Medical Late decision on pre-med. How do I get enough experience for application?

[MusicDOc124]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I'm a 4th year psychology undergrad with a 3.28 GPA (I was stressed as all hell with financial issues and few friends prior to taking a gap year and switching majors). I just decided this year to pursue medical school. As a result, I'm taking an extra year to complete all the medical school prerequisites (I have completed a year of both chem and physics) and raise my grades in the process now that I've found my motivation with a good group of friends to support me. I work between 25-35 hours a week in a non-clinical job to pay all the necessities (fully financially independent).

So, I have a couple questions:
How can I get good clinical experience?
Will medical schools take into account that work a lot to maintain financial independence when looking at extra-curriculars?

You can start by shadowing. You can apply for positions as a scribe as well. You can also reach out to a local hospital or clinic and see if they have any patient-care related volunteer opportunities.

Are you an EMT or CNA by any chance even though you're working non-clinically? If so, those would also be good options, or segues to other positions where you could work while getting the experience.

As for ECs and financial independence, no they will not really consider that. You still need to have the experiences and knowledge of the field to know if it's right for you.

 

[Goro]

I'm a 4th year psychology undergrad with a 3.28 GPA (I was stressed as all hell with financial issues and few friends prior to taking a gap year and switching majors). I just decided this year to pursue medical school. As a result, I'm taking an extra year to complete all the medical school prerequisites (I have completed a year of both chem and physics) and raise my grades in the process now that I've found my motivation with a good group of friends to support me. I work between 25-35 hours a week in a non-clinical job to pay all the necessities (fully financially independent).

So, I have a couple questions:
1) How can I get good clinical experience?
2) Will medical schools take into account that work a lot to maintain financial independence when looking at extra-curriculars?

1) see below
2) No. What this means is that your timeline to develop a competitive app will take longer than a typical pre-med.

A 3.28 GPA is not competitive for MD, but is OK for DO. What is your sGPA? You may need to take an extra year of DIY post-bac or an SMP to reinvent your GPA.

RE: #1:
Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimers or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique"; it can be anything that helps people unable to help themselves and that is outside of a patient-care setting.If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.

Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching literacy or ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Meals on Wheels, mentoring immigrant/refugee adults, being a friendly visitor to shut-ins, adaptive sports program coach or Special Olympics.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Will medical schools take into account that work a lot to maintain financial independence when looking at extra-curriculars?

Admissions practices now espouse "holistic review" which means that admissions screeners and reviewers should look at the whole application in context and take into account any factors that could enrich one's insight into the applicant's journey to medicine. If you say in your application that you have had to work to stay in school, your hours are going to reflect that in your primary application, and you have the opportunity to point it out in your essays and interviews.

That said, in my experience, I don't see too many applicants that have a huge imbalance when it comes to extracurricular activities even when some applicants have a high number of employment hours noted. All applicants regardless of employment load seem to have the same range of clinical, volunteer/extracurricular, and shadowing experience.

The best way to find out is to actively network with admissions staff at the schools where you have the greatest level of interest and ask them how they view applicants similar to you who have had to work to support their education. Check with students at those schools to see if they knew of any peers that had similar journeys. This will ultimately help you get a solid list where you think you have sympathetic eyes looking at your application and thus give you a better chance to move forward in the process.