no volunteer experience whatsoever

[batista_123]

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hi,
i am applying to med school this year, either in july or august. i have a good GPA and a good mcat score, but i have no clinical experience whatsoever. the last time i volunteered for a hospital was freshman year of high school
i really want to apply this year because i am already one year late...besides "start right now" what other suggestions do you have that will improve that part of my application? i thought about starting now but that would give me like 5 months...but i heard med schools want to see at least 2 years

 

[kdburton]

hi,
i am applying to med school this year, either in july or august. i have a good GPA and a good mcat score, but i have no clinical experience whatsoever. the last time i volunteered for a hospital was freshman year of high school
i really want to apply this year because i am already one year late...besides "start right now" what other suggestions do you have that will improve that part of my application? i thought about starting now but that would give me like 5 months...but i heard med schools want to see at least 2 years

Besides "start right now"? Wait another day or two and then start I guess...

Obviously you cannot improve that part of your application any better than starting right. If you start now it may give you 5 months until you apply, but if you continue doing it until you get some interviews then you'll probably have quite a few months. You'd just make sure to note in your app that you plan to keep volunteering past that point. Maybe get a job that would allow you to get clinical experience plus do some volunteer stuff?

 

[lord_jeebus]

Can you answer the question

"How do you know you want to be a doctor if you haven't had any clinical exposure?"

because you will be asked that at every interview you get.

 

[NN11]

Dare I ask? If you don't have any clinical experience, how would you go about writing your personal statement?

I'm not saying that you need to have clinical experience to be able to write a strong personal statement, but having clinical experience certainly makes your motivation for going into medicine more plausible.

I know I know, you'll get some clinical experience before you apply and hence will have something to write about, but by getting clinical experience right before you apply, it can be perceived as though you did it just to put a check mark next to the activity.

 

[bbabul01]

2 years out is no big deal compared to one year out. Time off is good for you. Also, you don't want to waste your time waiting around to get into med school when there is a significant chance it might not happen without experience. I'm not trying to be a pessimist, I'm trying to be a realist.

If you wait, and plan on waiting, you can commit to a job/volunteering/etc and then you will have a much better chance next year. School's want to see the commitment, and if you're half-assing it while applying to med school, you run the risk of being in the same position next year.

Or maybe you get in and everything is fine.

 

[Psyche Estrelle]

I'm a fellow applicant so I don't know much, but from what I understand there's honestly no real point in applying if you haven't had any clinical exposure. Most applicants I've seen on SDN that don't have any clinical barely get any interviews (no matter how unbelievable their scores are!), and at EVERY single interview I've had, interviewers want to know about what I've learned by doing clinical experience. I've been asked questions like "So what about your experiences in medicine negatively surprised you?" and other questions I couldn't possibly have been asked if I had never had any exposure. Med schools don't care about what you THINK medicine is like; they want to know that you've participated in it firsthand... and they care about a lot more than just the numbers. You already know what you need to do. START NOW!! 🙂

 

[roverdoggy]

I have friends who have gotten into med school w/o clinical experience- one friend at Albany, and one who has gotten enough interviews to pretty much guarantee acceptance somewhere. It's doable, but like a previous poster mentioned, waiting two years before applying is not a big deal and would give you some precious time to get some additional experience.

The biggest issue here is how do you know you want to be a doctor if you have no clinical experience? I know someone who got into med school then two years and thousands of dollars later realized he really didn't feel comfortable around sick people. Extreme case I know, but maybe you should wait a bit and see what practicing medicine is really like before applying. You have time!

 

[baylormed]

Get clinical experience and do it now, if you are serious about applying this cycle.

I suggest something other than hospital volunteering, since those experiences rarely lead to productive, meaningful things (with some exceptions).

In general, it's always better if you find a doctor who will let you watch closely and even teach you a few tricks with patients. Try with people you know, if any, or try asking local offices/small clinics to take you in.

 

[dutchman]

Good luck, especially since your desperate competitors have volunteered in medical missions in Somalia and Ethiopia.

 

[hawkeyepeirce]

I have basically no official clinical experience (though lots of second-hand exposure), have good grades, and did very well on the MCAT and have an acceptance (still waiting on two schools with fingers crossed). So, it can happen, but as others have said it would probably be better to get some clinical experience before applying.

That said, if you really did well on the MCAT (maybe ?35) and have good grades (say ?3.8) then go for it, you can always re-apply. I think you will need to have specific answers to the questions which will be raised at interviews (e.g. why no clinical experience?, how can you know...? what was your worst...?).

Practice your answers with a friend(s) who are also pre-med, and who is willing to be honest. Then try the answers on someone who is has no connection to medicine and see if they think your answers make sense and are believable.

Finally stop reading SDN and go get some experience right away! You may not have the ideal "2 years", but to be able to say in an interview, "My experiences, while brief are on-going, and have done nothing but reinforce by knowledge that medicine is where I belong, blah blah blah..." Some is better than none, and it's not to late to get some.

 

[gersh489]

esta una ballina

 

[stixx]

I really don't understand why people are suggesting you not to try at ALL this year....start getting some experience...seriously, start looking on Monday. A year is a long time, and the process is well, a crapshoot. Do you really want to waste a year thinking, "what if"? What if I *would have* been able to impress the adcoms with my desire to enter medicine in other ways, and wouldn't have spent a year doing nothing (because honestly, all you'll be doing that year would be a. trying to improve your application and b. working and not only getting any valuable work experience (for your ideal career path), but making less than what you would if you started residency one year earlier)

The people I know of who never had any 'formal' clinical experience and were accepted widely all had people very close to them who were in the medical profession (for example, two EM doctor parents, pretty much grew up in a hospital...blah blah). So it was very easy for them to bring up those kinds of things in their PS and interview.

It's just like research really, people on SDN will rail you for not having it but yet thousands get in each year without it. Good luck!

 

[MChitty]

I also am not sure what you mean by 'one year late.' I've taken three years off in between (which could soon become 4) and it's been fine.

That being said, taking another year off isn't for everyone and I can completely understand that. I too didn't really have any clinical experience. Now, I haven't gotten an acceptance, but I also applied ridiculously late(which you shouldn't do) and so that's another factor. I feel like I made up for it though because I'm working full-time in clinical research and both my parents are physicians so I had a ton of experiences through them.

I don't think adcoms are going to look at this one thing and reject you. On the other hand, they want to know that you're prepared for and enjoy the field and for most people, that means some type of clinical experience. I feel like you should try this year and worst comes to worse, reapply next year. But as someone suggested, you should start looking today!

 

[Agent47]

I think ...you should at least have some amount of Volunteer work ...as they say heavily involve in Med field if you're going to become a doctor ...U need 2 show them that you really want to be a Doctor...Over all ...you can get interviews with Good grade and MCAT score but in Interview IT"S all about you!!!...............................SO DO SOMETHING that you can talk about in INTERVIEW!!!

GOOD LUCK !! HOPE U GET IN ...Insaallah you will!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

 

[scholj]

I've managed six interviews and 1 acceptance so far with only a year (to date) of volunteer experience. I had my first clinical exposure in March of 2006 and started volunteering at the ER of a local hospital around that time too. I didn't decide on medicine though until the end of my sophomore year of college/ beginning of my junior year. So... definately not all schools require at least 2 years of volunteer/ clinical exposure. Though my lack of both may have accounted for the numerous rejections I've received so far (coupled with my somwhat low GPA).

I'd suggest getting started... yesterday. Or last week. Whicever is easier to manage 😛 . Just really try to get a lot out of your experiences and draw on them when you are interviewing.

 

[TheAmazingGOB]

Start ASAP. I had some clinical experience before applying, but my premed advisor said it would be a good idea to get even more so I started volunteering at a local ICU that July (of my application year). In EVERY single interview I had, they asked about my ICU volunteering. So, even if your activity just barely qualifies (timewise) for being on the AMCAS application, go ahead and put it on there because you will get asked about it.

 

[coffeebythelake]

Everybody has a "good" GPA and a "good" mcat score.

 

[wjustice]

I started volunteering in January at a hospital because I don't have that much clinical volunteering. If I submit my AMCAS in June and state that I will continue volunteering, will schools consider that anticipated experience when granting interviews, or will they just consider it a Jan-June volunteer experience? Do they give secondary app. updates the same weight as AMCAS?

And what's a good minimum baseline of hours to aim for? An amount that won't really stand out either way. Just make it plausible that you do understand what it's like to be a doctor. 100 hours? 200 hours? I hope to highlite other strengths besides direct clinical, but it would suck to get dragged down because I don't have enough clinical hours.

 

[wjustice]

Start ASAP. I had some clinical experience before applying, but my premed advisor said it would be a good idea to get even more so I started volunteering at a local ICU that July (of my application year). In EVERY single interview I had, they asked about my ICU volunteering. So, even if your activity just barely qualifies (timewise) for being on the AMCAS application, go ahead and put it on there because you will get asked about it.

How many hours were you logging a week, and how much do you think it helped? Thanks!

 

[youngnflyy]

I'd definitely encourage you to start volunteering. I was wary of doing it myself, but I've genuinely enjoyed my time in the emergency department. It's a great way to see first hand the issues that plague healthcare, and can give you a general idea of what you will be getting yourself into. Also, every is always so supportive and easy to talk to. I've yet to come across anyone who wasn't willing to answer any question I had, or give me some guidance or advice.

 

[opusthecat]

I decided I was going to apply to medical school about one year ago. Initially, I was planning on applying for 2008 to give me time to do things like volunteer, but then I decided what the hell, I'll give it a shot this year. So I started studying for the MCAT which I took in Aug, and started volunteering in July. I never even did any shadowing outside of when I was volunteering in the ED. I was accepted on Dec. 1. Granted, I'm sure I would have gotten many more interviews if I had more clinical experience, but it wasn't really brought up at the interviews I had (except once when the interviewer said 4 months was enough experience). So yes, it's not advisable but definitely doable. It's just a matter of how much you want to get in asap. Since I'm over 30, I didn't want to wait another year unless I had to. Also, if you start volunteering now, by the time interviews come around you should have adequate clinical exposure.

 

[easywob]

No volunteer experience but two consecutive summer internships at medical device company - does it count?

 

[LizzyM]

No volunteer experience but two consecutive summer internships at medical device company - does it count?

Oh my, I wonder if the OP ever got into medical school... meanwhile @easywob, you come along and resurrect a 7 year old thread. The answer to your question is, "no". Working in a medical device company is not putting you close enough to smell patients, is it? It is not community service to the needy either which is usually what is being demonstrated by "volunteer" activity (that you are willing to serve others because medicine is a service profession).

 

[keevwu]

you can have a 4.0 and a 40 on the mcat and still might not get in anywhere with no clinical experience.