volunteering abroad?

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

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OK I know this topic has been beaten to death... BUT....

in most threads people will discourage against volunteering abroad on medical mission-type things that typically last 2-4 weeks because the adcoms see right through it and they know most people do it just to pad their applications.

is this really the case?
I mean you gotta figure that something like 40% or more PS's have something in there about saving babies in africa and the like, so you would think that the adcoms would be rolling their eyes by now...

But example at my top choice school:

Student 1, Year 1: 3.5, 29 MCAT, moderate EC's --- Rejected w/o interview

Student 1, Year 2: Same stats, but went to Africa for 3 wks --- Interview
Student 2, Year 2: 3.7, 32 MCAT, Great ECs (no int'l) --- No Interview


While we could debate for weeks over what changed from one year to another or one student compared to the other but the bottomline is... the only thing that changed in the application from one year to the next was the 3 weeks most likely spent "observing" a hospital setting in a 3rd world country

so they must think he got SOMETHING out of the experience besides a new addition to the activities section!

 

[BigRedPremed]

If you're just basing this off mdapps profiles, then there are a lot of variables that you don't know about.

I did the whole Africa thing (4 weeks). It was fun to experience another culture, met some cool people along the way, got to experience international clinical work, etc. But, that's it. It is not a significant experience in that it was a big component of my app. It was brought up a couple of times during my interviews but we never spent much time on it. I definitely never tried to spin it as if I were saving the country. I strictly viewed it as a chance to travel and experience a different culture/health system.

<---if you look at my mdapps, you will notice two things: 1) it's not even listed in my profile and 2) it certainly has not put me over the top at top tier schools based on my interview invites so far

 

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

If you're just basing this off mdapps profiles, then there are a lot of variables that you don't know about.

I did the whole Africa thing (4 weeks). It was fun to experience another culture, met some cool people along the way, got to experience international clinical work, etc. But, that's it. It is not a significant experience in that it was a big component of my app. It was brought up a couple of times during my interviews but we never spent much time on it.

this is not mdapps, this is a personal experience

 

[greg1184]

how about helping out the many people that are in need that are in this country?

 

[BigRedPremed]

this is not mdapps, this is a personal experience

I will still say that there are so many subjective variables involved that you cannot determine anything based on decisions made by 1 school.

 

[MrJosh9788]

idc what anybody says....i'm going next summer to India for Unite For Sight. My friend did it with her father who's an ophthalmologist and she loved it .

 

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

how about helping out the many people that are in need that are in this country?

if you're going there to do something that will actually help then fine... but lets be honest most people go there on some sort of "medicine-related" project and since theyre just premeds theyre not actually aloud to DO anything ...

ALSO = I'm not saying there is anything wrong with going to Africa especially if you are going for the right reasons. What I want to discuss is what effect it really has on med school applications.

 

[LizzyM]

It all comes down to clinical exposure. If the applicant hasn't had any, interviews will be few. If the applicant has had some, the likelihood of an interview will be greater.

It appears (and I say this after reading 300+ applications this year) that a medical trip abroad is the new EMT. Five years ago it seemed that every third applicant was an EMT, now it's trips to the developing world. After awhile it doesn't seem special any more. In some cases, I find myself wondering if the applicant has any clue about the practice of medicine in the US and the issues and culture here where the applicant is requesting to be educated.

Along with medical missions, I feel as if I'm seeing many more applications with a semester abroad in England, Italy, France or Australia.

 

[Jolie South]

if you're going there to do something that will actually help then fine... but lets be honest most people go there on some sort of "medicine-related" project and since theyre just premeds theyre not actually aloud to DO anything ...

ALSO = I'm not saying there is anything wrong with going to Africa especially if you are going for the right reasons. What I want to discuss is what effect it really has on med school applications.

you might be "aloud" to do things in developing countries, but to me it's highly unethical. I lived in Africa for 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer and I probably could have delivered babies or done surgery, but I didn't because I'm not trained and I'm not licensed.

Taking into account these ethical considerations, the things that you could do abroad are the same things that you could do here (i.e. patient advocacy, education, etc).

Don't think that it will have a profound effect on your application. If you want to travel and experience international health, then do it, but don't make it sound like it was the most important factor in your quest to go to medical school. I think LizzyM even mentioned that it has become quite common and really holds no ground for adcoms.

 

[Sir Buckethead]

If you want to travel and experience international health, then do it, but don't make it sound like it was the most important factor in your quest to go to medical school.

What if it was the most important factor? As in, I had never even thought of pursuing medicine before I went to Africa?

 

[LizzyM]

What if it was the most important factor? As in, I had never even thought of pursuing medicine before I went to Africa?

Why did you go to Africa? Start from there. What happened there that caused you to change your career path? How did you test your interest in medicine after you returned to the US? Are you prepared to be trained in the practice of medicine in the US (deal with American culture & values -- not a monolithic culture but a variety of subcultures)?

 

[Revenant]

What if it was the most important factor? As in, I had never even thought of pursuing medicine before I went to Africa?

Then....I would call