This coming SUMMER!

[Doc.Holliday]

which will i choose, the summer after junior year, during application time... i have 3 options, all would be rewarding, all are fun, i'm trying to figure out which one would be in my best interest... a note, i attend tulane university, where i can take a special summer course session free of charge, which complicates things.

1. summer research fellowship.. mayo clinic, NYU and the like. id say i have a pretty good chance of getting into a program somewhere (not necessarily the 2 mentioned) considering my research background etc, but of course i dont know for sure. this would rule out taking the free summer classes.

2. attend the summer term, and upon its completion start a 1.5 month internship in a cardiovascular surgery research lab in NYC.

3. attend summer term, and intern/shadow doctors in the area + continue my research at university

option 1 has the bonus of the recognizable name, adcoms etc know the programs, and they offer me a lot of chances to shadow etc on top of research. option 2 has the bonus of being independant and taking classes, for some reason having it not through a program seems impressive to me personally, but maybe adcoms wouldnt think so. option 3 is my last choice, if both of the others dont work out for whatever reason. which would you choose... i dont absolutely need the extra term, but it sucks passing up free classes, and it would be nice to spread out my coursload to lighten up this springs for the MCAT.

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[deuist]

What's something that you need to work on before entering medical school or (more importantly), starting the interview cycle? Do you need to get some volunteering out of the way. Maybe you need some clinical experience to see how medicine really works. You mentioned shadowing, but there are many other options available. You stated that you already have a strong research background. Do you want to spend the whole summer in the lab?

 

[Doc.Holliday]

What's something that you need to work on before entering medical school or (more importantly), starting the interview cycle? Do you need to get some volunteering out of the way. Maybe you need some clinical experience to see how medicine really works. You mentioned shadowing, but there are many other options available. You stated that you already have a strong research background. Do you want to spend the whole summer in the lab?

i need clinical exposure, be it clinical research, shadowing, or volunteering. there are other options besides research (clinical or not) and shadowing, but these are the two i feel are most beneficial and time effective. I dont have the time nor the desire to volunteer countless hours (i havent found a good program that will allow me to get involved etc, so volunteering in not exactly medical stuff and my other activities are more important). i have absolutely no problem spending my summers in lab, ive been doing so the past few. anyway, is "volunteering" a specific requirement, or is it simply a path to clinical exposure? maybe not an explicit req, but understood? anyway, any thoughts on which of the choices you would do, regardless of how you like to spend your summers etc.

 

[Antigunner]

You may want to take into consideration what schools you're most interested in. Some schools are going to stress clinical stuff over research and vice versa. Above all, make sure you do something you're going to enjoy - no point in making yourself miserable to impress the adcoms.