What should I do (Freshman in College)?

[nabilesmail]

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Hey everyone, I'm new here and aspire to be a Doctor. My goal is to attend a top 10-20 medical school as everyone in my family has attended top 10's. (Upenn,UCSF,UCLA,UofMich). I feel like I will be able to reach these goals but have NO idea when and how to get started regarding ECS.

I completed my first semester at a california community college with a 4.0 in 18 units, and plan on transferring out this year to USC for an undergrad in Biology or Health Promotion and Disease prevention. Besides a High gpa/mcat scores what should I start doing regarding ECS? I kind of need help making a basic schedule for the next few years on clinical/voluntary hours/ research/ and shadowing. How many hours will I need for each category. I'm also thinking about maybe doing a phlebotomy course or Tech course during the summer? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[bravofleet4]

well i don't recommend trying out phlebotomy or EMS solely for impressing medical school. i encounter quite a few people who do it but IMO i'd be pissed off as hell and thinking I wasted my college years if I found out I didn't get into medical school or that it never resulted in a meaningful experience.

A lot of times I took up leadership opportunities with the initial thought that it could improve my resume/application but I also (for the most part) enjoyed what I was doing. I'm not saying premeds are doing things they hate all the time but it is easy to get stuck in some volunteering gig where it's not terrible but the work is so menial and boring. I wanted to do tutoring and TAing (b/c I enjoyed teaching and also b/c I liked being looked up to).

Too many students have run of the mill EC's meaning GRE/MCAT or private tutor, a year worth's of research, 100+ hours at a hospital, and/or a trip overseas serving the needy in developing countries.

My advice is to start off your first year pursuing interests. It's what fascinates you that pushes you to really go the distance. For example, if you really love research, you can get publications and do presentations. However, it's not easy and requires a tremendous amount of work. While most people see that these are desirable, most also don't push themselves to do it. It's not necessarily that it's hard but most people think of lab work as just stuff they have to push through and that "fun time" starts after you get out of the lab. The fact is you really don't have that much time to do all these EC's, get good grades, and have "outside fun" as a pre-med major. When EC's become instead of a chore but something you actually look forward to that's the right mindset.

Therefore, I highly recommend you start off by taking up a non-medical hobby (which will help you on your med school app) and taking it as far as you can go. Personally, I love fish keeping but I didn't take it as far as I wanted to when I applied. Now I help maintain the fish tanks at a local CC and am planning to start a fish club. This topic came up in over half of my interviews.

But yeah don't waste your life...

 

[bravofleet4]

Well since you asked for it here's a rough plan

1st year - focus solely on getting good grades (that's a rule in general but especially in your case since you're just transferring. I see some people start volunteering in a clinical setting already at this point but their grades are also a mess. You want above 3.5).

2nd year - maybe over the summer before or after your fall quarter of your sophomore year, start asking around about research opportunities. Whenever you choose a lab try to be selective. Some labs don't take very good of their undergrad researchers which means they won't always assign you a project or teach you things). Also starting into the new year (but asking around earlier in advance) begin putting in around 4 hours/week in a clinical setting.

3rd year - try to have a publication in before the school year ends (app time starts as early as June). Continue volunteering. By now you should have several hundred hours of clinical volunteering as well as research. If you plan to apply this year. Your schedule is mostly light out of necessity. You will be studying heavily for the MCAT. This is when your EC's have really started moving in full gear. Keep in mind the adcoms do not really care about what will happen or what you plan to do. Therefore, if you are planning to go visit a 3rd world country to teaching English to orphans you had better get it done before or don't bother mentioning it on your medical school application except casually during an interview! Additionally you need to start cultivating relationships with your professors to get LOR's.

3rd year is MCAT studying + research + clinical experience + classes + LOR's + non-med activity = death

4th year - you do interviews starting as early as September of your senior year which is hell on your schedule. Continue doing everything you've done except slacken a bit on the EC's as you need to get good grades in all those upper-div courses you decided not to take in your 3rd year since you were applying to medical school. You will need your bachelor's degree to continue into medical school. Also you continue working hard in case you need to re-apply.

 

[mnoon1]

I agree with bravo, do something you love. I love to do research and find myself in the lab on the weekends and holidays, setting up new experiments and reading journal articles related to my latest experiment. I also enjoy teaching so tutoring is also a "fun" activity for me. For my clinical exposure I work as a CNA, and love it. The feeling you get when a patient is so appreciative of you because you helped cut up their chicken and feed it to them is awesome. Get meaningful clinical exposure that you truly enjoy. Some premeds I know are disgusted when I tell them I clean up vomit/poop for a living but there are many ways to get exposure without having to deal with bodily fluids. Also, don't go to a school just because your family member went there, visit the schools and go to the one (top ten or not) that you really feel will be the best fit for you.

Check out the sdn profiles of students that have been accepted to the schools you want to apply to , check out their ECs-research/tutoring/shadowing experiences and timelines and send them private messages about advice (i like to think most of us like helping each other out)

Good Luck!

 

[nabilesmail]

thanks guy!

 

[Algophiliac]

I agree with bravo, do something you love. I love to do research and find myself in the lab on the weekends and holidays, setting up new experiments and reading journal articles related to my latest experiment. I also enjoy teaching so tutoring is also a "fun" activity for me. For my clinical exposure I work as a CNA, and love it. The feeling you get when a patient is so appreciative of you because you helped cut up their chicken and feed it to them is awesome. Get meaningful clinical exposure that you truly enjoy. Some premeds I know are disgusted when I tell them I clean up vomit/poop for a living but there are many ways to get exposure without having to deal with bodily fluids. Also, don't go to a school just because your family member went there, visit the schools and go to the one (top ten or not) that you really feel will be the best fit for you.

Check out the sdn profiles of students that have been accepted to the schools you want to apply to , check out their ECs-research/tutoring/shadowing experiences and timelines and send them private messages about advice (i like to think most of us like helping each other out)

Good Luck!

What ways?? The main two clinical employment options for pre-meds as I see it are CNA (bodily fluids, would not prefer it) or EMT (not enough time or money to take the course, no decently paid employment opportunities in my area...because so many people want EMT jobs at my city/area/location).

Yet I hear clinical employment is EXTREMELY important for medical school acceptance? I'd prefer to spend my time focusing on research and getting research internships, instead! 🙁 How bad does that look to medical schools?

 

[avksx]

What ways?? The main two clinical employment options for pre-meds as I see it are CNA (bodily fluids, would not prefer it) or EMT (not enough time or money to take the course, no decently paid employment opportunities in my area...because so many people want EMT jobs at my city/area/location).

Yet I hear clinical employment is EXTREMELY important for medical school acceptance? I'd prefer to spend my time focusing on research and getting research internships, instead! 🙁 How bad does that look to medical schools?

If you have no clinical experience? Pretty bad.




Go get your EMT-B license and volunteer.

 

[bravofleet4]

I'd have to disagree. Clinical employment is not necessary to get into medical school. Whoever told you that is lying. Research is much more prestigious. ANYONE can become a CNA or EMT. To become an EMT, it takes only what a summer worth's of training? To get published you have to dedicate at least a year and usually more. Also the experiences you get as an EMT are still a far cry from what you will see as a physician, so I think you have to stretch it a little to say that those experiences convinced you whole heartedly that you want to be a doctor. I also highly doubt that you will get the time to interact with doctors and patients you would like to versus if you had just volunteered in the hospital but I'm not 100% sure of this as I haven't done it myself. I do not think many pre-med's take this route and that many who do are trying to compensate for another weak area of their application. Therefore, it may just seem like it's important when really it's the people who don't know else to do to improve their app after they've already graduated.

Benefits of EMT or CNA training:
Pay , Clinical Experience, Demonstration of Reliability

Benefits of Research:
Pay (possible if you advance to lab tech), Publications, Presentations, LOR's, Internships, clinical experience (depending upon field of research), prestigious awards and grants (which are nationally or regionally recognized), staying up-to-date about advances in a field, demonstration of perseverance, analytical & critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership (if you are the one leading the project and are assigned other undergrads to assist), and interest in science.

THE TRUTH IS so many pre-med's have become extremely narrow-minded and believe that only certain EC's will be looked upon favorably by the ad-com's. THE REALITY IS that medical schools are looking for a diverse class and exceptional people. Being a EMT or CNA is merely pre-med's trying to suck up to the committees and say "Hey, I'm really interested in medicine and to prove it I've I'm already working in the field." Well let me ask you this and I'm sure the adcom's realize this as well. How far can you take it? Not far if you plan to apply by your 3rd or 4th year. My advice about pursuing EC's you love is not to say that you can rest easily but that medical schools want you to excel in whatever you do. It becomes an excuse to try new things that you would've never done before and grow as an individual and that it doesn't conflict with your goal getting into medical school.

 

[Catalystik]

I hear clinical employment is EXTREMELY important for medical school acceptance?

You can also acquire the expected clinical experience through volunteerism or clinical research. These could be at a hospital, clinic, nursing home, hospice or other places.

 

[Catalystik]

I kind of need help making a basic schedule for the next few years on clinical/voluntary hours/ research/ and shadowing. How many hours will I need for each category.

Every med school has their own idea of what ECs are important and how much you should have. From my observation, 1.5 years of clinical experience is average. Most gain it at 3-4 hours per week. Involvement in community service, whether medically-related or not, is essential, and ideally something you care about. The maximum requirement at one school is 500 hours. Average research involvement is a year; 40% have none, some have 4+ years. The more selective med schools tend to value it more. For shadowing, some schools don't care, but most do. Try to shadow 2-3 types of physician for 8-40 hours each, with a total in the 60-80 hour range so you meet the expectations of as many schools as possible. Some shadow one doc for years. Some shadow 7-8 docs for a day each. Do what feels right to you in order to be able to answer questions about, "What does a doctor do all day?"

Teaching and leadership, evidence of teamwork, interesting hobbies, involvement in the Arts, are other things adcomms will be interested in.

 

[nabilesmail]

I thought you need both research AND clinical hours, so I was saying I would start my volunteering or maybe EMT this year, and start research next year. Does this sound about right or?

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I'd have to disagree. Clinical employment is not necessary to get into medical school.

Employment, no. Experience, yes.

 

[DirtyJustice]

I thought you need both research AND clinical hours, so I was saying I would start my volunteering or maybe EMT this year, and start research next year. Does this sound about right or?

You need everything. There is no scenario where more ECs (of the same quality) is ever worse.

quality = time, length, leadership, etc.