Lots of General Questions (Kinda long, sorry!)

[Ehwic]

nope, chuck testa

I have no new clinical experiences since my time at the MPH, but I have a significant amount of leadership and student merit scholarships to conferences.

My questions/Comments:

1) Since the whole purpose of having that clinical experience is to be able to talk about the clinical aspects of medicine and how it's a great fit, I thought my previous experiences were sufficient to prove that I have a general understanding of what medicine entails.

2) The previous question also leads into personal statement. Given my MPH degree, I really want to focus my PS on my community and addressing health disparities. I was hoping to link these two topics through one of my clinical experiences I had back in 2012-2013. Would this be frowned upon given how late that experience was?

3) I will be applying to mostly lower tier MD and a couple higher tier DO (does this sound reasonable?) Primaries will (hopefully) be submitted by end of June.

I know my MCAT is low for MD especially since Im non-urm, however, I've tried studying it for it 3x already (voided once on test day) so Im trying to make due with what I have.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[spiffysteve]

1) Since the whole purpose of having that clinical experience is to be able to talk about the clinical aspects of medicine and how it's a great fit, I thought my previous experiences were sufficient to prove that I have a general understanding of what medicine entails.

2) The previous question also leads into personal statement. Given my MPH degree, I really want to focus my PS on my community and addressing health disparities. I was hoping to link these two topics through one of my clinical experiences I had back in 2012-2013. Would this be frowned upon given how late that experience was?

3) I will be applying to mostly lower tier MD and a couple higher tier DO (does this sound reasonable?) Primaries will (hopefully) be submitted by end of June.

I know my MCAT is low for MD especially since Im non-urm, however, I've tried studying it for it 3x already (voided once on test day) so Im trying to make due with what I have.

1) I think that clinical experience serves a dual purpose. Firstly, like you mentioned, it shows that you are familiar with clinical settings, and that you can work well in those situations. Secondly, though, it shows that you are interested in working in clinical situations, and that you enjoy treating patients. A 4-year gap in clinical experiences before applying may suggest to admissions committees that you aren't super interested in it, and just did it to check a box. When you say you have 200+ hours of clinical/shadowing experience, what is the breakdown (i.e. half clinical volunteering, half shadowing)? 200 hours is really only about 5 weeks of full-time work, which is a bit on the low side. I would recommend trying to add some clinical hours before you apply.

2) I think that's a good idea, based on your background. If you can tie in some more recent experiences from your MPH program to show that you have still been active in the community, it would work well.

3) Low MD/higher DO sounds like a good target for you. Yes, your MCAT is a bit on the low side for MD schools, but I believe it's still doable. If you can find schools that emphasize community service in that range (EVMS comes to mind for me), you could have a very solid shot. For your new score, a 506-507 is equivalent to a 29, so if you can squeeze in some extra studying and bump it up a few points, that would probably help you.

Good luck on the MCAT!

 

[italiancowgirl]

1) I think that clinical experience serves a dual purpose. Firstly, like you mentioned, it shows that you are familiar with clinical settings, and that you can work well in those situations. Secondly, though, it shows that you are interested in working in clinical situations, and that you enjoy treating patients. A 4-year gap in clinical experiences before applying may suggest to admissions committees that you aren't super interested in it, and just did it to check a box. When you say you have 200+ hours of clinical/shadowing experience, what is the breakdown (i.e. half clinical volunteering, half shadowing)? 200 hours is really only about 5 weeks of full-time work, which is a bit on the low side. I would recommend trying to add some clinical hours before you apply.

2) I think that's a good idea, based on your background. If you can tie in some more recent experiences from your MPH program to show that you have still been active in the community, it would work well.

3) Low MD/higher DO sounds like a good target for you. Yes, your MCAT is a bit on the low side for MD schools, but I believe it's still doable. If you can find schools that emphasize community service in that range (EVMS comes to mind for me), you could have a very solid shot. For your new score, a 506-507 is equivalent to a 29, so if you can squeeze in some extra studying and bump it up a few points, that would probably help you.

Good luck on the MCAT!

Very solid advice. I second these comments and would encourage you to explore more volunteering before and during your app cycle. Also make sure you are in early!! It will be important for you to be 100% on your game through interviews to show you are worth it and a better bet than a more even applicant. Realistically most clinically focused applicants have quite a few more hrs so you are in a slightly weird spot but I bet you can manage it with solid interviews! GL

 

[Faha]

When you reapply include a sufficient number of DO schools. I recommend at least 10 schools.

 

[Goro]

Just skip LUCOM.

When you reapply include a sufficient number of DO schools. I recommend at least 10 schools.

 

[Ehwic]

1) I think that clinical experience serves a dual purpose. Firstly, like you mentioned, it shows that you are familiar with clinical settings, and that you can work well in those situations. Secondly, though, it shows that you are interested in working in clinical situations, and that you enjoy treating patients. A 4-year gap in clinical experiences before applying may suggest to admissions committees that you aren't super interested in it, and just did it to check a box. When you say you have 200+ hours of clinical/shadowing experience, what is the breakdown (i.e. half clinical volunteering, half shadowing)? 200 hours is really only about 5 weeks of full-time work, which is a bit on the low side. I would recommend trying to add some clinical hours before you apply.

2) I think that's a good idea, based on your background. If you can tie in some more recent experiences from your MPH program to show that you have still been active in the community, it would work well.

3) Low MD/higher DO sounds like a good target for you. Yes, your MCAT is a bit on the low side for MD schools, but I believe it's still doable. If you can find schools that emphasize community service in that range (EVMS comes to mind for me), you could have a very solid shot. For your new score, a 506-507 is equivalent to a 29, so if you can squeeze in some extra studying and bump it up a few points, that would probably help you.

Good luck on the MCAT!

Hey thanks for the response! What does EVMS refer to? None of the school names come to mind currently.