MD & DO Suggestions to improve my EC's?

[TornadoKick]

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Hey everyone!
I'm relatively new to SDN but this seems like a great place to get app feedback so here I am! I'm a second semester junior, planning a gap year, interested in most specialties, and very interested in primary care. My gpa's are fine (3.9 cGPA, 4.0 sGPA) but I'm wondering how I can improve my EC's, and if I'm lacking on any fronts. Here's what I've got so far (* indicates current involvement)

Clinical/Volunteering/Shadowing:

• *Hospital Volunteer (5 years, ~300hrs)
• *After-school program tutor/mentor at homeless shelter (start next week, ~4hrs/week)
• Shadowed several specialties, MD PCP and DO PCP (~75hrs)

Employment:

• *CNA in large healthcare facility (started this month)
• *Hospital Pharmacy Tech (1.5 years, ~800hrs)
• *Gen chem, ochem, and bio tutor (1 semester)

Leadership:

• Founder and president of Running club at previous university (1 year)
• Varsity track and field coach at my old high school (1 season)
• Also train new hires as pharm tech

Research:

• Designed semester long Ochem research project for credit under supervision of professor. Presented findings to class at end of semester (~40hrs)

Awards/Hobbies:

• Recipient of scholarship for excellence in biological sciences, only given to top 2 students
• I love running, currently hold track and field records at old HS, also training for my first marathon
• Taught myself guitar and drums, have played for years. Starting to dab into song writing
• Also really in to disc golf, do some competitive gaming (ranked pretty high globally in one particular game), and have a red belt in tae kwon do.

I really enjoy teaching which is something I want to stand out in my app, I'm not entirely sure it does though yet. I also think a component my app lacks is research. I don't plan on applying to research heavy schools, but I think I'd like to have more experience. Anyway, I'd love to hear any thoughts, comments or improvements from you all, thanks for reading!

 

[gyngyn]

You look good to me.
Just keep up the good work and do well on the MCAT.

 

[TornadoKick]

You look good to me.
Just keep up the good work and do well on the MCAT.

Thanks for the input gyngyn! As an adcom member, when you look at my EC's, does my teaching experience stand out to you? That's something that I'd like to make central to my app, and I'm not sure if it stands out yet or not.

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks for the input gyngyn! As an adcom member, when you look at my EC's, does my teaching experience stand out to you? That's something that I'd like to make central to my app, and I'm not sure if it stands out yet or not.

Teaching is a noble activity and one of the three pillars of academic medicine.

 

[Catalystik]

Hey everyone!
I'm relatively new to SDN but this seems like a great place to get app feedback so here I am! I'm a second semester junior, planning a gap year, interested in most specialties, and very interested in primary care. My gpa's are fine (3.9 cGPA, 4.0 sGPA) but I'm wondering how I can improve my EC's, and if I'm lacking on any fronts. Here's what I've got so far (* indicates current involvement)

Clinical/Volunteering/Shadowing:

• *Hospital Volunteer (5 years, ~300hrs)
• *After-school program tutor/mentor at homeless shelter (start next week, ~4hrs/week)
• Shadowed several specialties, MD PCP and DO PCP (~75hrs)

Employment:

• *CNA in large healthcare facility (started this month)
• *Hospital Pharmacy Tech (1.5 years, ~800hrs)
• *Gen chem, ochem, and bio tutor (1 semester)

Leadership:

• Founder and president of Running club at previous university (1 year)
• Varsity track and field coach at my old high school (1 season)
• Also train new hires as pharm tech

Research:

• Designed semester long Ochem research project for credit under supervision of professor. Presented findings to class at end of semester (~40hrs)

Awards/Hobbies:

• Recipient of scholarship for excellence in biological sciences, only given to top 2 students
• I love running, currently hold track and field records at old HS, also training for my first marathon
• Taught myself guitar and drums, have played for years. Starting to dab into song writing
• Also really in to disc golf, do some competitive gaming (ranked pretty high globally in one particular game), and have a red belt in tae kwon do.

I really enjoy teaching which is something I want to stand out in my app, I'm not entirely sure it does though yet. I also think a component my app lacks is research. I don't plan on applying to research heavy schools, but I think I'd like to have more experience. Anyway, I'd love to hear any thoughts, comments or improvements from you all, thanks for reading!

You list the completion of one semester of tutoring. That's nice to see, but it doesn't make you "stand-out" to my eyes. I see you have planned to tutor in the homeless shelter starting soon, but still, the total will be less than a year's worth, if I'm understanding what you wrote correctly. You could change pharm tech training to a Teaching activity, rather than Leadership, if you want to emphasize the teaching more. How long will you have done that by the time you apply?

 

[TornadoKick]

You list the completion of one semester of tutoring. That's nice to see, but it doesn't make you "stand-out" to my eyes. I see you have planned to tutor in the homeless shelter starting soon, but still, the total will be less than a year's worth, if I'm understanding what you wrote correctly. You could change pharm tech training to a Teaching activity, rather than Leadership, if you want to emphasize the teaching more. How long will you have done that by the time you apply?

Thanks so much for the feedback Catalystik. I'm taking a gap year actually, so I'll have 1.5 years of volunteering at the homeless shelter and 1 year of tutoring (due to high credit loads, might not be able to fit it in schedule next year).

As far as pharm tech, I will have done that for 3 years by the time I apply. I also feel like I could list the track coaching as a teaching activity too.

 

[Catalystik]

I also feel like I could list the track coaching as a teaching activity too.

You're right. My eyes slipped over that one. Generally, coaching IS listed under Teaching rather than Leadership, when those being coached are not your peers.

So, overall, if you complete the Teaching-related activities you've projected with prolonged timeframes prior to submitting an application, I do think that teaching will be a "stand out" among your activities.