Stats below 🙂
Sorry if this is a long post, but I would really appreciate any advice/input!! I have just graduated undergrad and decided to take two gap years so that I can increase my clinical hours and non-clinical volunteering but also for personal reasons (moving to another state with my partner). Just looking for advice on where people think I currently stand and what experiences would be best to pursue in my gap years. I was just hired to be a scribe and am super excited to start!
I am thinking that I will transition into a paid clinical role after 5-6 months of scribing. I am interested in being a medical assistant, but I was also thinking about becoming involved in research again. Would it be a bad idea to scribe, then be an MA, and then become a research assistant? Worried that moving around jobs might look bad, but genuinely want to try different things out over these two years! I am also CNA certified so that is an option, but I'm not stoked about the prospect if I am honest.
I really want to start volunteering with a local charity for the homeless population in my city because of experiences I had while volunteering at the hospital. I also think volunteering in hospice would be fulfilling for me. Many of the patients I visited were elderly and valued companionship highly. The volunteering was rewarding and I'd like to continue!
I would love to go to the strongest program I can get into, but I would be grateful to be accepted at all haha! If I write well and interview well, should I be worried about getting rejected completely? A current med student I spoke with also expressed concerns that taking two gap years means I have to do something truly exceptional in that time: thoughts?
Current info:
cGPA: 3.93 sGPA: 3.89
*Diagnostic MCAT 509 (*just my first practice FL score using Kaplan; I'm taking the real deal in August)
FL resident and state college grad.
Bio major
Clinical Exp:
70 hours clinical volunteering (rounds in multiple units to offer patient companionship)
Research:
450 hours with a publication as coauthor (among many other authors lol)
Shadowing:
150 hours across dermatology, gastric oncology, hematologic oncology, surgical oncology
Non-clinical volunteering:
Service projects here and there through a student org. Haven't calculated hours but not many really.
Other:
150 hours as a Biochem TA
Just got hired as a scribe.
BLS certification
CNA certification
Rec letters:
Orgo professor
Biochem professor (also supervisor for the TA position)
Thinking an employer for a third letter or maybe a doc I work with while scribing?
What I am most looking for is a sense of where I stand in terms of competitiveness for admissions. I think I have gotten really scared by comparing myself to other pre-med students and I feel like I am never going to get into med school lol
Sorry if this is a long post, but I would really appreciate any advice/input!! I have just graduated undergrad and decided to take two gap years so that I can increase my clinical hours and non-clinical volunteering but also for personal reasons (moving to another state with my partner). Just looking for advice on where people think I currently stand and what experiences would be best to pursue in my gap years. I was just hired to be a scribe and am super excited to start!
I am thinking that I will transition into a paid clinical role after 5-6 months of scribing. I am interested in being a medical assistant, but I was also thinking about becoming involved in research again. Would it be a bad idea to scribe, then be an MA, and then become a research assistant? Worried that moving around jobs might look bad, but genuinely want to try different things out over these two years! I am also CNA certified so that is an option, but I'm not stoked about the prospect if I am honest.
I really want to start volunteering with a local charity for the homeless population in my city because of experiences I had while volunteering at the hospital. I also think volunteering in hospice would be fulfilling for me. Many of the patients I visited were elderly and valued companionship highly. The volunteering was rewarding and I'd like to continue!
I would love to go to the strongest program I can get into, but I would be grateful to be accepted at all haha! If I write well and interview well, should I be worried about getting rejected completely? A current med student I spoke with also expressed concerns that taking two gap years means I have to do something truly exceptional in that time: thoughts?
Current info:
cGPA: 3.93 sGPA: 3.89
*Diagnostic MCAT 509 (*just my first practice FL score using Kaplan; I'm taking the real deal in August)
FL resident and state college grad.
Bio major
Clinical Exp:
70 hours clinical volunteering (rounds in multiple units to offer patient companionship)
Research:
450 hours with a publication as coauthor (among many other authors lol)
Shadowing:
150 hours across dermatology, gastric oncology, hematologic oncology, surgical oncology
Non-clinical volunteering:
Service projects here and there through a student org. Haven't calculated hours but not many really.
Other:
150 hours as a Biochem TA
Just got hired as a scribe.
BLS certification
CNA certification
Rec letters:
Orgo professor
Biochem professor (also supervisor for the TA position)
Thinking an employer for a third letter or maybe a doc I work with while scribing?
What I am most looking for is a sense of where I stand in terms of competitiveness for admissions. I think I have gotten really scared by comparing myself to other pre-med students and I feel like I am never going to get into med school lol
