year to get experience will be getting shafted.

I can't sugar coat this, please tone down the naivete about the admissions process.

If anything, candidates for med school are improving every year. The median acceptee for MD schools goes up in GPA and MCAT scores each years. Ditto for DO schools, except the newest ones.