UC Davis Surgical Pre-Med Internship Program

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Knit Knots

Knit Knots

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I'm planning on applying to a this surgical internship at UC Davis but had a quick question since I plan on attending a post bacc med program before I apply to med school. Should I do this program now?

If I graduate from college Spring 2012, I still have 2 years of pre med classes so I fear that by the time I apply to med school, the experience I gained from this internship (if i get a position) will be a little irrelevant.

Also, does anyone have any info or general thoughts on this program?
 
kexy said:
you are not fooling anyone. please stop trying to scam sdn users. btw, both my parents work at ucdmc, and i asked them to fwd that website to the legal department.
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@Kexy: You should probably check your facts before you go around accusing people and calling programs "scams". Considering that we had the Chief of Surgery at UCDMC (David Wisner) speak at our orientation, I'm pretty sure the administration knows about it.

Btw, if you can report back as to what the "legal department" says, I'd be really interested in hearing.

Also, if you actually click, you'll see they use a ticket sales website for signing up for events/shifts etc. There is no option to pay for anything, even if actually wanted to.

@ OP: I participated in the program during fall 2010, and overall I thought it was a really interesting experience. Essentially, you sign up for shifts once a month and are placed on different surgical services. Depending on the time you go in (either 6am-1pm, 12pm-7pm or 7pm-2am) you'll get to see different stuff from rounding with the surgical team to shadowing residents on the wards/clinic (usually first year surgical interns or UCD medical students) to observing surgeries in the OR. The cool thing about this (at least I thought so) is that you're most always with a doc (as opposed to working with nurses in volunteering or something). Admittedly, there are some less fun requirements, including a 2-day "surgery academy" where they go over anatomy and stuff, and required weekend workshops where you might have guest speakers or some lab thing. The guy who directs the program can be a bit of a douche (via email at least), but other than him, everyone else is really nice. I think the two best things for me were being able to get some personal insight/advice from some of the residents (I happened to shadow with two who graduated from the school I was interviewing at) and getting a very personal sense of what it's like to be a surgical resident.

From what I've heard from friends at UCD, it's actually a pretty competitive program. A lot of the premeds at Davis and schools throughout the Bay Area/Sacramento apply, and so it can be challenging getting in.

One caveat is that up until this past January they were affiliated with the AMSA at the American River College. They recently broke that parternship and are now (at least based on what the director told us) under the Dept. of Surgery. If anything, I think that would improve the program, but you'll have to see.

If you have more questions about specifics of the program, let me know!
 
okay, didn't mean to be rude or presumptuous, i thought i checked my facts. i'm skeptical though, because you CAN pay through that website....on the "application" page there's a link to pay. and i still think it's pretty weird that it's not mentioned on the actual health system website, and that it doesn't use the uc davis health system logo. but.... my bad, sorry knit knots.
 
One of my friends is advertising for the program and has never taken me off the mailing list so I took a look at it earlier and it seems like a great experience. I would also imagine it is super competitive being that its at the UCDMC. However the email I recieved was for the summer (starts slightly before quarter ends I think!) with a deadline of March 27th:


The Summer 2011 Program has an anticipated start date of May 21, 2011 with an end date of September 3, 2011.

If it is going to interfere with your classes or if you're taking a tough courseload over the summer then might be a prob but I say APPLY and you'll find out later if it is something you can do after getting more information from the program directors etc.

Sounds like fun!
 
UCD has health internships through the ICC and the EMRAP program. I've never heard of anything else, and both of those are free as far as I know
no, the knowledge isn't made defunct by being a couple years old. But you shouldn't just do one internship and then stop...
 
Blehm made me realize I never addressed what the OP was actually asking.

Whether the experience was 2 years ago or 2 months ago doesnt make a difference (as already stated above). You still list it on your application and can talk about it during interviews and in your PS etc.

My most significant clinical experience was about 8 years ago and I talked about it in my recent interview. It's actually better that you get clinical experiences early on rather than waiting until right before you're about to submit apps. Makes it clear this is something you wanted all along and didnt just figure it out the year before you applied.
 
Torr said:
It's actually better that you get clinical experiences early on rather than waiting until right before you're about to submit apps. Makes it clear this is something you wanted all along and didnt just figure it out the year before you applied.
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+1 See, I told you there was room for good advice on these boards.
 
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Let me know if this is legit or not cause I go to UCD and was planning on applying for this also. I applied for a lot of the Amgen sites and some the UCD Edmondson and UCD NSF program but haven't heard from any yet, so this would be a very good back up, unless its a scam. The fee to apply was kinda sketch, but I just assumed it was to pay for some of the app fees or food... iono?

kexy said:
you are not fooling anyone. please stop trying to scam sdn users. btw, both my parents work at ucdmc, and i asked them to fwd that website to the legal department.

EDIT: don't mean to be harsh if you're not the scammer. but that program isn't legit, don't waste your money. isn't it weird that the payment routes to a ticket sales website? probably because paypal isn't down for fraud.
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jcho91 said:
Let me know if this is legit or not cause I go to UCD and was planning on applying for this also. I applied for a lot of the Amgen sites and some the UCD Edmondson and UCD NSF program but haven't heard from any yet, so this would be a very good back up, unless its a scam. The fee to apply was kinda sketch, but I just assumed it was to pay for some of the app fees or food... iono?
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It's not a scam. Someone just jumped the boat, and decided since you could pay in the website its a scam. :scared:

Its completely legit. Sadly it starts a few days before classes end, but maybe I'll try for it next summer.

OP: as for your question, I really don't think it matters if its a few years old, its still is an experience that educates and informs you.
 
I thought I read that you could start later, after finals. I'm more worrid about the 2 day workshop that they make you go to. 16 hours near finals week.
the duck what's your major at ucd?

the duck said:
It's not a scam. Someone just jumped the boat, and decided since you could pay in the website its a scam. :scared:

Its completely legit. Sadly it starts a few days before classes end, but maybe I'll try for it next summer.

OP: as for your question, I really don't think it matters if its a few years old, its still is an experience that educates and informs you.
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jcho91 said:
I thought I read that you could start later, after finals. I'm more worrid about the 2 day workshop that they make you go to. 16 hours near finals week.
the duck what's your major at ucd?
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Well I'm actually in my last semester at community college, and will be transferring this fall/ summer. I'll be a psych(BA) major.

I'm probably gonna get into to UCLA and Davis, but I'm leaning strongly toward Davis.

do you go there?
 
oh nice goodluck! ya im a soph right now in biomedeng/biotech cant decide which one i wanna do yet. but ya ucd is really nice. If i had to choose again, I'd def choose UCD over any of the others. With the UCDMC here, you def get much more opportunity (less comp) than you would at the other schools. pm me if you have any questions about it here.

the duck said:
Well I'm actually in my last semester at community college, and will be transferring this fall/ summer. I'll be a psych(BA) major.

I'm probably gonna get into to UCLA and Davis, but I'm leaning strongly toward Davis.

do you go there?
Click to expand...
 
jcho91 said:
oh nice goodluck! ya im a soph right now in biomedeng/biotech cant decide which one i wanna do yet. but ya ucd is really nice. If i had to choose again, I'd def choose UCD over any of the others. With the UCDMC here, you def get much more opportunity (less comp) than you would at the other schools. pm me if you have any questions about it here.
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Sweet! I'm glad to hear you like it. I definitely like the feel of Davis the best out of the UCs, and I prefer Nor Cal. It just feels weird for me to turn down the bigger named schools. But in the end, I know name doesn't matter too much!
I'll definitely PM in the next few days, busy week at the moment.

Also, welcome to SDN! Stick around 🙂
 
Thanks!
And don't get sucked into the big name of UCLA. I turned down UCB for UCD. For me, I knew I wanted to be a doctor and knew that I would have the best shot towards med school and the most opportunities here and i honestly feel like I made the right decision.

the duck said:
Sweet! I'm glad to hear you like it. I definitely like the feel of Davis the best out of the UCs, and I prefer Nor Cal. It just feels weird for me to turn down the bigger named schools. But in the end, I know name doesn't matter too much!
I'll definitely PM in the next few days, busy week at the moment.

Also, welcome to SDN! Stick around 🙂
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It is a legit program. It only recently became affiliated with UCDMC, so that is probably why it isn't listed on the website yet. It used to be called the AMSA/ARC Premedical Surgery Program. I know of several people who completed the program. Someone came from as far as Florida to do it too. Good luck because it is completive to get into.
 
Thanks for the replies everybody. I'm hesitant to apply now though. Not because of the legitimacy of the program, but because I'm a psychology student without any hard science courses and minimal research experience. Consequentially, paying for the app seems like a waste of money.

I guess I can always volunteer at hospitals over the summer.
 
Knit Knots said:
Thanks for the replies everybody. I'm hesitant to apply now though. Not because of the legitimacy of the program, but because I'm a psychology student without any hard science courses and minimal research experience. Consequentially, paying for the app seems like a waste of money.

I guess I can always volunteer at hospitals over the summer.
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pre-psych wanting to do surgery internship... This sounds dangerous
You'd be better off doing the stuff through the icc, random selection so there is no preference. Once you have clinical experience they'll be more likely to admit you. The selection process probably looks much more strongly at clinical experience rather than classes except for probably physiology, which i believe a fair number of surgical internships want
 
blehm98 said:
pre-psych wanting to do surgery internship... This sounds dangerous
You'd be better off doing the stuff through the icc, random selection so there is no preference. Once you have clinical experience they'll be more likely to admit you. The selection process probably looks much more strongly at clinical experience rather than classes except for probably physiology, which i believe a fair number of surgical internships want
Click to expand...

Oh, I meant just a student majoring in psychology.
 
I was in the program summer 2010, and I can tell you that it is the BEST experience I have EVER had. Don't be fooled by the posts here.
I mean this is a program at UCDMC, they give you badges, the faculty and deans come and lecture to you, do heart and suture labs, and you get to spend the ENTIRE day with surgeons, and not nurses or clerks. You get to see the action up close and personal. You don't show up and fold sheets.
During the down times, you talk to the residents and attendings, and they are all personable and nice, and answer all of your questions and made you feel welcomed. They always encourage you to continue and have alot invested in the program.

@kexy, I am not sure what your parents do at UCDMC, but it a huge place, and many programs that are there, so please don't slander things. We are still waiting to hear from your legal venues. I mean we have met the Vice Chancellor, dean of admission, and another dean that all spoke to our group.

I interviewed in Feb 2011 at UCDSOM and the dean of admission greeted me and actually remembered me from when he talked to us. Also, during the MMI interview, the last group was one of the surgeons that I spent the day with and I can tell you that he was smiling and welcoming.
The short of it is that I was accepted to UCDSOM and few other schools, and it was this experience that was the most rewarding the most I could talk about on my secondaries and interviews. It was also the most motivating experience.

A few notes:
The program is demanding in terms of academics, and they expect you to be like a medical student/resident.
The guy who is in charge runs a tight ship and can be a douche, and expects perfection, but it was well worth it. If you do what you are suppose to, then he doesn't bug you. You are part of the surgical team, and there are expectations. Plus a few people in the program acted like children and needed to remind everyone.

Yes, there is a $15 fee, but I guess when you apply to college and medical school and other programs, you have to pay a few. $15 is 3 trips to Starbucks, and well worth it.

Lastly, this program, unlike most of the other one's like EMRAP and ICC is open to all non-UCD students (like myself) and I think that is why they collect a fee to offset other costs.

In short, this is a great program and don't be fooled by people who don't know what they are talking about.
 
btw, when I was in the program, it was part of AMSA ARC, but I only interacted with the Dept of Surgery, since it was at the hospital.
One of my friends who is one of the coordinator told me that they are now under the Dept of Surgery and affiliated with anyone else.
I really don't know about what AMSA ARC did, but we met the hospital and did everything there.
 
wow this program looks really great.....
but i'm all the way on the east coast. does anyone know of any program like this on the east coast??
 
I had my interview last Saturday. I believe all interviews were held only past weekend. Has anyone who interviewed has heard anything yet? 😳
Do you know about how many people were interviewed?
 
I've also been anxiously waiting for a response and I interviewed last weekend. Does anyone remember me? I was there on Friday at about 6:30 when the guy behind the desk offered us chocolate!

And good to know that you heard next week. I was expecting to hear soon just because the program starts soon, and was beginning to worry!
 
For what it is worth, I had a feel going in that I may not make the internship. However, that interview gave me a chance to conceptualize the interview process that I may face when I apply to medical school and realize my weaknesses when giving a response. It's an interesting process. I wholeheartedly believe it's worth the experience alone regardless if one does not get in.

Good luck to those who posted above!
 
🙂
Swartzlehman said:
My decision just came in via an email and a call. Accepted! 🙂 Good luck to the rest of you guys.
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Congrats man! Please post your experience on here for us all! I'm still waiting to hear back from them. Two of my friends have been denied already. I felt awful for them.
 
hmm this program is like three months long and you have to do two shifts per week....basically an extended shadowing gig? Doesn't seem really worth it IMO, unless I'm missing something here
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
hmm this program is like three months long and you have to do two shifts per week....basically an extended shadowing gig? Doesn't seem really worth it IMO, unless I'm missing something here
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Like anything in life... you get what you put into it. A former UNR student was accepted into the UC Davis Surgical Intership last year and is in his first year in medical school today.
 
NVWolfPack said:
Like anything in life... you get what you put into it. A former UNR student was accepted into the UC Davis Surgical Intership last year and is in his first year in medical school today.
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what's your point? there's no correlation. I'm just saying your summer can be spent doing way more productive things like research, volunteering, classes, etc. than shadowing ~14 hrs a week. Shadowing is awesome don't get me wrong, but the fact they call this an internship is funny to me. Just my opinion, not bashing the program in anyway.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
what's your point? there's no correlation. I'm just saying your summer can be spent doing way more productive things like research, volunteering, classes, etc. than shadowing ~14 hrs a week. Shadowing is awesome don't get me wrong, but the fact they call this an internship is funny to me. Just my opinion, not bashing the program in anyway.
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My point is that it's a positive program and just one of many paths to take which looks good when applying to medical school.
 
I got a call and acceptance email yesterday. Woohoo! I'm doing a post-bac and haven't had any health-related experience as of yet, so I think this would be a good seg-way into transitioning into even more beneficial positions. Also, it seems like this is a great program for someone to make sure that being a surgeon is what he or she wants.
 
I don't mean to put a damper on those of you who have been accepted, but I according to a pre-med advisor at UCD it really isn't that special of a program, the time spend with the surgeons is just shadowing, you aren't actually participating in patient care at all, or doing anything else different.
 
the duck said:
I don't mean to put a damper on those of you who have been accepted, but I according to a pre-med advisor at UCD it really isn't that special of a program, the time spend with the surgeons is just shadowing, you aren't actually participating in patient care at all, or doing anything else different.
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Negative nancy!
 
the duck said:
I don't mean to put a damper on those of you who have been accepted, but I according to a pre-med advisor at UCD it really isn't that special of a program, the time spend with the surgeons is just shadowing, you aren't actually participating in patient care at all, or doing anything else different.
Click to expand...

my point
 
Not to sound too defensive, but it seems like the program is a little more involved than a regular shadowing. You get to interact with different departments and surgeons, sit in on conversations and conferences, meet and talk with patients, etc. People were quoted on the site saying that this is the type of experience you don't get to see until third year med school. I told someone who is M1 at UCSF about it and she said the same.

I was looking at the testimonials on the site and one said: 'On one occasion, I carefully held gauze over the colostomy stoma as the patient looked down at the large cavity in his lower abdomen. With the wound VAC removed, we were confronted with a lopsided oval roughly the diameter of a dinner plate. *Oiled gauze held his intestines in place. *It could have been awkward. *Instead, I gave him an effortless smile, showing that I was neither repulsed nor overly-fascinated by the enormous wound. *He spoke first. *"Do you always smile?" he asked pleasantly. *I grinned and replied, "There is not a lot I can to do around here yet, but I can always smile." *I wanted him to know that I was comfortable. *I saw him as a person, not just a patient or a procedure I was assisting with. *I thought that if I seemed comfortable, he would be more at ease. *In return, his courage and cheerfulness impressed me.'

Maybe it's just me being new to this/naive/unknowledgeable about what makes an important experience, but it seems this is more structured, involved, and a learning experience than a shadowing thing you would set up yourself. Do I think, alone, it will be enough to get into med school? No. Do I think it's worth it? I'll be driving 90 miles from Oakland for each of my shifts, so yeah, I must.
 
Congrats MedicalAuthor! That's excellent news.
 
Another congratulations, MedicalAuthor. I know someone who is participating in this program right now, and being a UC Davis student myself, this is definitely a prized program. I will admit my friend has mentioned it's a lot of work (essays, mandatory attendance to workshops, etc.) with odd hours, especially if you will be commuting from Oakland, but I have no doubt that you will enjoy yourself and make the most out of this unique experience 🙂

the duck- I'm curious to hear which pre-med advisor (peer or faculty?) you spoke with. It's a relatively new program so I can see some skepticism, but in my opinion, it is much more interactive than any of the ICC internships or EMRAP.

To give a background on my own experiences (for those who are wondering how my opinions on these programs were formed), I have done three internships through the ICC at the MIND Institute, Child Life, and the Operating Room. Many of the internships I've had from the ICC are good "beginner" experiences to see if the person indeed has an interest in medicine, but other than that, there isn't much room to learn anything more about yourself because a lot of these ICC positions are solely shadowing positions. EMRAP is a step above the ICC internships, but current participants have been complaining about the administration. A part of the problem is that they have been letting more people in now than in past years, and it makes working your required shifts in the ER a pain in the derriere.
 
I want to give some advice to potential candidates for the UC Davis premedical surgical internship.

I found out about this program a week before the closing date. I had heard about it through the UNSOM advising department. Two previous UNR students had applied there and got in this past year. I did not receive an invite to join this summer's candidates but I walked away with something valuable. I encourage anyone interested in applying to medical school to take up on the opportunity to submit to this program. Those worthy will receive an interview. This interview cost me $18 to apply, $75 in gas, $29.99 for a new pair of shoes at Marshall's, 5 hours of driving time, and iced tea and a bathroom change at Starbucks. Literally this money was not a waste. What was so valuable is that this interview gave me the chance to learn about myself and how I would react to questions that may or may not seem relevant to the profession. Where else would I get this type of experience before I apply to over a dozen schools? I wouldn't trade what I gained for the world. I am content. I will reappy later this year.

Congrats to those who made it in! I would love for those who made it to offer advice and information about the program over the next three months.

Thank you for letting me share. 👍
 
NVWolfPack said:
I want to give some advice to potential candidates for the UC Davis premedical surgical internship.

I found out about this program a week before the closing date. I had heard about it through the UNSOM advising department. Two previous UNR students had applied there and got in this past year. I did not receive an invite to join this summer's candidates but I walked away with something valuable. I encourage anyone interested in applying to medical school to take up on the opportunity to submit to this program. Those worthy will receive an interview. This interview cost me $18 to apply, $75 in gas, $29.99 for a new pair of shoes at Marshall’s, 5 hours of driving time, and iced tea and a bathroom change at Starbucks. Literally this money was not a waste. What was so valuable is that this interview gave me the chance to learn about myself and how I would react to questions that may or may not seem relevant to the profession. Where else would I get this type of experience before I apply to over a dozen schools? I wouldn't trade what I gained for the world. I am content. I will reappy later this year.

Congrats to those who made it in! I would love for those who made it to offer advice and information about the program over the next three months.

Thank you for letting me share. 👍
Click to expand...

Wish you had made it, you sound like someone who would get a lot from it/take it seriously. So try for the fall, and when you get in, let us know 🙂
 
MedicalAuthor said:
Not to sound too defensive, but it seems like the program is a little more involved than a regular shadowing. You get to interact with different departments and surgeons, sit in on conversations and conferences, meet and talk with patients, etc. People were quoted on the site saying that this is the type of experience you don't get to see until third year med school. I told someone who is M1 at UCSF about it and she said the same.

I was looking at the testimonials on the site and one said: 'On one occasion, I carefully held gauze over the colostomy stoma as the patient looked down at the large cavity in his lower abdomen. With the wound VAC removed, we were confronted with a lopsided oval roughly the diameter of a dinner plate. *Oiled gauze held his intestines in place. *It could have been awkward. *Instead, I gave him an effortless smile, showing that I was neither repulsed nor overly-fascinated by the enormous wound. *He spoke first. *“Do you always smile?” he asked pleasantly. *I grinned and replied, “There is not a lot I can to do around here yet, but I can always smile.” *I wanted him to know that I was comfortable. *I saw him as a person, not just a patient or a procedure I was assisting with. *I thought that if I seemed comfortable, he would be more at ease. *In return, his courage and cheerfulness impressed me.'

Maybe it's just me being new to this/naive/unknowledgeable about what makes an important experience, but it seems this is more structured, involved, and a learning experience than a shadowing thing you would set up yourself. Do I think, alone, it will be enough to get into med school? No. Do I think it's worth it? I'll be driving 90 miles from Oakland for each of my shifts, so yeah, I must.
Click to expand...


Some of us have been fortunate enough to find surgeons/urologists who love to teach and allow us to scrub in and basically do a bunch of things that were awesome but I couldn't help but wonder if it was kosher to even gush about because med students have made similar comments. But the patient consented...

Anyway, good luck with that commute! :luck:
 
I hope this doesn't sound too strange, but to the people who have done this program before: do they perform a drug test as part of the medical clearance?
 
how selective is this program because; there's no stipend, no housing, no financial incentives but I still think the learning experience is worth it???
 
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