Will Clinical Experience in only one specialty hurt you?

[chaldobruin]

Hey guys,

I'm a 4th year UCLA student applying to this coming cycle, but I have a concern on my application. My clinical experiences consist of:

1-Volunteered at a contact lens clinic at the UCLA medical center for 2 years (fresh + soph), doing basic stuff (checking in patients, taking calls, training patients to put in their contact lenses correctly) but I also sat in on some exams. However, it was an optometrist, not an MD. The interesting part was that It was a specialty clinic, only patients with rare eye diseases came in, and were fitted by a very specialized optometrist. At this point I was interested in optometry, not medicine.

2-I got pretty interested in these eye diseases so I took up a research position with an MD (ophthalmologist) during my junior year, and I currently do research on some of these same diseases. I also shadowed the MD many times both in the clinic (slit lamp examination) and in the OR (saw countless cataract surgeries, corneal transplants, even LASIK procedures). These experiences are what drew me towards medicine.

3-During my senior year (now) I got a job as a retina technician, performing glaucoma tests, visual acuity tests, etc. on patients before they see the ophthalmologist. This confirmed my interest in medicine.

Well, heres thing thing. I've been told by a few people (even an adcom from this site) that my focusing too much on opth might hurt me, since it is such a small field/small part of the body. I hope to overcome this by mentioning in my PS that although I am interested in the eye, I want to explore all kinds of fields during my 4 year stint in medical school.

I notice that most of people's clinical experiences come from the ER, stuff like that. Do you guys agree that my one-dimensional experiences might hurt me? Or should I just explain that Im interested in other specialties as well during my interview? Did any of your interviewers try to trap you like this?

Also, do you guys think that I should mention my initial interest in optometry in my PS? I have a feeling an interviewer will ask me why I worked for an optometrist.

Also, for the record I do have other experiences working with people (tutoring, community service, etc).

Thanks so much for your help/responses guys.

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[BerkeleyMD]

Hey guys,

I'm a 4th year UCLA student applying to this coming cycle, but I have a concern on my application. My clinical experiences consist of:

1-Volunteered at a contact lens clinic at the UCLA medical center for 2 years (fresh + soph), doing basic stuff (checking in patients, taking calls, training patients to put in their contact lenses correctly) but I also sat in on some exams. However, it was an optometrist, not an MD. The interesting part was that It was a specialty clinic, only patients with rare eye diseases came in, and were fitted by a very specialized optometrist. At this point I was interested in optometry, not medicine.

2-I got pretty interested in these eye diseases so I took up a research position with an MD (ophthalmologist) during my junior year, and I currently do research on some of these same diseases. I also shadowed the MD many times both in the clinic (slit lamp examination) and in the OR (saw countless cataract surgeries, corneal transplants, even LASIK procedures). These experiences are what drew me towards medicine.

3-During my senior year (now) I got a job as a retina technician, performing glaucoma tests, visual acuity tests, etc. on patients before they see the ophthalmologist. This confirmed my interest in medicine.

Well, heres thing thing. I've been told by a few people (even an adcom from this site) that my focusing too much on opth might hurt me, since it is such a small field/small part of the body. I hope to overcome this by mentioning in my PS that although I am interested in the eye, I want to explore all kinds of fields during my 4 year stint in medical school.

I notice that most of people's clinical experiences come from the ER, stuff like that. Do you guys agree that my one-dimensional experiences might hurt me? Or should I just explain that Im interested in other specialties as well during my interview? Did any of your interviewers try to trap you like this?

Also, do you guys think that I should mention my initial interest in optometry in my PS? I have a feeling an interviewer will ask me why I worked for an optometrist.

Also, for the record I do have other experiences working with people (tutoring, community service, etc).

Thanks so much for your help/responses guys.

The fact that your exposure was so longitudinal will help you. And as you progressed you were able to develop your interests fully from opto to optha, which is again, very good. I wouldn't stress opto very much in your PS, as it would come off that med school is not for you. Make medicine your passion, not ophthalmology- you have the exposure in this field which may make it seem appealing now, but there is so much more to medicine that you have yet to be exposed to.

Try and maybe volunteer (if you have time) in a clinic and do non-eye related medical work. It could only help to make you a more well-rounded applicant. A doc a few years back stressed to me that I not give any preference to specialties while applying and say that general medicine is where I am interested. I mean, it makes sense, how could we know which field of medicine interests us until we gain exposure to all fields. Just a thought, you what to approach the admissions process with an extremely open minded perspective.

Good Luck, don't let this hinder your true passion to become an ophthalmologist!! Just remember, you gotta get in first and worry about specializing later.

 

[contulusa]

I don't think that focusing on one specialty is such a bad thing as long as you have been exposed to different aspects of medicine as well (you have). I did a clerkship in Pathology and it helped me tremendously. At Tulane, The first interviewer's husband was a Pathologist and the second interviewer actually knew the person I had done my clerckship under through various conventions and seminars. I think that helped me a ton. We had engaging interviews on a variety of topics related to Path. As lomg as you explain what you did in those jobs/positions you should be fine. It is a lot better than saying you sat behind a desk and filed papers.

I had even shadowed a dentist (had to for the program I was in) but I brought that up in the interview as having clinical experience. I explained that it really didn't interest me much though. As far as the PS goes try working in the optometrist as being a step into shadowing an ophthalmologist and how you followed up an did research.

 

[chaldobruin]

The fact that your exposure was so longitudinal will help you. And as you progressed you were able to develop your interests fully from opto to optha, which is again, very good. I wouldn't stress opto very much in your PS, as it would come off that med school is not for you. Make medicine your passion, not ophthalmology- you have the exposure in this field which may make it seem appealing now, but there is so much more to medicine that you have yet to be exposed to.

I definitely agree with your advice. I get the feeling that adcoms want to see your passion for medicine in general and your humanitarian side (they have to make sure you are compassionate and want to serve others. Otherwise, why would you want to be a doctor?). As undergrads we couldn't possibly have more than a small idea of what specialties we want to go into. Medical school itself is where you get to do rotations, etc. and get exposure to all the specialties out there.

 

[45408]

If someone asked you why you switched from optometry to opthalmology, you could explain what exactly about the increased depth of the latter really appeals to you.

Anyways, I doubt your experience will hurt you - just tell them that you were really interested in what you were doing, and you felt like you were getting the most out of your experience by advancing in one field rather than dabbling in a few worthless experiences here and there. From what you're saying, it's the truth.

 

[UCLAstudent]

I wouldn't worry about it. It sounds like you have some great ECs! Do you have anything that's not medically related that could help to spice up your application?