What's the best course of action?

[mikoguru20]

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[Goro]

Start shadowing, and get in some research experience.

EDIT, I am not a fan of frat involvement.

 

[lpp06]

Shadowing: Just Do It

 

[mikoguru20]

i

 

[theonlytycrane]

Leadership and volunteering ^

 

[premedicalstudent]

Leadership and volunteering ^

Lmao!!

 

[lpp06]

But how exactly would I get these positions? I have little to no experience and no contacts in the medical field in my area. I doubt I could walk into a hospital and chat up a doctor and get him to let me shadow him.

Cold call/email as much as you can. Leave your resume/letter with receptionists. "Try and fail, but don't fail to try."

 

[MoDiddy]

Leadership and volunteering ^

LOL

 

[Doctor-S]

But how exactly would I get these positions? I have little to no experience and no contacts in the medical field in my area. I doubt I could walk into a hospital and chat up a doctor and get him to let me shadow him.

UCLA has large AMC on its campus (Ronald Reagan and Mattel Children's) so look at the AMC's departmental websites, and contact some of the "teaching" physicians. The teaching physicians might allow you to shadow them.

You can contact the Los Angeles County Medical Association and ask for some other suggestions. At times, semi-retired physicians in the local community will welcome pre-med students because they might have some extra time and/or enjoy mentoring pre-med students.

You can go to your local medical centers (e.g., Santa Monica or Cedars-Sinai) and very respectfully ask some of the experienced RNs for a brief moment of their time (that is, if they have any spare time) to obtain potential shadowing suggestions. Reason: RNs often know which MDs are "approachable" in the hospital and which MDs might be willing to speak with you about shadowing opportunities.

Thank you.

 

[Catalystik]

I have little to no experience and no contacts in the medical field in my area. I doubt I could walk into a hospital and chat up a doctor and get him to let me shadow him.

Shadowing need not be a regular activity, so it's something you might get in while home over school breaks when you have big chunks of time. Consider asking your own doc, those of your parents, or potentially physician parents of friends. You could also ask the docs where you volunteered at the Urgent Care Center. Once you have one doc allowing you to shadow, you might take advantage of further contacts they can suggest. Shadowing multiple specialties isn't necessary, especially if you find a primary care, office-based doc who can give you a view of longitudinal care (rather than episodic care, like an urgent care.ED doc would). Aim for about 50 total hours.

You have leadership covered with the Junior Director of Volunteers gig, BTW.

Ideally, you would also volunteer in a nonmedical, off-campus setting for a cause you care about that serves those in need. Aim for 2-3 hours per week.

Best to start looking for a research position now for next semester. Any hypothesis-based research will do, including psych, bio, chem, vet med, agriculture, econ, linguistics, etc. Ask current professors for leads or look on the Research website of UCLA for research groups who've published in areas that interest you, and start to email them.

I'd also discourage the time sink of a social frat, as you have a great deal to accomplish in just 9 months, while still maintaining a high GPA.

 

[NAPK1NS]

A social frat may not be for all and some adcoms may not like it but if you can truly show that you took on some major leadership roles then it is OK. Just make sure you aren't getting caught up in the "social" part of it if you catch my drift. Social frats can and usually do become a distraction in the lives of many of my other former pre-med friends. Many of them have actually become business and marketing majors

 

[mikoguru20]

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[mikoguru20]

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[Catalystik]

Update: I got my MCAT score today. I got a 521. Does this change any of the advice I received?

Nicely done. Stats get you past each school's screening process. Appropriate ECs get you the interview offers. The above suggestions should still be followed, unless you aspire to highly-competitive, research-oriented schools, in which case you'd likely need to ramp up the research and leadership efforts further and take an extra year to develop stronger ECs before applying.