I had plans to start research and/or shadowing this school year. What to do now?

[SilentAnon_404]

All my plans seemed to be in ruins. I ideally wanted to start research with one of my professors or scout out some hospitals to do shadowing/clinical. But due to COVID, there ain't s*** happening with research and I don't think hospitals will be accepting either.

This is my sophomore year for context, and I wasn't able to do any EC first year (due to common reasons).

Does anyone have any advice on how to approach things going forward?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[candbgirl]

Well calm down because you aren’t alone in this dilemma. Start looking for opportunities. There are still lots of nonclinical volunteering opportunities if you look. Although you have to look hard and be flexible. As to shadowing and clinical experiences, try to get something lined up for the summer . Hopefully by then things will be opening up. You need 50 hours of shadowing and be sure to include some with a primary care doc. You also need 200+ hours of clinical experience with direct patient contact. This can be volunteer or paid. You also need 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering with the unserved/underserved in your community. You might need to think about a gap year if you can’t find some activities. So start looking now. Lots of your peers have switched gears and found opportunities.Good Luck as you move forward.

 

[Goro]

All my plans seemed to be in ruins. I ideally wanted to start research with one of my professors or scout out some hospitals to do shadowing/clinical. But due to COVID, there ain't s*** happening with research and I don't think hospitals will be accepting either.

This is my sophomore year for context, and I wasn't able to do any EC first year (due to common reasons).

Does anyone have any advice on how to approach things going forward?

You wait until next year and the crisis is over.

Here's a harsh truth: your safety, as well as that of your family and society, is more important than your med school plans.

In the mean time, you can work on your nonclinical volunteering, as the wise Candbgirl has pointed out. Venues include scribing, food banks, COVID screening or contact tracing, Meals on Wheels, election poll working (normally done by seniors) and whatever your local houses of worship can suggest.

 

[SilentAnon_404]

Well calm down because you aren’t alone in this dilemma. Start looking for opportunities. There are still lots of nonclinical volunteering opportunities if you look. Although you have to look hard and be flexible. As to shadowing and clinical experiences, try to get something lined up for the summer . Hopefully by then things will be opening up. You need 50 hours of shadowing and be sure to include some with a primary care doc. You also need 200+ hours of clinical experience with direct patient contact. This can be volunteer or paid. You also need 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering with the unserved/underserved in your community. You might need to think about a gap year if you can’t find some activities. So start looking now. Lots of your peers have switched gears and found opportunities.Good Luck as you move forward.

Here's a question: how will they keep track of how much hours I have put in? I was looking around and actually saw that there is potential for tutoring children online, but I'm not sure if that counts as community service and of so, how will that even be tracked?