Non-trad EC check

[Miss_Premed]

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Hey all, I am just looking to see if my EC's are alright or if I should look to add in something before my application cycle next year. My biggest worry is that my paid work overshadows my volunteering work significantly. I am not planning on applying to research heavy schools so I don't think the vast research experience will count for much to be honest. Thanks in advance!


I currently have:


~200 hours clinical volunteering (2 years)
~25 hours shadowing
-4 semesters on the academic honesty panel (only participated in 1 hearing)
~600 hours mentoring (will be 3 years and 1000 hours when I apply)
~50 hours food pantry (1 year)
~500 hours research volunteer (2 years)
~8000 hours fast food manager (6 years)
~4000 hours paid research (2 years)

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Try to get another 200 hours of clinical volunteering in. 200 hours over 2 years is OK, but most volunteer programs I know require 200 hours a year (4 hours/week). Try to see if there is an ED you can volunteer in, they're open 24/7. Gonnif is right that your application looks good as it is, but I would still do it if for no other reason than it's more patient exposure and may provide a particular experience worth including in your app.

I know it can be a time crunch, but as a fellow non-trad who also worked full-time, it's doable.

 

[Miss_Premed]

Dont worry
you have 4 years full time employment in FF showing maturity, leadership (managet), team work, etc. It is worth alot
You have 2 years worth in paid research.
How many applicants come with 6 years of paid full time paid employment?

If you want to add 50-100 hours more of clinical and perhaps 25 more of shadowing, you could but you really dont need to.
(for some reason, I seem to look at overall healthcare experience -- clinical volunteering, paid, shadowing, -- and see "300" as sort of the "outstanding" mark but that really is my own internal metric. I really dont recall why I have that in my head)

Thank you so much for the perspectives! I have feelers out to see if there are any clinical volunteering positions around me that will work with a small time commitment, but I may just have to leave it as is. I work 40 hours per week and I really enjoy my non clinical volunteering which is another 10 hours per week on top of MCAT studying and a family. Unfortunately most clinical volunteering opportunities do require at least 4 hours per week, which I am not sure I can commit to. So I am relieved to know that as of now my ECs are doing okay at least! Thanks again. 🙂