Question about ECs

[BytheSeaShore]

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I am starting my ECs next semester: shadowing in ER, art classes, possibly art club. Basically I love art and paint on my free time. From what I have gathered from you guys adcoms like to see ECs that you actually enjoy. This is just starting out. My question is, where should I go from here?
any help would be much appreciated!

 

[CopToEM]

I am starting my ECs next semester: shadowing in ER, art classes, possibly art club. Basically I love art and paint on my free time. From what I have gathered from you guys adcoms like to see ECs that you actually enjoy. This is just starting out. My question is, where should I go from here?
any help would be much appreciated!

You're definitely on the right track! It's important to always only take part in the things that you enjoy! That extends beyond ECs even. Many med schools would rather you major in something of interest to you than Science just to impress them. The same goes for ECs - enjoy a healthy dose of art ECs and it will help them paint a picture of you as a well rounded individual.

You should put heavy emphasis on a wide array of ECs but focus on those that give you the opportunities for leadership roles as well as long term commitments. Adcoms will want to see you're a leader in your community/university and have the dedication to be committed to a cause for an extended period of time.

As a rule of thumb, you will want to apply with at least 100 hours of TRUE clinical exposure - be it through shadowing, medical mission trips, a part-time hospital job, etc. This is the most important EC, in my opinion, that you will take part in. Med schools want to see if you know what you're getting yourself into and you can only determine that through significant exposure to the field. After all, what school wants to accept someone who may find out they really don't want to be a doc?

Spend a considerable amount of time shadowing various specialties and various docs so you can go in to interviews with a clear head knowing it's for you. At the same time, this will allow you to network and make contacts for letters and for future references that will serve you for years to come!

Hope that helps! Best of luck!

 

[Rustifer]

+1 to the above post. If you do an EC that you enjoy but is not med related just be sure you at least get some leadership experience out of it.

 

[rafflecopter]

+1 to the above post. If you do an EC that you enjoy but is not med related just be sure you at least get some leadership experience out of it.

Disagree with this. You shouldn't avoid doing things you enjoy just because you aren't getting leadership experience out of it. There are a number of artistic activities like writing and directing that I put on my application, and interviewers have seemed to be really interested in talking about them.

With that said, I do believe leadership to be an important part of your application and if you CAN find a way to combine an interest with something that will get you leadership experience you definitely should go for it, but if you can't then I would still do the activity.

 

[BytheSeaShore]

Thank you for all of the replies! I really appreciate it!