Suggestions for getting into medical school?

[alphamine]

Halfway through my third semester as a freshman in college (I started last summer). Have sustained a 4.0 GPA and currently have 100% in my classes this semester. However, I spend 90% of my time studying.

My goal is to go to medical school, and I found this website, so I signed up. Based on what I'm reading on other threads, a lot of clinical volunteering and extracurricular hours are required to essentially be guaranteed interviews for med school.

I don't have any extracurricular activities, and am wondering as to what you may suggest I should do in order to increase my chances. Obviously, I now understand that *just* a 4.0 GPA will not suffice.

Thank you in advance.

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[The Milkman]

Step 1. Stop studying so much, get out, and find something you enjoy doing that you can talk about. Don't turn yourself into an antisocial bookworm who can't interview well.

Step 2. Get into the hospital (or other clinical setting). Whether this be through a volunteer gig or paid position such as a cna, transporter, phlebotomist, or whatever, just get your foot in the door and make a long term commitment.

Step 3. Find a doctor(s) to shadow.

Step 4. Find a volunteering gig that is not clinical and make a long term commitment to it.

Step 5. Find some sort of leadership position (tutor, TA, mentor, etc.).

Step 6. Find some sort of research experience, one where you can eventually create your own project possibly.

Step 7. Do each step in multiple variations.

I have these listed in what I think should be an order of importance. Get out of the library, start getting experiences both clinical and non clinical, find out that you really want to be a doctor, make connections with professors and supervisors for letters of rec, and don't forget about that MCAT thing (but wait a year or so to start actually worrying about it). If I forgot anything I'll add.

 

[Doctor Dream]

Based on what I'm reading on other threads, a lot of clinical volunteering and extracurricular hours are required to essentially be guaranteed interviews for med school.

The poster above made great points, I just want to point out that even with all those things, nothing is guaranteed in the application process.

 

[Goro]

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

Halfway through my third semester as a freshman in college (I started last summer). Have sustained a 4.0 GPA and currently have 100% in my classes this semester. However, I spend 90% of my time studying.

My goal is to go to medical school, and I found this website, so I signed up. Based on what I'm reading on other threads, a lot of clinical volunteering and extracurricular hours are required to essentially be guaranteed interviews for med school.

I don't have any extracurricular activities, and am wondering as to what you may suggest I should do in order to increase my chances. Obviously, I now understand that *just* a 4.0 GPA will not suffice.

Thank you in advance.

 

[alphamine]

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your feedback. I'm definitely going to volunteer for a crisis hotline as well as a local soup kitchen for the homeless. I understand that it does not have to be purely clinical; therefore, I will volunteer in those areas. However, I would like to show my interest in becoming a doctor and working in a clinical setting. I feel I should have some kind of true clinical experience in order for the medical schools to see that I have an understanding of what it is like to work in the medical field.

Step 2. Get into the hospital (or other clinical setting).

Does the Red Cross count as a clinical setting, if I volunteer for the blood donations? I would like to keep my mind open to many other potential clinical settings, since volunteering at hospitals requires interviews, so there is a chance I may not be chosen as a volunteer.

Also, @The Milkman, thank you for such an extensive response with valuable advice that I am certainly going to follow. It was very thoughtful of you.

 

[The Milkman]

Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your feedback. I'm definitely going to volunteer for a crisis hotline as well as a local soup kitchen for the homeless. I understand that it does not have to be purely clinical; therefore, I will volunteer in those areas. However, I would like to show my interest in becoming a doctor and working in a clinical setting. I feel I should have some kind of true clinical experience in order for the medical schools to see that I have an understanding of what it is like to work in the medical field.



Does the Red Cross count as a clinical setting, if I volunteer for the blood donations? I would like to keep my mind open to many other potential clinical settings, since volunteering at hospitals requires interviews, so there is a chance I may not be chosen as a volunteer.

Also, @The Milkman, thank you for such an extensive response with valuable advice that I am certainly going to follow. It was very thoughtful of you.

So in my opinion I would say it is definitely a clinical setting. However the thing with blood donations is that you are not around patients, just healthy people giving blood. As I see Goro say a lot, you have to show that you want to be around sick people for a living. So I think that the red cross would be a great activity, but you should still try to look for an experience with actual patients. And you're welcome.