Need suggestions: Application process starts next year but don't have much ECs

[CluelessAsian]

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Hi everyone,

So my application process starts next year but I don't have a lot of experiences (no research and minimal volunteer hours). I started a paid research internship this summer but it will take time off volunteer experience.

I'm not sure whether to pursue the research experience or if I should start volunteering. I know some of you will say to just do both but I'm also preparing for a bodybuilding contest in November and that also takes so much of my time.

Should I continue the research internship or should I drop it and pick up a volunteer position at a hospital? Thank you everyone!

 

[MiniMoo]

Volunteering doesn't have to take a substantial amount of time. 4 hours a week is pretty typical. Is your schedule so crammed that you wouldn't be able to find 4 hours somewhere? If you can't do 4, even 2-3 over the next year would be preferable to nothing.

 

[taylormade2006]

The bodybuilding contest is an EC. Do the volunteering this fall after the internship.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi everyone,

So my application process starts next year ...

You application process starts whenever you have made yourself competitive, be it next year or the following cycle. I think far too many people don't get into med school because they feel they are on some sort of time table. ECs aren't something that should look like an afterthought. They need to be somewhat substantial to be valuable. In general adcoms want to see health related ECs not because they are required, but because they actually are important in terms of making sure you know what you are getting yourself into, because medicine really truly isn't for everyone. Meaning if you have already decided you are applying to med school before you do the ECs, you have put the cart before the horse. You should do the ECs soon, and find something that gets you up front and close to patients, and doctor interactions with them. Then decide if this is what you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life. Because once you go down this road, you will be spending all of your time from when you wake up until at least dinner time every day doing this (more than that during residency). So you have to like it. And you cannot know if you think you'll like it without better exposure. So IMHO, if that can be done between now and your target application time, fine, but if not, then spend the extra year. Because "wasting" a year now can save you wasting many years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later. You aren't doing this for them (the adcoms), it is for you.

 

[EpiIV]

You application process starts whenever you have made yourself competitive, be it next year or the following cycle. I think far too many people don't get into med school because they feel they are on some sort of time table. ECs aren't something that should look like an afterthought. They need to be somewhat substantial to be valuable. In general adcoms want to see health related ECs not because they are required, but because they actually are important in terms of making sure you know what you are getting yourself into, because medicine really truly isn't for everyone. Meaning if you have already decided you are applying to med school before you do the ECs, you have put the cart before the horse. You should do the ECs soon, and find something that gets you up front and close to patients, and doctor interactions with them. Then decide if this is what you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life. Because once you go down this road, you will be spending all of your time from when you wake up until at least dinner time every day doing this (more than that during residency). So you have to like it. And you cannot know if you think you'll like it without better exposure. So IMHO, if that can be done between now and your target application time, fine, but if not, then spend the extra year. Because "wasting" a year now can save you wasting many years and hundreds of thousands of dollars later. You aren't doing this for them (the adcoms), it is for you.

Sorry, just had to post the entire quote because it's that good and worth reading again. I'd bold the whole thing if it wasn't redundant.