Where to begin?

[Jasp]

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Hello all,
I have been interested in the medical field since I could remember, and soon I will be graduating from highschool, and after overwhelming myself with information, I have a few questions.

Where do I begin? I hear about needing to shadow,research, volunteer etc. but have no idea where to start and when to have most of it done. I'm thinkng I will start this summer by volunteering at a childrens hospital, but when do I really need to start doing research and shadowing?
I will be attending a community college as well. I've read not to do many pre-med courses at a cc but what pre-med classes should be taken within the first 2 years?

Biology major.

Thank you.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Where do I begin? I hear about needing to shadow,research, volunteer etc. but have no idea where to start and when to have most of it done.
- There is no real checklist or date to have certain items done by (though, the three you mentioned are important). Honestly, the longer you partake the better. You should keep building on these activities until you have an acceptance in hand. What is more important that just completing these activities, is making sure you get something out of them. It's a matter of quality over quantity (though both are important).

I'm thinkng I will start this summer by volunteering at a childrens hospital, but when do I really need to start doing research and shadowing?
- You should volunteer at the minimum set of hrs for as long as you can (ideally until you have an acceptance). Research will be more important after you start school and get to know your professors (if any of them do research, see if you can get involved with them and also check out researchers at nearby hospitals). Ask physicians if they are willing to let you shadow them. I think of these volunteering and shadowing are most important (research is important if you want to attend a research-oriented medical school (like Hopkins) or you want to pursue an MD/PhD). You should start activities when you first have the opportunity to. Start hunting them down now. Many researchers don't want freshman so you may not have an opportunity till second year. I've also met doctors that want people that have taken a significant number of the med pre-reqs before they allow students to shadow (though, I've met other that do not).

I will be attending a community college as well. I've read not to do many pre-med courses at a cc but what pre-med classes should be taken within the first 2 years?
- My advice is this to cc students. Take general chem and bio while at the cc. Take o-chem at a 4 yr school (doing well in o-chem at a 4 yr emphasizes that your good grades at the cc were not some fluke). The more pre-reqs you take at a cc, the more your MCAT score will be emphasized.

 

[Hope0913]

Well its probably a great idea to start volunteering early because

1. you get to build up your "cred" w/ the nurses and other ppl you'll have a longer lasting relationship w/ them as opposed to someone just volunteering for a semester just to get hours

2. you get more experience as to what you want and what works for you

also volunteering at a children's hospital is awesome because in my case (I currently don't volunteer there but will in the near future) they have the most to offer w/ positions -- those with minimal patient contact and those with more patient contact. Plus to me the kids there are awesome.

as far as shadowing goes you can ask your local family doc but don't overwhelm yourself with volunteering and shadowing at the cost of your gpa which is the most important thing second to a good mcat score in this whole process. I took introductory courses at my cc and got mostly A's with an exception of a B from engl 1102 😡 (whole 'nother story) but try your best to get all A's while you're there. Then transfer to a university and complete your upper division pre-reqs but since your a bio major your whole schedule from then on will be upper division science courses. For research this site might help
( http://www.training.nih.gov/student/ )

 

[HouseMD30]

Where do I begin? I hear about needing to shadow,research, volunteer etc. but have no idea where to start and when to have most of it done.
- There is no real checklist or date to have certain items done by (though, the three you mentioned are important). Honestly, the longer you partake the better. You should keep building on these activities until you have an acceptance in hand. What is more important that just completing these activities, is making sure you get something out of them. It's a matter of quality over quantity (though both are important).

I'm thinkng I will start this summer by volunteering at a childrens hospital, but when do I really need to start doing research and shadowing?
- You should volunteer at the minimum set of hrs for as long as you can (ideally until you have an acceptance). Research will be more important after you start school and get to know your professors (if any of them do research, see if you can get involved with them and also check out researchers at nearby hospitals). Ask physicians if they are willing to let you shadow them. I think of these volunteering and shadowing are most important (research is important if you want to attend a research-oriented medical school (like Hopkins) or you want to pursue an MD/PhD). You should start activities when you first have the opportunity to. Start hunting them down now. Many researchers don't want freshman so you may not have an opportunity till second year. I've also met doctors that want people that have taken a significant number of the med pre-reqs before they allow students to shadow (though, I've met other that do not).

I will be attending a community college as well. I've read not to do many pre-med courses at a cc but what pre-med classes should be taken within the first 2 years?
- My advice is this to cc students. Take general chem and bio while at the cc. Take o-chem at a 4 yr school (doing well in o-chem at a 4 yr emphasizes that your good grades at the cc were not some fluke). The more pre-reqs you take at a cc, the more your MCAT score will be emphasized.

I concur, good post 👍