I have little to no work experience during college. I was/am living away from home and simply didn't have anything. Does this look insanely bad?
No work experience.. Does this look bad?
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What do you mean when you say work experience?
I'm asking because some may only consider an activity a work experience if they get paid; however, I think unpaid work experience will still count.
In terms of medical schools, it's more important that you have some clinical volunteering or shadowing experience, research experience, and other activities that make you well rounded.
For example, if you were student president, part of the pre-med honor society, shadowed a physician for a year or two, and had a research publication, you might not technically have "work experience" but still be a very qualified and competitive applicant.
I'm asking because some may only consider an activity a work experience if they get paid; however, I think unpaid work experience will still count.
In terms of medical schools, it's more important that you have some clinical volunteering or shadowing experience, research experience, and other activities that make you well rounded.
For example, if you were student president, part of the pre-med honor society, shadowed a physician for a year or two, and had a research publication, you might not technically have "work experience" but still be a very qualified and competitive applicant.
Well by application time I should have at 250+ in the ER, and I really need to start my community service outside of the hospital as well, and am [anticipating] 100 hours. I am not sure if a clinic would count as this, as compared to something like a soup kitchen, or even the children's miracle network (I'm finally 21 so I can volunteer).
I feel like I'm writing this just to make myself feel better.
I have a few hours shadowing oncology, and attended a tumor board. I am planning on shadowing DO primary care, surgery and hematology oncology. Oh, and a medical missions trip to India, although I do also want to do one in a part of the U.S.
So, idk, I just hope that with these things officially accomplished by application time, I will be regarded as at least an avrage applicant, as I'm sure people have done more than me.
I feel like I'm writing this just to make myself feel better.
I have a few hours shadowing oncology, and attended a tumor board. I am planning on shadowing DO primary care, surgery and hematology oncology. Oh, and a medical missions trip to India, although I do also want to do one in a part of the U.S.
So, idk, I just hope that with these things officially accomplished by application time, I will be regarded as at least an avrage applicant, as I'm sure people have done more than me.
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It's not B school, so work experience doesn't really matter
No work experience? Sorry, unless you have 250+ hours flipping burgers at White Castle, you will have to apply Caribbean.
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The lack of any specific experience does not matter. Rather, what schools are looking for is that you excelled in your studies while managing other activities. Why is this important? Well, most college students take 15-17 credits per semester. Medical school is 30 credits per semester.
If you took 15-17 credits per semester, did not work, and did not participate in extracurricular activities... it would be no surprise you have a 3.8 GPA. All you had to worry about was school.
However, if you took 15-17 credits a semester, volunteered 10 hours a week of your time, played in an ensemble, were a member of the student government organization, and/or worked as a work study or as a ward clerk in the local hospital system... AND made A's... that says a lot more about you and your ability to handle a lot of things on your plate.
So, it doesn't matter that you didn't work. It matters that you went to classes, juggled other long-term responsibilities, and still came out on top.
If you took 15-17 credits per semester, did not work, and did not participate in extracurricular activities... it would be no surprise you have a 3.8 GPA. All you had to worry about was school.
However, if you took 15-17 credits a semester, volunteered 10 hours a week of your time, played in an ensemble, were a member of the student government organization, and/or worked as a work study or as a ward clerk in the local hospital system... AND made A's... that says a lot more about you and your ability to handle a lot of things on your plate.
So, it doesn't matter that you didn't work. It matters that you went to classes, juggled other long-term responsibilities, and still came out on top.
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+1 to this, ECs will not make up for poor performance but it is critical to show that you are passionate about medicine as well as being able to demonstrate that you can handle the workload of medical school. However, being a 4.0 student will not guarantee admittance either. You have to demonstrate maturity and that you are ready for this step in your life. A student with a lower GPA but able to demonstrate more professionalism, passion for medicine, etc may be more successful than just the 4.0 student who did everything but failed to learn maturity and why they wanted to go into medicine (and the answer of I want to drive the coolest cars, live in a huge house, etc doesn't make one successful either).
Your plans for gaining hours currently are decent, as long as you can truly develop an understanding of WHY you are going into medicine as well as observing some of the ethical, professional, etc situations that arise within medicine. Good luck.
I love this profession. I am at least conversant in many areas of the profession, and know exactly why I have the desire to take on up to 11 more years of school and training in it.
Unfortunately, my grades are finally coming to a 3.7 per semester (we'll actually see about that, I still have a paper to write right now lol, amongst other things related to finals), after 5 semesters, but I will eventually make it. I think that I needed to have the end of my undergraduate education loom near in order for me to realize that I truly wanted this.
