Summer after senior year HS

[EMPARK]

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I'll be graduating from high school in a couple of months now, and I plan on going on an extended vacation back to my native country, which I haven't visited in nearly 13 years, but I was wondering whether or not I should be getting a jump on EC's for med school instead, and not occupying my entire summer for traveling/relaxing. Should I be getting clinical experience and volunteering/shadowing right away, or do med schools not really care about that summer between high school and undergraduate?

 

[WatchMeRise]

I doubt they will care. I haven't been in that position myself yet, because I will be graduating the same time as you, but i can make a rough guess that it doesn't really matter at all.

there will be plenty of time for you to get your volunteering and such during undergrad. just pace yourself.

i say go enjoy yourself! relax a little bit, and prepare mentally for what's to come!
unless shadowing during the summer is what you want to do, because I don't see anything wrong with that either.

 

[Az1698]

I would relax, but not completly. You have a great gift in your hands - a trip to your native country. Go volunteer at a clinic there, help people out. You would have a unique experince under your belt that way

 

[coldkatanagirl]

I would relax... You have the next four (or more, really) years to "prepare" for medical school...

 

[glowworm]

Do ec's/shadowing you do during the summer between hs and college get to go on your grad school apps?

Like in high school as soon as you get out of 11th grade, in that summer between, you say "i'm in 12th grade". so when we graduate from hs, are we considered in college? or do ec's only count for apps once you are officially enrolled in college?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Interesting question. I'm not positive, but I would imagine college is like med school in that you're not really in it until you've started school there.

 

[glowworm]

ok...then maybe i should just enjoy my last free summer instead of trying to wrack up shadowing and volunteer hours.

 

[LovinPsych]

I know this is off topic but what is shadowing? I hear people here say it alot ?

Also I'm coming out of High School May 8th and will be an undergraduate at well I pretty much know here but I won't say right now . I'm going to study to be a Clinical Psychologist , I was thinking is it fine that I am going from High School straight into a University ? I don't need to do anything in between during my summer do I ? Some on this thread has me thinking .

Stephy

 

[xnfs93hy]

Shadowing is being someone's shadow. You follow them around all day watching what they do.

When you shadow doc's, all you do is go with them to the hospital one day and follow them around for x number of hours.

 

[xnfs93hy]

I know this is off topic but what is shadowing? I hear people here say it alot ?

Also I'm coming out of High School May 8th and will be an undergraduate at well I pretty much know here but I won't say right now . I'm going to study to be a Clinical Psychologist , I was thinking is it fine that I am going from High School straight into a University ? I don't need to do anything in between during my summer do I ? Some on this thread has me thinking .

Stephy

Seriously, unless you are going to apply as a transfer student, what you do after senior year before college doesn't matter at all. You are in college, and what you do when you START college is what matters. This is a good question but I would honestly just chill that summer.

 

[Maygyver]

I know this is off topic but what is shadowing? I hear people here say it alot ?

Also I'm coming out of High School May 8th and will be an undergraduate at well I pretty much know here but I won't say right now . I'm going to study to be a Clinical Psychologist , I was thinking is it fine that I am going from High School straight into a University ? I don't need to do anything in between during my summer do I ? Some on this thread has me thinking .

Stephy

You don't need to do anything that summer, but I would advice shadowing a psychologist to get some experience and see if you really enjoy it as much as you think you would. Although you probably can't put it on applications, people need to stop looking at shadowing as "fulfilling a requirement" and begin realizing that it is there to make sure that is the career for you.

 

[LovinPsych]

Thank you guys for your answers , that's a good idea , how do I go about shadowing a Psychologist? Like what do I do to do that? I had no idea that could be done .

 

[MilkmanAl]

That might be a little more difficult than most specialties, given the confidential and sensitive nature of the work. However, you might be able to shadow in a psych ER if you have a teaching hospital near you. Contact the human resources department to see what they have available.

 

[Eisley]

dude, enjoy yourself, I know I will.

 

[KillingMeSmalls]

Thank you guys for your answers , that's a good idea , how do I go about shadowing a Psychologist? Like what do I do to do that? I had no idea that could be done .

My undergrad major was psych, and my original plan was to go to grad school for clinical psychology, so I can answer a few questions you may have. Milkman is right, it will probably be very difficult to find a psychologist to shadow at this point in your education. You could try to shadow a psychiatrist (MD) doing ER stuff, but this isn't really representative of what clinical psychologists (PhD/PsyD) do. To get an idea of what a clinical career in psychology is like, it would probably be best to sit down with a psychologist and ask them the pros and cons.

You really don't need to do anything this summer other than bum around and have some fun. Once school starts in the fall and you start your psych intro courses, you can get a feel for what you are interested in and get involved in a research lab. In clinical psychology, it helps to find something you're interested in and get invovled in research on that topic as early (about two years before you graduate, if you can) because who you know and what you want to do matter when it comes to picking graduate programs if you're going PhD. Of course, none of this is written in stone. The only important thing is to find something you like doing and do it, regardless of the timeframe.

 

[xnfs93hy]

You don't need to do anything that summer, but I would advice shadowing a psychologist to get some experience and see if you really enjoy it as much as you think you would. Although you probably can't put it on applications, people need to stop looking at shadowing as "fulfilling a requirement" and begin realizing that it is there to make sure that is the career for you.

That is why just about everybody buys stuff for college and chills that summer, it is because you can't do anything.

I def. agree with your point on shadowing. The OP should shadow docs to make sure that he/she wants to go pre med and get into the field.

 

[ButImLETired]

I managed to nearly "shadow a psychologist" once when working at a psych clinic. You definitely can't sit there when he/she is having a session, but you can listen to the psychologist discuss each patient with the treatment team (social workers, psychiatrist, other psychologists) which is sort of the next best thing. Finding a psychologist to just talk to and find out what a regular "day in the life" would be like is obviously the best option. Also, have you ever considered actually getting therapy? My sister is a social worker, and as part of her grad. program they made her actually get therapy for a number of sessions, to really see what a session is like. I have two roommates who are getting their Psy.D's and they've also been strongly advised to actually receive a few therapy sessions to see what they're like. Anyways, that's another option.