What should I be doing?

[Pachibo]

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I am currently a sophomore at a four year undergraduate institution, and I feel like I am quite lacking as a prospective pre medical student. I work 11.5-13 hours a week (tutoring and TA) and volunteer at a community center for two hours a week. My college is in a rural area, and I don't have a car, so it is very hard for me to volunteer at a hospital or shadow a doctor during the school year. (Can't afford to spend 2 hours+ commuting) Along with a club sport/working out, I don't really have much free time. Other than work and volunteering, I don't really do much else.

Leadership roles also seem like an important component; however, I have none. I am planning on studying abroad next semester, so it is unlikely that I will be able to secure any leadership roles.

How badly will the above factors affect my chances.

I was told by my pre med advisor that my chances at getting into a medical school on the next application cycle are very slim with my qualifications.

 

[honey0102]

I am currently a sophomore at a four year undergraduate institution, and I feel like I am quite lacking as a prospective pre medical student. I work 11.5-13 hours a week and volunteer at a community center for two hours a week. My college is in a rural area, and I don't have a car, so it is very hard for me to volunteer at a hospital or shadow a doctor during the school year. (Can't afford to spend 2 hours+ commuting) Along with a club sport/working out, I don't really have much free time. Other than work and volunteering, I don't really do much else.

Leadership roles also seem like an important component; however, I have none. I am planning on studying abroad next semester, so it is unlikely that I will be able to secure any leadership roles.

How badly will the above factors affect my chances.

I was told by my pre med advisor that my chances at getting into a medical school on the next application cycle are very slim with my qualifications.

I think it's great that you are working, and volunteering! It's good to show commitment and seems like you are doing that. Also note, non clinical volunteering is still really good! And you mentioned a club sport, that can also go on your application.

Are you thinking of applying in the cycle that starts in June of 2018?
I think clinical exposure and volunteering are important. Are there local hospitals that you can take a bus to? Or if not that, a nursing home, or a free clinic? See if your school has a pre-health club or volunteering club. Some of them may offer opportunities to get involved in clinical volunteering and might even provide transportation. Ask your advisor or other, older students, see what they say.
You do also have the summers. That's a great time to shadow or volunteer. For volunteering I do recommend trying to do some kind of clinical volunteering next year too, if possible. But if not, the summer is still a great time.
For leadership have you considered possibly being a TA?
One other thing is research. Some schools let you do it for class credit, so you can fit that into your schedule that way. That might help boost your app too.
You could always take one or more gap years and volunteer, shadow, work in the clinical setting, etc during that time. More and more people are doing this.

 

[Pachibo]

I think it's great that you are working, and volunteering! It's good to show commitment and seems like you are doing that. Also note, non clinical volunteering is still really good! And you mentioned a club sport, that can also go on your application.

Are you thinking of applying in the cycle that starts in June of 2018?
I think clinical exposure and volunteering are important. Are there local hospitals that you can take a bus to? Or if not that, a nursing home, or a free clinic? See if your school has a pre-health club or volunteering club. Some of them may offer opportunities to get involved in clinical volunteering and might even provide transportation. Ask your advisor or other, older students, see what they say.
You do also have the summers. That's a great time to shadow or volunteer. For volunteering I do recommend trying to do some kind of clinical volunteering next year too, if possible. But if not, the summer is still a great time.
For leadership have you considered possibly being a TA?
One other thing is research. Some schools let you do it for class credit, so you can fit that into your schedule that way. That might help boost your app too.
You could always take one or more gap years and volunteer, shadow, work in the clinical setting, etc during that time. More and more people are doing this.

Thank you for the advice. I'll try to get a few people to volunteer at a hospital and hopefully a driver too. As for research, I have done it for a semester already and also last summer too. I actually applied to a few summer research programs this year too, but I have gotten rejected from have of them already. These rejections have made me paranoid, prompting me to make this thread. I am actually a TA right now, but I didn't think that it counted as a leadership position. I saw it as just another job. In the case of not getting into any summer programs, what would you suggest me to do? I could volunteer/shadow while working a part time job at home, but I feel like that is very weak compared to other students that are in competitive summer programs.

 

[honey0102]

Thank you for the advice. I'll try to get a few people to volunteer at a hospital and hopefully a driver too. As for research, I have done it for a semester already and also last summer too. I actually applied to a few summer research programs this year too, but I have gotten rejected from have of them already. These rejections have made me paranoid, prompting me to make this thread. I am actually a TA right now, but I didn't think that it counted as a leadership position. I saw it as just another job. In the case of not getting into any summer programs, what would you suggest me to do? I could volunteer/shadow while working a part time job at home, but I feel like that is very weak compared to other students that are in competitive summer programs.

I think, it depends on what you do with the TA position. If you are leading a class and are dealing with some of the things leaders may face (ie, noncompliance, getting different people to work together, working with people of different learning styles etc)-it may count.

I'm so sorry about the summer programs. Yeah they can be really competitive. But don't lose hope. You can look for an unpaid internship. Working a job over the summer is a great idea, especially if medically relevant, you would learn a lot. So is volunteering-especially if you can make an impact even if it's a small one.

 

[Pachibo]

I think, it depends on what you do with the TA position. If you are leading a class and are dealing with some of the things leaders may face (ie, noncompliance, getting different people to work together, working with people of different learning styles etc)-it may count.

I'm so sorry about the summer programs. Yeah they can be really competitive. But don't lose hope. You can look for an unpaid internship. Working a job over the summer is a great idea, especially if medically relevant, you would learn a lot. So is volunteering-especially if you can make an impact even if it's a small one.

My TA position is just checking lab notebooks and answering questions/helping students during lab. I guess it may count. How would I go for looking for an unpaid medical internship or a medical related job? Most of the medical related jobs I've seen need some sort of certification, such as CNA or EMT certification. Would it be a bad idea to look for an unpaid research position? I had a paid one last summer, but it seems like I won't be able to secure one this summer.

 

[honey0102]

My TA position is just checking lab notebooks and answering questions/helping students during lab. I guess it may count. How would I go for looking for an unpaid medical internship or a medical related job? Most of the medical related jobs I've seen need some sort of certification, such as CNA or EMT certification. Would it be a bad idea to look for an unpaid research position? I had a paid one last summer, but it seems like I won't be able to secure one this summer.

A medical research internship, or volunteering in a clinic. Unpaid is totally fine-sometimes its hard to get a paid internship...but you still get great experience from an unpaid internship. I'd say go for it!

 

[tarheelpenner]

So I never actually did shadowing/hospital volunteering during the school year. I just did it over the summers when I was home from school (along with research jobs). And I'm in to medical school, so it seems fine to me! Also, I've never had an interviewer question me about why I didn't do them during the school year.

 

[NervousWreck6]

So I never actually did shadowing/hospital volunteering during the school year. I just did it over the summers when I was home from school (along with research jobs). And I'm in to medical school, so it seems fine to me! Also, I've never had an interviewer question me about why I didn't do them during the school year.

I was in a very similar position as you. I went to a big state university and there's only 1 hospital nearby so EVERY premed students want to volunteer there. They only accept like 20 volunteers out of maybe 400 applicants. I decided to just resort to opportunities on campus. I was a biochemistry lab TA, I did research, I was a RA (resident assistant) for 2 years, did a medical internship during Spring Break (I had to pay about $1,500) which was really helpful for personal statement and supplementals, and then volunteer at the hospital during summer (I tried to do 4 hours every day for 2 months so it stacks up a lot).