Volunteering Question

[Jwalker]

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[ash914]

I would start doing more volunteering and shadowing now, but it's really the quality of the experiences that matters over hours. Can you talk about what you got out of those experiences, specifically regarding your decision to pursue medicine? That said, the hours are a little low, so doing more would only help when if comes to interviews and possible update letters.

 

[Catalystik]

Longevity counts for clinical experience, so I suggest that after submission you continue to gain additional hours in the hospital (3-4 hours/week is fine) and let schools know about it through update letters and interview conversations.

Longevity in shadowing isn't so important. Forty hours is below the average of about 50 hours. If the doc you've shadowed is in primary care, variety of specialty is less important. But again, you can continue to build on this experience through the cycle and have a chance that the added time will positively impact adcomm decision-making when they learn of it.