Not putting clinical experience as most meaningful?

[xNinjaBurrito1]

I'm planning out my activities list and I think I have my 3 most meaningful picked out, but I am worried about putting a "hobby" as a most meaningful in lieu of clinical.

The two other most meaningful is non-clinical volunteering and research, but the last one is an intercollegiate competitive activity that a lot of my freetime during undergrad was spent on (it also doubled as a class). I unfortunately can't elaborate without doxxing myself, but it touches on 3-5 core competencies and I plan to connect it to certain patient care skills. It's also the only thing I would argue makes my app unique (besides my racial identity, I guess).

My clinical experience, while probably sufficient, is not unique in the slightest. Just standard hospital volunteering. I'm worried that putting a "hobby" (honestly closer to a sport than a hobby, but I digress) as a most meaningful while leaving my clinical experience in the lesser 12 would be a bad look. What do you all think?

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[Khairym]

I believe it’s not a good idea. You should have at least one meaningful experience be clinical. Why else would you pursue medicine if you didn’t have an experience within medicine that moved you and/or solidified your desire to pursue medicine? That’s part of what they look for. How your experiences shaped you and helped you grow to get tho this point where you’re applying to medical school.

I personally had two non-clinical and one clinical. I would suggest you avoid not having any clinical as most meaningful.

Then again, it doesn’t mean you surely won’t get in if you don’t add any, but it’s just a risk imo.

 

[Med Ed]

It's difficult to say without more complete information.

Perhaps it would be helpful to back up, look at your overall list of ECs, and try to see what they say about you (if anything). A hobby may or may not make sense in the overall context of your application.

For example, if an EC list looks like this...

Competitive sailing, Beneteau First 36.7 Class, 2000 hours
Dressage, 1500 hours
BASE jumping in the southern hemisphere, 1000 hours
Food pantry, 12 hours

...it sort of paints a picture, doesn't it?

 

[LizzyM]

Frankly, I never notice which items have been marked "most meaningful" and which have lesser status. I'm looking for specific categories, looking at the descriptions, and basing my interview questions on the activities.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

MMEs are part of an overall strategy.

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[LunaOri]

You need to address your clinical experience somewhere in your application--but that might be in your personal statement, or just in the description of the activity. However: if your only clinical exposure is hospital volunteering, you will need a good explanation of "why medicine?"

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

I believe it’s not a good idea. You should have at least one meaningful experience be clinical. Why else would you pursue medicine if you didn’t have an experience within medicine that moved you and/or solidified your desire to pursue medicine? That’s part of what they look for. How your experiences shaped you and helped you grow to get tho this point where you’re applying to medical school.

I personally had two non-clinical and one clinical. I would suggest you avoid not having any clinical as most meaningful.

Then again, it doesn’t mean you surely won’t get in if you don’t add any, but it’s just a risk imo.

In that case, do you think I could make my clinical MME shadowing? I got to shadow in a community health clinic that focused on providing care to the african american community, and I think that gave me a better sense of why I want to pursue medicine than wheeling patients around as a volunteer.

 

[chilly_md]

In that case, do you think I could make my clinical MME shadowing? I got to shadow in a community health clinic that focused on providing care to the african american community, and I think that gave me a better sense of why I want to pursue medicine than wheeling patients around as a volunteer.

No, shadowing is a passive activity. Unfortunately, it sounds like you may need to find additional clinical experience over the next 4-5 months because your personal statement is going to have a hard time explaining "why medicine" as pointed out by LunaOri (or at the least, will be very redundant with your Activities section).

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

No, shadowing is a passive activity. Unfortunately, it sounds like you may need to find additional clinical experience over the next 4-5 months because your personal statement is going to have a hard time explaining "why medicine" as pointed out by LunaOri (or at the least, will be very redundant with your Activities section).

Unfortunately not possible between my full time research job and 20 hours of volunteering per week (which includes more hospital volunteering, funnily enough). Guess I'll just have to play up how meaningful hospital volunteering was and hope my research heavy school list balances that out.

 

[wysdoc]

I'm planning out my activities list and I think I have my 3 most meaningful picked out, but I am worried about putting a "hobby" as a most meaningful in lieu of clinical.

The two other most meaningful is non-clinical volunteering and research, but the last one is an intercollegiate competitive activity that a lot of my freetime during undergrad was spent on (it also doubled as a class). I unfortunately can't elaborate without doxxing myself, but it touches on 3-5 core competencies and I plan to connect it to certain patient care skills. It's also the only thing I would argue makes my app unique (besides my racial identity, I guess).

My clinical experience, while probably sufficient, is not unique in the slightest. Just standard hospital volunteering. I'm worried that putting a "hobby" (honestly closer to a sport than a hobby, but I digress) as a most meaningful while leaving my clinical experience in the lesser 12 would be a bad look. What do you all think?

I have seen a strong hobby or avocation like dance and music selected as a MME with good outcome.
The main thing would be to use the extra essay space to explain why it's such a big part of who you are and its meaning in your life, especially if it's something you plan to continue in med school. Using the space to list prizes, awards, or basically brag about your fame or prowess would be less helpful in painting a complete picture of you.

 

[chilly_md]

Unfortunately not possible between my full time research job and 20 hours of volunteering per week (which includes more hospital volunteering, funnily enough). Guess I'll just have to play up how meaningful hospital volunteering was and hope my research heavy school list balances that out.

If you are going to have about 400 hours at the hospital as your prior WAMC suggested, you should be fine as long as you give yourself enough time to think on your PS.

 

[xNinjaBurrito1]

If you are going to have about 400 hours at the hospital as your prior WAMC suggested, you should be fine as long as you give yourself enough time to think on your PS.

Perfect! Yes I am still on track to reach that number by time of application submission.

I have also heard that it's bad form to repeat experiences in both your MMEs and PS. I planned (plan?) to talk about my mother's battle with cancer and my hospital volunteering in my PS, so would that be a decent reason to save my MME spot for something else?

 

[chilly_md]

Perfect! Yes I am still on track to reach that number by time of application submission.

I have also heard that it's bad form to repeat experiences in both your MMEs and PS. I planned (plan?) to talk about my mother's battle with cancer and my hospital volunteering in my PS, so would that be a decent reason to save my MME spot for something else?

You can try to find a different aspect/component for the same activity. The main section can be used to discuss responsibilities and then the MME slot can elaborate and introduce a short anecdote. The PS can have a more extensive account of what you experience was like as a hospital volunteer for a paragraph or two.

 

[Med Ed]

I have also heard that it's bad form to repeat experiences in both your MMEs and PS.

It's bad form to simply string experiences together to form a PS. But your experiences are part of your story, and your PS should be part of your story. It would be somewhat odd if there were no overlap between the two.