Setting myself apart.

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I am about to start my second year as a pre-medical student aspiring to be a neurologist while majoring in Psychology. A few things about myself: I am interested in sports (mainly basketball), I spend a lot of time with my family, music is one of my passions(listening to it, and I was in high school choir), I like to workout, and I work 30+ hours a week in retail. I am majoring in psychology because if I do not get accepted into a medical school I want to work with kids as a psychologist. My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in the world to me.
Any advice on how I can turn these hobbies into an activity I am passionate about while help others?
Or any ways I can maybe find new things to help me find new hobbies in order to do something significant for others?
Im already about to start a research project about how k-12 students learn, and shadowing a doctor but any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

[mathnerd88]

Volunteer at a hospital. Do something health care related too that shows you are passionate in working in the healthcare field. Why do you want to be a physician? What about it intrigues you?

What you're describing sounds like you prefer to be a psychologist than a physician.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

Volunteer. If you enjoy working with kids, something as simple as volunteering at a Boys & Girls Club or elementary school would be a good choice. If you are into Jesus, look into what kind of volunteer work your church does that you can get involved with. Just make sure its something you enjoy and are passionate about. I've volunteered with many pre-meds who don't have their heart in it and are going through the motions. It will be difficult for them to discuss what they got out of those experiences come time for interviews with schools.

 

[mathnerd88]

Volunteer. If you enjoy working with kids, something as simple as volunteering at a Boys & Girls Club or elementary school would be a good choice. If you are into Jesus, look into what kind of volunteer work your church does that you can get involved with. Just make sure its something you enjoy and are passionate about. I've volunteered with many pre-meds who don't have their heart in it and are going through the motions. It will be difficult for them to discuss what they got out of those experiences come time for interviews with schools.

Not interested in volunteering in healthcare doesn't mean you don't want to be a doctor. To be honest, I like shadowing more than volunteering because I can see how doctors are able to interact and diagnose patients. I like the detective work process physicians go through. Being a physician has NOTHING to do with volunteering in a hospital. They're completely different jobs.

Volunteering is just...meh. Especially when all you do (well, at least in my case) is pushing people around in wheelchairs to their destinations. Of course, I can always spin around and talk about an experience in my volunteering that shows my compassion towards others. I'm not saying I hate volunteering, just that I feel that I would prefer doing something else. To many, I suspect volunteering experiences are just a filler for their application, a box to check off to say they did it.

 

[allantois]

What you're describing sounds like you prefer to be a psychologist than a physician.

Meh, more like a missionary.

 

[oopsaloo]

I am about to start my second year as a pre-medical student aspiring to be a neurologist while majoring in Psychology. A few things about myself: I am interested in sports (mainly basketball), I spend a lot of time with my family, music is one of my passions(listening to it, and I was in high school choir), I like to workout, and I work 30+ hours a week in retail. I am majoring in psychology because if I do not get accepted into a medical school I want to work with kids as a psychologist. My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in the world to me.
Any advice on how I can turn these hobbies into an activity I am passionate about while help others?
Or any ways I can maybe find new things to help me find new hobbies in order to do something significant for others?
Im already about to start a research project about how k-12 students learn, and shadowing a doctor but any other suggestions would be appreciated

Get a LOR from Jesus.

 

[Goro]

Your local houses of worship will have lots of volunteering opportunities.

I am about to start my second year as a pre-medical student aspiring to be a neurologist while majoring in Psychology. A few things about myself: I am interested in sports (mainly basketball), I spend a lot of time with my family, music is one of my passions(listening to it, and I was in high school choir), I like to workout, and I work 30+ hours a week in retail. I am majoring in psychology because if I do not get accepted into a medical school I want to work with kids as a psychologist. My relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in the world to me.
Any advice on how I can turn these hobbies into an activity I am passionate about while help others?
Or any ways I can maybe find new things to help me find new hobbies in order to do something significant for others?
Im already about to start a research project about how k-12 students learn, and shadowing a doctor but any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

[genericpremedstudent]

Not interested in volunteering in healthcare doesn't mean you don't want to be a doctor. To be honest, I like shadowing more than volunteering because I can see how doctors are able to interact and diagnose patients. I like the detective work process physicians go through. Being a physician has NOTHING to do with volunteering in a hospital. They're completely different jobs.

Volunteering is just...meh. Especially when all you do is push people around in wheelchairs to their destinations. Of course, I can always spin around and talk about an experience in my volunteering that shows my compassion towards others. I'm not saying I hate volunteering, just that I feel that I would prefer doing something else.

good luck getting in to med school without volunteering. on average, approximately 80% of matriculants have clinical volunteer experience and approximately 75% have non-clinical volunteer experience.

 

[mathnerd88]

good luck getting in to med school without volunteering. on average, approximately 80% of matriculants have clinical volunteer experience and approximately 75% have non-clinical volunteer experience.

I never said that people shouldn't volunteer. What I'm saying is I understand why some people don't like volunteering in healthcare.

I have plenty of non-clinical volunteer experience (over 1200 hours.) I truly enjoyed that experience. I don't have much healthcare volunteering experience. My nonclinical volunteering experiences allow me to grow and interact with people.

In my clinical volunteering experiences, I didn't have that opportunity to grow and interact with patients. That's why it wasn't as intriguing to me. That's why I like shadowing better in healthcare. A lot of the patients I get to see over and over again.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

I never said that people shouldn't volunteer. What I'm saying is I understand why some people don't like volunteering in healthcare.

I have plenty of non-clinical volunteer experience (over 1200 hours.) I truly enjoyed that experience. I don't have much healthcare volunteering experience.

and your point is? no one mentioned not wanting to volunteer in a clinical setting. in fact, you even recommended it. not sure what you are getting at.

 

[Pencilgraph]

Volunteer at a hospital. Do something health care related too that shows you are passionate in working in the healthcare field. Why do you want to be a physician? What about it intrigues you?

What you're describing sounds like you prefer to be a psychologist than a physician.

The way the brain works has always fascinated me, the way the whole human body works is nothing short of magical. I really enjoy helping people, and medicine is the way I see myself doing that.

 

[Pencilgraph]

Meh, more like a missionary.

After retirement, I plan on volunteering to be a medical missionary so you're almost right

 

[mathnerd88]

and your point is? no one mentioned not wanting to volunteer in a clinical setting. in fact, you even recommended it. not sure what you are getting at.

Perhaps I misread your post, my apologies. I just feel like you made a generic statement saying that premeds who don't have their heart in it will have a difficult time discussing about it in their interviews. I don't believe that's true. You don't need to have your heart set in something to talk about it.

 

[Lucca]

In order to stand out? Find something you are very passionate about turn it into something actionable and positive. It's not clear what that actually means. Maybe you become a familiar face at a church or religious organization and then leverage their resources to help poor people afford medication or food pantries feed more people. Maybe you go to rural
China for a year and work with people trying to bring healthcare from the city to the country. Maybe you do an intense scholarly work on how people's beliefs affect treatment in an effort to 1) better understand how social factors inform clinical factors and 2) perhaps subvert academic trends against faith.

Who knows. It is totally up to you. The prerequisite is having an imagination.

I would mostly agree with the others that hospital volunteering is meh. Hospice,
Free clinics, food pantries have and are my most rewarding volunteer experiences. Like a doc I admire once said "There is not a long line of people waiting to serve the poor" and that means there is always plenty of good and meaningful work to be found in that respect.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

Perhaps I misread your post, my apologies. I just feel like you made a generic statement saying that premeds who don't have their heart in it will have a difficult time discussing about it in their interviews. I don't believe that's true. You don't need to have your heart set in something to talk about it.

oh i can see how you could misconstrue my post to be in reference to clinical volunteer. not what i meant. but i have no interest in volunteering at a hospital and working in the gift shop or changing bedding. luckily i was able to get a great volunteer position at an amazing outreach clinic. there are plenty of other options. and personally, if i were an adcom member, i would rank volunteering in a setting that serves an underserved community well over working the information counter at a hospital.

 

[mathnerd88]

oh i can see how you could misconstrue my post to be in reference to clinical volunteer. not what i meant. but i have no interest in volunteering at a hospital and working in the gift shop or changing bedding. luckily i was able to get a great volunteer position at an amazing outreach clinic. there are plenty of other options. and personally, if i were an adcom member, i would rank volunteering in a setting that serves an underserved community well over working the information counter at a hospital.

Haha, yes. That's why I never liked volunteering at the hospital. It felt super impersonal, except one of those rare moments you are able to touch patients' lives.