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[deleted011111]

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[A00000000]

Hello.

I have decided on med school in my junior year as well. What do you mean by your university not being helpful? Do you mean your school's medical school advisor? I would also like to point out that there is little chance that you would be hired as an engineer only because you would tell an employer that you would only work there for a year.

Also, your GPA is high. The only reason to worry is if you have a downward trend from you 1st year and/or took a bunch of easy classes and electives (such as 100 level classes)

 

[Goro]

Hi guys,

I just recently joined this site and was hoping to get some advice about my current situation. I hope that I am posting to the relevant forum. I'm a junior biomedical engineer, who just recently became interested in medical school. Since I am a little late, I plan on taking at least 1 gap year and working as an engineer to help pay, and at the earliest I'd be applying to medical school at the end of my senior year.

The major problem I have is that I do not have any experience in college that would help me. In high school, I had several medical related opportunities, but not in college. The only "extracurricular" I have is an engineering related on campus job. I have spent the last few weeks looking for shadowing opportunities that I could do this summer, since I figured clinical experience is my best shot at this point. However, I have not had any luck yet finding such an opportunity. I have spent the last year or so trying to find research at my university, but did not have any luck with that, either. I really want to find shadowing this summer, so if anyone knows of a good way to find a physician, I'd appreciate it.

Basically, the only thing I have going for me is a decent GPA (3.77), but that's not particularly high either, I figure. I have been taking all the relevant classes so far, since there is a lot of overlap with my major. I do plan on taking the MCAT in January 2019.

Essentially, I'm trying to decide at this point whether or not to give up, since I know it's impossible to get into medical school with no extracurriculars. My university hasn't been particularly helpful with my situation, either. Any suggestions? I would appreciate anything at this point, really.

Approach this with the mindset that you're in a marathon, not a sprint, and start doing you Ecs, and if you have to take two years to do so prior to applying, then so be it. Med schools aren't going anywhere.

 

[Goro]

Do you recommend that I take several years after graduating to get shadowing or volunteer experience? What would be the most helpful thing for me to do as of right now, being a junior?

Also, my school just makes it difficult to meet with advisors one on one and actually sort through things, so I haven't been able to do that.

You should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time...ie, take your coursework AND do your ECs. To master med school, you need to master time mgt skill.s.

 

[shopsteward]

ECs demonstrate a lot of things. They demonstrate that you understand the work of a doctor (shadowing). They demonstrate that you understand the needs and experiences of patients (clinical experience). They demonstrate that you are altruistic and care for your fellow humans, particularly those who are less fortunate than yourself (non-clinical volunteering). They also demonstrate that you have initiative (which is how you get involved in all these opportunities) and time management skills (that you can fit them in while also studying and/or working).

Right now, with none of those things, I don't understand how you know that you are interested in medicine or what it entails. You haven't demonstrated the self-starting qualities you would need either. So, I think you need to start with some shadowing and clinical volunteering. At this stage you are just exploring, so you don't need to put a lot of hours in and you are probably looking for primary care doctors rather than specialists. How do you find a doctor to shadow? Check what resources your college has. A pre-med club? A student clinic might point you in the right direction. If your college has nothing, then ask your own doctor if you have one. Clinical experience can be paid or volunteer. At this stage, again a pre-med club could help. Otherwise, try contacting hospitals (they often have an associated volunteer organisation), free clinics, hospices and nursing homes and asking about volunteering opportunities. The line here is you need to being doing something where you "can smell the patients", where you can start to understand what it is like to be ill, to be cared for, to be subjected to medical procedures, to navigate the health care process.

Once you've done some shadowing and had some clinical experience, you should be able to start building your story as to why you want to be a doctor: what it is about what doctors do that fits with your abilities and enthusiasms, and what it is about being around patients that makes you want to do that for the rest of your life. If you decide after some shadowing and clinical experience that it's not for you that's fine too.