Summer Employment Question

[ChemEMeddie]

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As I'm approaching and working on securing a job and hammering out plans for next summer (2020), I am currently interviewing and have a good shot at getting a Clinical, Regulatory and Medical Affairs Internship with one of the nation's largest medical devices companies. I would be working with docs and surgeons directly for about a month showing them what the devices do and how best to use them, another two months working on the approval processes and the more administrative aspects of the medical device industry. While at the same time, this would move me out of my current city where I have been developing non-clinical volunteering hours and building myself up in the organization as someone they can rely on in addition to thinking of working as a phlebotomist throughout the summer to supplement my clinical volunteering with clinical employment. My question to you guys is: would it be better to gain the many many hours of clinical employment/volunteering along with the many hours of non-clinical volunteering by not pursuing the Internship or would the internship be an interesting way to diversify myself as an engineer looking to apply to medical school? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[bluepeony]

As I'm approaching and working on securing a job and hammering out plans for next summer (2020), I am currently interviewing and have a good shot at getting a Clinical, Regulatory and Medical Affairs Internship with one of the nation's largest medical devices companies. I would be working with docs and surgeons directly for about a month showing them what the devices do and how best to use them, another two months working on the approval processes and the more administrative aspects of the medical device industry. While at the same time, this would move me out of my current city where I have been developing non-clinical volunteering hours and building myself up in the organization as someone they can rely on in addition to thinking of working as a phlebotomist throughout the summer to supplement my clinical volunteering with clinical employment. My question to you guys is: would it be better to gain the many many hours of clinical employment/volunteering along with the many hours of non-clinical volunteering by not pursuing the Internship or would the internship be an interesting way to diversify myself as an engineer looking to apply to medical school? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I mean which opportunity excites you more? I dont think either experience will make or break your application. It's moreso about how you write about it and how an experience ties into your overall narrative.

Tldr: Go for the experience that you think you'd enjoy more and make the most financial sense.

 

[ChemEMeddie]

I mean which opportunity excites you more? I dont think either experience will make or break your application. It's morris about how you write about it and how an experience ties into your overall narrative.

Tldr: Go for the experience that you think you'd enjoy more and make the most financial sense.

That's a fair point, I will realistically be doing it for 3 months straight. I feel like the internship would fit my overall narrative better in terms of gaining the engineering knowledge of industrial medsci and then taking that and using that in a way to influence my decisions and practice as a physician. However, this summer might be the best time for me to accumulate a good amount of hours in both of my ECs since I will be cutting down drastically during the semesters in order to keep my upward trend going. That's where my predicament lies and I know in the end, its obviously a personal decision, but I just wasn't sure how the internship would be seen? As in, would it just be seen as something totally unrelated to medicine and would almost raise more eyebrows as to why I did that and am highlighting that as opposed to more traditional clinical experiences.

 

[bluepeony]

That's a fair point, I will realistically be doing it for 3 months straight. I feel like the internship would fit my overall narrative better in terms of gaining the engineering knowledge of industrial medsci and then taking that and using that in a way to influence my decisions and practice as a physician. However, this summer might be the best time for me to accumulate a good amount of hours in both of my ECs since I will be cutting down drastically during the semesters in order to keep my upward trend going. That's where my predicament lies and I know in the end, its obviously a personal decision, but I just wasn't sure how the internship would be seen? As in, would it just be seen as something totally unrelated to medicine and would almost raise more eyebrows as to why I did that and am highlighting that as opposed to more traditional clinical experiences.

I dont think its a necessarily a bad thing that its not a traditional activity that premeds pursue. Dont be afraid to break out of the cookie cutter mold and explore your interests during the process. Just make sure you have the basic clinical, nonclinical, shadowing experiences down.

 

[Paris1000]

So I am a Chem E who worked multiple summers in engineering internships. I am currently working as an engineer in my gap year. None of my internships or current job were related to medicine in anyway, so I think the fact your engineering internship is related is a big plus. On the interview trail I have gotten very positive feedback on my engineering experience.

I totally agree to make sure you have the basic volunteering experiences down at a minimum. Like it was also mentioned, it is very important to have your narrative clear. For me personally, that was briefly explaining why medicine over engineering. It also was important to explain what I got out of those engineering internship/jobs that’s going to make me a better doctor (discipline, integrity, people skills, responsibility, etc...). If you have your basic volunteering down, I think the internship has a greater chance of helping you instead of hurting you.

 

[ChemEMeddie]

I dont think its a necessarily a bad thing that its not a traditional activity that premeds pursue. Dont be afraid to break out of the cookie cutter mold and explore your interests during the process. Just make sure you have the basic clinical, nonclinical, shadowing experiences down.

Yea that's kind of what I'm leaning toward in that it will allow me to have a different perspective than the typical premed path and what they do/see to get into medical school. I'm heavily considering that as a consequence.

So I am a Chem E who worked multiple summers in engineering internships. I am currently working as an engineer in my two gap years. None of my internships or current job were related to medicine in anyway, so I think the fact your engineering internship is related is a big plus. On the interview trail I have gotten very positive feedback on my engineering experience.

I totally agree to make sure you have the basic volunteering experiences down at a minimum. Like it was also mentioned, it is very important to have your narrative clear. For me personally, that was briefly explaining why medicine over engineering. It also was important to explain what I got out of those engineering internship/jobs that’s going to make me a better doctor (discipline, integrity, people skills, responsibility, etc...). If you have your basic volunteering down, I think the internship has a greater chance of helping you instead of hurting you.

Thank you so much for your reply! I have been wondering if there are really any other ChemEs who pursue medicine hahah so getting your perspective on it is really insightful. I was hoping to tie the internship into my desire to apply to medical school in that way as well, like its something that is very related to both my degree and my hopeful future career. Not to pry or anything, you said that your engineering experience has come up before, so you think it allowed you to standout and provide a different facet of yourself for adcoms to see?

 

[Paris1000]

Yea that's kind of what I'm leaning toward in that it will allow me to have a different perspective than the typical premed path and what they do/see to get into medical school. I'm heavily considering that as a consequence.



Thank you so much for your reply! I have been wondering if there are really any other ChemEs who pursue medicine hahah so getting your perspective on it is really insightful. I was hoping to tie the internship into my desire to apply to medical school in that way as well, like its something that is very related to both my degree and my hopeful future career. Not to pry or anything, you said that your engineering experience has come up before, so you think it allowed you to standout and provide a different facet of yourself for adcoms to see?

Haha yeah medicine is definitely the road less traveled for Chem Es.
Yeah, I think it has helped make my application standout because it’s fewer engineers applying already (especially Chem E). What most of my interviewers seemed to like the most was the experience being real world/professional examples of what they are looking for. Like mission statements have words like teamwork, integrity, discipline, Etc... Being able to pull examples of these traits in professional settings is what they liked. Like you can get those experiences through extracurriculars, but they really liked seeing it in a professional setting.

This is my own personal opinion and not based off any feedback said at an interview, but I think it looks weird for someone to major in engineering and then have no experience in it outside of academics. I think the experience shows that you as a candidate explored options and really made an informed decision to pursue medicine. Again, clear narrative is the key for this.

 

[ChemEMeddie]

Haha yeah medicine is definitely the road less traveled for Chem Es.
Yeah, I think it has helped make my application standout because it’s fewer engineers applying already (especially Chem E). What most of my interviewers seemed to like the most was the experience being real world/professional examples of what they are looking for. Like mission statements have words like teamwork, integrity, discipline, Etc... Being able to pull examples of these traits in professional settings is what they liked. Like you can get those experiences through extracurriculars, but they really liked seeing it in a professional setting.

This is my own personal opinion and not based off any feedback said at an interview, but I think it looks weird for someone to major in engineering and then have no experience in it outside of academics. I think the experience shows that you as a candidate explored options and really made an informed decision to pursue medicine. Again, clear narrative is the key for this.

That makes a lot of sense, especially with the real world experiential type learning and skills aiding in the interviews and being attractive to adcoms. I definitely have noticed that on my co-op that I have quickly gained awareness of responsibilities that you don't encounter as an undergrad. Yea I definitely agree that transitioning right from engineering undergrad to applying to medical school would appear odd and kind of ship jumpy. You can PM me if you don't want to talk about this in public or not at all if you want to stay completely anonymous, but I'm just curious, have you been having success or are you looking to reapply after strengthening your app?