I lack clinical experience and shadowing. Gap year?

[ese2]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I’m a 2nd semester sophomore at a private university. I have a good GPA (4.0) and good leadership and volunteering (elementary school, food pantry, etc). But my clinical experience is really lacking. I have barely shadowed or volunteered at a hospital, and this upcoming summer will be the first time I do true research at a lab. This is no one’s fault but my one.

I realize it’s hard to judge without an MCAT score, but do you recommend I take a gap year? Is it too late to start shadowing/researching now and not take a gap year? Thank you.

 

[Tenk]

You definitely still have time if you can find a position now. Shadowing you don’t need a lot but definitely need some sort of clinical thing going on.

 

[WaterFlow]

You have time!! Keep your grades up- nice job on that 4.0 so far.

Find someone to shadow- make sure you try to get in family medicine. Continue volunteering in the hospital and you might find a speciality particularly interesting.

 

[harvard_of_the_west]

It’s definitely not too late to start shadowing! It’s actually a great time because it still gives you time to try a couple of different places and find something that you really enjoy and would be willing to stick with for the next few years. You can then build better relationships with those you’re shadowing, which will ultimately lead to stronger letters of recommendation. I don’t think you’d need a gap year if you can keep the GPA up and rock the MCAT.

Also, there’s nothing wrong with waiting to start research and shadowing this summer. I kinda laugh at people who try to get research positions so early on...most often don’t know any science and they end up skipping a whole lot of the fun part of life. I guess my point is: don’t rush through this time in your life. Enjoy being in college, make friends, shadow and get interested, get involved in clubs and service, do some research, and keep your grades up. You learn about people and life from just being a normal person. There’s no need to make your life all about research/school/medicine quite yet.

 

[KnightDoc]

Hi, I’m a 2nd semester sophomore at a private university. I have a good GPA (4.0) and good leadership and volunteering (elementary school, food pantry, etc). But my clinical experience is really lacking. I have barely shadowed or volunteered at a hospital, and this upcoming summer will be the first time I do true research at a lab. This is no one’s fault but my one.

I realize it’s hard to judge without an MCAT score, but do you recommend I take a gap year? Is it too late to start shadowing/researching now and not take a gap year? Thank you.

You totally have time to fill out ECs, as pretty much everyone else has already said, but you should also be aware of the fact that around 2/3 of all first year med students have at least one gap year (and after accounting for people coming from direct med programs, the percent is a little over 70%), so the odds are better than even that you'll be taking a gap year anyway, whether or not by choice (60% of all applicants, every year, are not accepted to any MD program)!

 

[Goro]

Hi, I’m a 2nd semester sophomore at a private university. I have a good GPA (4.0) and good leadership and volunteering (elementary school, food pantry, etc). But my clinical experience is really lacking. I have barely shadowed or volunteered at a hospital, and this upcoming summer will be the first time I do true research at a lab. This is no one’s fault but my one.

I realize it’s hard to judge without an MCAT score, but do you recommend I take a gap year? Is it too late to start shadowing/researching now and not take a gap year? Thank you.

You're only a sophomore. You should be able figure out how to balance your time to get in the required ECs without a gap year. Those ECs have more value than research, BTW.

 

[Jungkookie]

I don't think you need a gap year! Start now and you'll have lots of time to rack up some good clinical experiences 😀

 

[LizzyM]

You have 16 months before you'd make your application as a rising senior. That's enough time to do 50 hours of shadowing (10 half days or equivalent) and 150-200 hours of clinical service face-to-face with patients as an employee or a volunteer.