Teach me about extra-curriculars.

[estradiol9]

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I just joined the forum recently and have been reading up on things to get done before applying for medical school.

I am currently a freshman and a biology major/criminal justice minor. I have a 3.65 cumulative GPA and 4.00 science GPA. I don't have many extra curriculars yet. I joined a club at my school, Biology Society, where we do some volunteer work such as soup kitchens, cleaning parks and beaches, etc. I am planning on remaining a member throughout my undergrad years and maybe by my senior year I will be able to obtain some sort of a leadership role within the club such as President, Vice President, Treasurer, etc. I am also on the Dean's List. I also do work part time as a receptionist.

Other than that, I have begun to send applications to nearby hospitals for volunteer work. I have also applied to the SMDEP program, as well as the Northeast Regional Alliance Med-prep program at UMDNJ. I have yet to hear back about these. Lastly, I have begun to consider physicians I would like to shadow. I am thinking of asking my pediatrician who I have been seeing for many years. (Yes, I still see a pediatrician. Lol.) I also have a psychiatrist and ob/gyn that I can ask. How many hours of shadowing should I complete? Over what period of time? How many different physicians should I shadow? I also have a chiropractor that would probably let me shadow him. Would that be a good or bad idea?

I am basically wondering if somebody can give me an outline of the various types of extra curriculars and how much time I should devote to them over the next four years. Oh, and one more thing! Should I consider applying to my school's honor college?

Sorry for this being so long! I would really appreciate it if somebody can help me out! Thanks!

 

[Morsetlis]

Just browse through MDapplicants.com

 

[LuciusVorenus]

I just joined the forum recently and have been reading up on things to get done before applying for medical school.

I am currently a freshman and a biology major/criminal justice minor. I have a 3.65 cumulative GPA and 4.00 science GPA. I don't have many extra curriculars yet. I joined a club at my school, Biology Society, where we do some volunteer work such as soup kitchens, cleaning parks and beaches, etc. I am planning on remaining a member throughout my undergrad years and maybe by my senior year I will be able to obtain some sort of a leadership role within the club such as President, Vice President, Treasurer, etc. I am also on the Dean's List. I also do work part time as a receptionist.

Other than that, I have begun to send applications to nearby hospitals for volunteer work. I have also applied to the SMDEP program, as well as the Northeast Regional Alliance Med-prep program at UMDNJ. I have yet to hear back about these. Lastly, I have begun to consider physicians I would like to shadow. I am thinking of asking my pediatrician who I have been seeing for many years. (Yes, I still see a pediatrician. Lol.) I also have a psychiatrist and ob/gyn that I can ask. How many hours of shadowing should I complete? Over what period of time? How many different physicians should I shadow? I also have a chiropractor that would probably let me shadow him. Would that be a good or bad idea?

I am basically wondering if somebody can give me an outline of the various types of extra curriculars and how much time I should devote to them over the next four years. Oh, and one more thing! Should I consider applying to my school's honor college?

Sorry for this being so long! I would really appreciate it if somebody can help me out! Thanks!

1. Typically you want to shadow 2 or more specialties for a combined total of around 70 hours just to be safe.

2. Leadership is good and you seem to know that.

3. Try and get around 300+ hrs of clinical volunteering (like at the hospital)

4. SMDEP should really help you with the above 3.

5. The soup kitchen is good (keep volunteering there) but besides leadership opportunities clubs are pretty much useless.

6. Don't join the honors college, you'll just make life harder for yourself and possibly lower your GPA for no good reason. Just take the regular classes.

7. You're working? That's good too!

8. Try and get at least 1 year of research.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT shadow a chiropractor. Unless you want your application thrown away 😛

 

[Morsetlis]

Nothing wrong with chiropractors. It'd probably help for DO schools.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Nothing wrong with chiropractors. It'd probably help for DO schools.

Every doctor I've met hates chiropractors. Maybe I just know haters 😛

 

[estradiol9]

Thanks! Also, do medical schools care about how many credits/semester you are taking as long as you are full time? I would prefer to take 12-15 credits and do better in my classes as opposed to taking 17-19 credits and not doing as well.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Thanks! Also, do medical schools care about how many credits/semester you are taking as long as you are full time? I would prefer to take 12-15 credits and do better in my classes as opposed to taking 17-19 credits and not doing as well.

Are you on the quarter system?
I've heard 15-17 units on the quarter system is pretty much perfect.
12 might be stretching it but as long as you're keeping busy I don't think they'll mind.

 

[d1ony5u5]

I'm going to be really vague purposefully, but I think it may be helpful to you in the long run.

What you want to do is show that you are a well-rounded person, who happens to have a tremendous interest in the field of medicine. You show this in your EC's, namely by having lots of clinical experience (since you love medicine), volunteer work (because you are into medicine for the helping-people aspect), and research (because, you know, western medicine turns out to be heavily based on scientific reasoning).

I warn you against doing these things and others people will mention here for a predetermined amount of time just because they are unofficial requirements to get into medschool. That kind of thing is super obvious and doesn't help your chances at all. Try to cover all these activities for a reasonable amount of time which shows that you are not doing them simply to impress the gatekeepers of the profession.

Supplement these basics by pursuing any interest you happen to have, and follow it really far. Say you like hairdressing. Take courses on it, go to competitions and shows, do a lot of it and do it for a good while... As you will see around here, continuity is prized because it is difficult to fake.

Hope that helps. Oh, obviously, don't forget to have good grades and a great MCAT!

 

[DrSmooth]

I'm going to be really vague purposefully, but I think it may be helpful to you in the long run.

What you want to do is show that you are a well-rounded person, who happens to have a tremendous interest in the field of medicine. You show this in your EC's, namely by having lots of clinical experience (since you love medicine), volunteer work (because you are into medicine for the helping-people aspect), and research (because, you know, western medicine turns out to be heavily based on scientific reasoning).

I warn you against doing these things and others people will mention here for a predetermined amount of time just because they are unofficial requirements to get into medschool. That kind of thing is super obvious and doesn't help your chances at all. Try to cover all these activities for a reasonable amount of time which shows that you are not doing them simply to impress the gatekeepers of the profession.

Supplement these basics by pursuing any interest you happen to have, and follow it really far. Say you like hairdressing. Take courses on it, go to competitions and shows, do a lot of it and do it for a good while... As you will see around here, continuity is prized because it is difficult to fake.

Hope that helps. Oh, obviously, don't forget to have good grades and a great MCAT!

This is great advice. Follow it.👍👍👍

 

[Narmerguy]

1. Typically you want to shadow 2 or more specialties for a combined total of around 70 hours just to be safe.

2. Leadership is good and you seem to know that.

3. Try and get around 300+ hrs of clinical volunteering (like at the hospital)

4. SMDEP should really help you with the above 3.

5. The soup kitchen is good (keep volunteering there) but besides leadership opportunities clubs are pretty much useless.

6. Don't join the honors college, you'll just make life harder for yourself and possibly lower your GPA for no good reason. Just take the regular classes.

7. You're working? That's good too!

8. Try and get at least 1 year of research.

Do not, I repeat DO NOT shadow a chiropractor. Unless you want your application thrown away 😛

You don't have to get 300+ hours of clinical volunteering. You don't really even have to volunteer clinically, you just need to get some type of clinical exposure to medicine outside of shadowing. People typically do this through volunteering to get two birds with one stone but if you're not really into it, feel free to devote your time to other volunteer approaches that you're more interested in and simply acquire some clinical experience another way.

The rest is all great advice (but it doesn't have to be quite so formulaic, just try to get a good feel for what you're truly interested in and drive into that hard).

 

[NickNaylor]

As others said, it's really about getting involved in things that interest you. I'd be careful with adopting too much of that free spirit in the wind attitude, though. Yes, you want to do something that you enjoy that you would do even if not applying to med school, but I don't think it's a bad thing to consider why this activity is significant and why you're spending time doing it. In other words, how is it going to help you?

I'm not saying go out and do things that you think will only help you get into med school. Instead, I'd suggest really thinking about how these activities fit into the grand scheme that is your undergraduate experience.

 

[mvenus929]

Don't be so formulaic about it. No, you don't have to volunteer at a hospital (I did, and I think it was a complete and total waste of time, other than the fact that I occasionally got to spend some time with kids). Most of my clinical experience is paid... I had like 2 days of official shadowing experience, and the rest was working at a pediatrician's office (back office work), and working as a phlebotomist in a hospital.

Find something outside of medicine that interests you, that challenges you. I was involved in my dorm's student government. I was in a swing dancing club. I am on the Board of Directors for a non-profit organization. Two of these show leadership experience, but in a realm outside of medicine. You want to show them you're a person, not a robot going into the medical field.