Volunteering and Research

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ultimatehealer

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Hi,

I'm new here and I've been going through the threads here for the past few weeks and it's been quite informative. I'm preparing for my MCAT right now and going to be entering my third year right now at UC Irvine and am hoping to apply by next June.

As of right now, I have done two quarters of "research" at the Medical Center near my school. I have gotten credits and grades for it, which has helped boost my GPA tremendously. However, my actual project/contribution has been very minimal as I have made several mistakes in the lab in terms of technique. In spite of its location at the medical center, it is very little clinical work and is just basically what I would do in a molecular biology lab (i.e. working with tumor cells, changing the medium, and tedious work). I really feel like I have gotten very little out of it in spite of the A I got for it. I don't enjoy it at all and I think it might be a detriment to put it on my application and not be enthusiastic about the experience if asked about it. I may get my name on a publication just for the sheer fact that I came to the lab for a significant number of hours each week for about 7 months(2 nonconsecutive academic quarters). I have the invitation to come back next quarter, but I think that I would still dislike it as much as I do now.

I originally joined the lab thinking that I would get a decent amount of exposure to clinical research in the orthopedics department. However, that was not the case. There is an opportunity for me to do research with a Pediatrics institution near UCI, but it seems like a lot of people at my school are doing it and it may not appear unique.

On the other hand, my actual volunteering experience is very little, too little to apply. Which is why I'm planning on joining a hospital program next year (Clinical Care Extender Program at HOAG). However, I was wondering, if the volunteering done at my parent's offices would be of any help? I did it mainly to lend a helping hand a I do not have job at the moment and felt guilty about living with them rent free. However, I did gain a lot of experience about working in primary care and it helped me tremendously in that regard. My father's office is associated with a nearby hospital as well and he gets volunteers at times. But would this be considered nepotism and would it hurt me rather than help me? I did actual work (both administrative and interaction with patients) and its not like I got preferential treatment. I was also able to interact with low-income/underserved patients which is the type of care I want to deal with when I practice.

I've read the previous threads and it seems as though people say that you should have a bit of everything and excel at one area. However, I'm afraid I may not have enough research to excel in or talk about.

Thanks in advance for any help and I'm really sorry about the long message!

Sincerely,
Adrian
 
If you don't like the research don't continue! You put in your time, and you learned you didn't enjoy it, still put it on your app and make sure you can talk about it intelligently. If you want to Research with the Pediatrics(CHOC?) institution because it interests you, DO IT. Don't worry that a lot of people do it. I have done research with 2 people now at CHOC and they were awesome mentors and such.
I haven't done the clinical care extender program but a few people have told me some good things about it.
I would think your parents office would count(doctors office right?) from the way you describe it, though I have no experience in this area.

My 2 cents, Good luck!
 
Yes. Pursue it if you really enjoy it. As for me, I will be an entering sophomore at my university. I joined the cancer research group on campus last year and will be going into my third semester. I love it alot. I think it all comes down to you as a person. If you truly feel that its worth the time and effort then go for it. Sure medical schools like to see research, but it does you no good if you've done it for so long and really can't talk about it in an interview, that is if they ask you about it after looking at your resume...
 
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