Which category of extracurricular activities should I focus on?

[freeradical7]

I am currently planning on applying for medical school in June 2022, and I was wondering if any of y'all had some tips on what extracurricular activities I should focus on in these last six 7-ish months before I apply. For background, here is what I have done so far:
-Around 500 hours of paid clinical experience (actual hands-on work)
-100 hours of hospital volunteering, but due to COVID restrictions there was no patient interaction
-Around 300 hours of wet lab research experience
-Around 120 hours of TAing chemistry lecture and lab courses
-Around 750 hours of totally non-medical work in the summer before freshman year to save money for college

Notable things I think are missing:
-No shadowing
-No true non-clinical volunteering

Should I focus on the non-clinical volunteering since that seems like a major gap? Should I try to rack up more clinical hours to stand out? Or if I'm interested in at least shooting my shot at a more research focused school, should I double down on research experience? I will probably have at least another 120 hours of TAing and 100 hours of research experience before applying due to commitments I have already made, but I would love any advice on how to best allocate the rest of my time.

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[Blueprint Med School]

I think you got it- definitely get some shadowing in, as some schools will see no shadowing as a red flag. Some non-clinical volunteering or community service will help too.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[freeradical7]

I think you got it- definitely get some shadowing in, as some schools will see no shadowing as a red flag. Some non-clinical volunteering or community service will help too.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

Thanks for the reply! Is online shadowing considered sufficient, or is it still a red flag if there is no in-person shadowing?

 

[Moko]

Thanks for the reply! Is online shadowing considered sufficient, or is it still a red flag if there is no in-person shadowing?

I did some digging (cause I'm a 🐶) on this topic back in May. In short, some schools explicitly stated that they see virtual shadowing as an acceptable alternative while some others stated a preference for in-person shadowing. However, most schools do not explicitly advertise their preference on their websites, but there is variability between schools. Keep in mind that even at schools partially or fully receptive to virtual shadowing, individual adcom members may still hold a bias towards in-person shadowing. Because of this, you should get some in-person experience if you can.

Since you have "actual hands-on" clinical experience, do you see physicians interacting with patients when you work? If so, it may be worth highlighting these 'informal' shadowing moments if you are unable to get formal in-person shadowing. Just my thoughts.

 

[LizzyM]

What is your story? Do you want to be a doctor because, ultimately, you want to help people? Or is it curiosity about how things work, go wrong, and can be corrected using scientific findings?

If, ultimately, you want to help people, show me that you want to help people by helping people now using whatever skills you currently have to help people who can't help themselves.

If you are really interested in scientific findings, then more research might be in order.

However, if you have not yet taken the MCAT, and haven't already built that into your schedule, plan on spending a substantial portion of your time over the next 6 months studying the material, reviewing practice questions, and taking practice tests (each practice test takes about 7 hours to take and 7 hours to review).