Specific Clinical Experience in PS?

[mwsapphire]

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Hello everybody,

I sent one of my earlier PS draft to my pre health advisor a couple of weeks ago, and one of the major criticisms I got was that I didn't mention a specific instance of watching a doctor/ a patients interaction that made me want to pursue medicine. My PS blends talking about my community service, clinical experiences, and who I am into " Why me, Why medicine?" , but doesn't have a " and that's when I knew I wanted to be a doctor, seeing that doctor diagnose that 1 liver cancer patient."

My question is, is that necessary for a good PS?
She also said I don't have enough clinical experience.

By the end of the summer I should have:
220 hours volunteering at the nursing home
170 hours volunteering in the ED at a community hospital
I current;y have a dozen hours PCP shadowing, and I should be able to get 20 ish hours more this summer.

But she said I don't have enough clinical experience? Maybe she meant it in the context of feeling my PS not fully articulating " Why medicine?', and so she thinks more clinical experience will mitigate that? I know I need a little more shadowing, but that's something I think can be solved in a week ( already contacted a doctor, sent my resume and she said we can work out a time , over email, for me to shadow her. But, my advisor is suggesting I am low in clinical experience as a whole and should maybe wait a year to apply. I've heard being told to wait when you don't necessarily have to is common from pre health advising at my school, but now Im nervous.

Any thoughts?

 

[Moko]

Hello everybody,

I sent one of my earlier PS draft to my pre health advisor a couple of weeks ago, and one of the major criticisms I got was that I didn't mention a specific instance of watching a doctor/ a patients interaction that made me want to pursue medicine. My PS blends talking about my community service, clinical experiences, and who I am into " Why me, Why medicine?" , but doesn't have a " and that's when I knew I wanted to be a doctor, seeing that doctor diagnose that 1 liver cancer patient."

My question is, is that necessary for a good PS?
She also said I don't have enough clinical experience.

By the end of the summer I should have:
220 hours volunteering at the nursing home
170 hours volunteering in the ED at a community hospital
I current;y have a dozen hours PCP shadowing, and I should be able to get 20 ish hours more this summer.

But she said I don't have enough clinical experience? Maybe she meant it in the context of feeling my PS not fully articulating " Why medicine?', and so she thinks more clinical experience will mitigate that? I know I need a little more shadowing, but that's something I think can be solved in a week ( already contacted a doctor, sent my resume and she said we can work out a time , over email, for me to shadow her. But, my advisor is suggesting I am low in clinical experience as a whole and should maybe wait a year to apply. I've heard being told to wait when you don't necessarily have to is common from pre health advising at my school, but now Im nervous.

Any thoughts?

Using specific examples can help convey the 'lessons' that were learned during shadowing and volunteering. This gives adcoms a glimpse of an applicant's motivations for pursuing medicine, and reassures us that an applicant has a realistic idea of what the profession entails. It's by no means necessary, but is an effective tool for conveying your thoughts.

Personally, I enjoy these stories as they help me remember applicants, and support otherwise empty platitudes that are commonly littered through many applications. Anyone can say they are compassionate, insightful, humble, and mature, etc; but not everyone can demonstrate these qualities, which are essential to a successful application.

You have sufficient clinical volunteering hours, but your current shadowing hours are below average.

 

[mwsapphire]

Using specific examples can help convey the 'lessons' that were learned during shadowing and volunteering. This gives adcoms a glimpse of an applicant's motivations for pursuing medicine, and reassures us that an applicant has a realistic idea of what the profession entails. It's by no means necessary, but is an effective tool for conveying your thoughts.

Personally, I enjoy these stories as they help me remember applicants, and support otherwise empty platitudes that are commonly littered through many applications. Anyone can say they are compassionate, insightful, humble, and mature, etc; but not everyone can demonstrate these qualities, which are essential to a successful application.

You have sufficient clinical volunteering hours, but your current shadowing hours are below average.

But shadowing can be mitigated in a short period of time, can't it? I think suggesting I take a whole 'nother year is a bit much.
And apparently its debatable whether my nursing home experience is clinical or not, it is still a valuable community service activity, but whether
or not it counts as clinical.
I have a specific example of my nursing home experience that I used to demonstrate some good qaulities, but for doc and patient interactions its more like " I saw what doctors do and for blah, blah, blah reason I know i want to do that."

 

[Moko]

But shadowing can be mitigated in a short period of time, can't it? I think suggesting I take a whole 'nother year is a bit much.
And apparently its debatable whether my nursing home experience is clinical or not, it is still a valuable community service activity, but whether
or not it counts as clinical.
I have a specific example of my nursing home experience that I used to demonstrate some good qaulities, but for doc and patient interactions its more like " I saw what doctors do and for blah, blah, blah reason I know i want to do that."

Oh no, definitely do not take a year off to get more shadowing -- this can be done in a relatively short time span . I was merely comparing your current hours with most other applicants. Sorry for the confusion. Ideally at the time of application, you will have most/all of that planned shadowing experience already done as well, since "future" activities do not mean much.. plans change, stuff happens, and there is no accountability to "IOUs"..

The reason why it is important to have shadowing done at the time of application is that shadowing is there to help inform applicants about a career in medicine -- when I see people do most of their shadowing or volunteering after they've already applied, it makes them seem like 'box checkers', which undermines the application.

Having said that, your application should still be submitted by late-July / early-August to allow for sufficient time to complete secondaries in a timely fashion. Shadowing several hours every week or two should help you get sufficient shadowing experience.

I would recommend having multiple eyes look at your paragraph on the doctor-patient relationship to make sure it comes off alright -- because honestly, that is one of the big things that separates doctors from most other professions. I do believe that describing the qualities that you observed and admired when the doctor broke the bad news about the liver cancer could be a good addition to your application. Consider writing a draft that includes it to see if it adds anything. Worst case scenario, you can always use your current version.

Hope this help.