Research or Scribing for Gap Year? Advise Please and Thank you.

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Research, Scribing, or focus on studying for MCAT first?

  • Research at UPenn/CHOP

  • Scribing Full-Time

  • Focus on Studying First

  • Other/Mixture? (If so, please comment)


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Happymeal40

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Hello Physicians and Future Physicians,

First some background regarding my situation right now so you can better answer my question and/or vote in my poll (although, I would really apprecite if you stated the reason for voting the way you did):
  • Just graduated from the University of Notre Dame this May with a Bachelor of Science in Biology (btw, great education and beautiful campus, not a fan of the permeating religious aura because I'm actually an Asian atheist and actually felt somewhat out of place...but I digress).
  • Both science and overall GPA's around a 3.5 (I know, subpar)
  • 3 years of research at ND in the same lab with a 3rd author paper in Biochemistry (Impact Factor of 3) and another one currently being submitted
  • Decent extracurricular/leadership position? (co-founded and presided over a table tennis club)
  • Could use more volunteering and clinic experience hours, but I participated in the First-Aid club for 2 years and a bit of hospital volunteering, also have shadowed doctors several times including a complete kidney transplant (I'm mentioning this for scribing considerations. Side question: does the AMCAS application require one to put down my own experience hours?)
So really everything is okay besides the GPA. But the biggest hole in my resume is my MCAT score...because I haven't taken it yet. So that's actually the most immediate thing I need to take care of. But because I need a job to pay the rent, I want to study and work a 8-5 job at the same time with the goal of applying the coming cycle. So what do you think?

I have interviewed for my research job at CHOP/UPenn already and it looks decently promising. And I have an interview opportunity with Scribe America this week. So assume the best of everything, that I can choice either job, what should I do, assuming you are the admission committee looking at my application next fall?

There is actually one more opinion. I actually work part time at CVS as a Pharm Tech right now so I could just pick up just enough hours to scrap by and focus on studying for the MCAT and worry about my full time job last.

Please keep in mind that I'm trying to get to the best medical school as possible, ASAP? Though I don't actually mind the working life but I don't particularly like MCAT studying. I only am in a rush because most of my peers are in medical school already...Perhaps I should invest in more GAP years? Take my time to maybe take a few classes to boost my GPA in the meanwhile?

Anyway, thank you in advance for any advice and for reading through the long post!

Sincerely,

Happy

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If you can get paid for it and publish, research always looks better on paper than scribing so long as you produce something publishable.

In terms of actual usefulness down the road, scribing wins hands down. Also gives you a lot more clinical experience.

Overall both are good. I'd prolly go with research if you know you can get published. If you have doubts, scribe to add a broader scope to your application since you already have research experience.

Good luck.
 
If you can get paid for it and publish, research always looks better on paper than scribing so long as you produce something publishable.

In terms of actual usefulness down the road, scribing wins hands down. Also gives you a lot more clinical experience.

Overall both are good. I'd prolly go with research if you know you can get published. If you have doubts, scribe to add a broader scope to your application since you already have research experience.

Good luck.
OP's clinical experience seems very lacking, and his/her research is very solid, so I think scribing would be the better option.
 
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+1 for Scribing. I had the same dilemma for my gap year, and ultimately chose to scribe. Never looked back. It was, by far, the best choice for me. The clinical experience and unique relationships I formed with doctors helped at all stages of the application cycle, from secondary essays to LORs to interviews. PM me if you want to discuss more.
 
I would say go for whichever job gives you the most money. Before applying, I had A LOT of research and pretty minimal clinical/shadowing experiences. Still went for research positions because scribing could not pay for my rent/bills. I just did multiple clinical volunteering activities (not hospital/ER stuff tho coz I thought those weren't hands on enough for my liking) and have been successful this application cycle.

YMMV, but from my experience, participating in meaningful activities and having significant interactions with sick people is enough. Its all about learning something from your activities and understanding how they relate to your pursuit of medicine. Scribing will obviously give you direct clinical experience, but it's def not the only avenue you can take.

*Maybe caveat: I do have a higher GPA than you at the moment (not a superstar but pretty solid) and have a high MCAT so that may play into things. I also have strong LOR from previous professors/mentors so I didn't need letters from my volunteering positions.
 
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I would say scribe full-time. Would keep you busy with relevant experience and keep you engaged in the field. Also it's fun sometimes.
 
I definitely recommend scribing. Your clinical experience is lacking and, I did 4 years of research and two years of scribing while in undergrad, scribing and the experiences I had while doing it came up more often by far in interviews than my research. This may be different if you want to attend a top 10 or research heavy program, but if not, I think scribing's the way to go.
 
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