Worried this just looks like box-checking. Is this going to be a red flag?

[Justapremedguy]

Hey everyone! Thanks in advance for the help.

I’m applying this cycle and focusing on pretty competitive schools (NYC area) because location is super important to be for personal reasons.

I admittedly started focusing on clinical hours way too late. My other stats are good (3.8/518) and I have plenty of continunity for non-clinical volunteering (maybe 400 hours with a few organizations over three years of undergrad) and good research (3 semesters in undergrad and now full time employment during my gap year).

But my clinical hours are weak. I shadowed a few docs in a bone marrow transplant ward at a children’s hospital (Summer 2018), volunteered about 50 hours in a hospital (Spring 2019 - I had to leave because they had nothing for me to do) and have worked for about 200 hours as an EMT this year (Feb-June 2020, but leaving the EMT job in June for my full time research job).

I’m very scared that the lack of continuity for this EMT job, coupled with my low other clinical experiences, will really hold me back at top schools... I really need to switch to this research job (I could use the better pay and need the benefits), but don’t want to doom my app. Any advice?

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[Damson]

50 hours is alright to apply, as @Goro states

 

[mvsrocks]

Are you ORM or from Cali?

 

[Engrailed]

I think 50 hrs is too little. Nyc schools are very competitive

 

[Justapremedguy]

Are you ORM or from Cali?

I am an ORM and not from Cali

 

[Justapremedguy]

I think 50 hrs is too little. Nyc schools are very competitive

I have about 300 of clinical experience total and 400 of non-clinical volunteering. Do I specifically need a lot of clinical volunteering or is most of my clinical exposure coming through employment ok since I have non-clinical volunteering?

 

[Engrailed]

Clinical volunteering is one of those “check boxes,” yes. I think to be competitive 100-200 hrs is the norm.

if you apply broadly, this may not be a tremendous issue

 

[datboi_58]

I have about 300 of clinical experience total and 400 of non-clinical volunteering. Do I specifically need a lot of clinical volunteering or is most of my clinical exposure coming through employment ok since I have non-clinical volunteering?

In my personal experience, I think if you have sufficient clinical exposure ( ~50 hours of physician shadowing AND ~100 hours of patient interaction), you don’t need clinical volunteering as long as you have other non-clinical volunteering (~200 hours minimally but ideally more).

 

[Justapremedguy]

In my personal experience, I think if you have sufficient clinical exposure ( ~50 hours of physician shadowing AND ~100 hours of patient interaction), you don’t need clinical volunteering as long as you have other non-clinical volunteering (~200 hours minimally but ideally more).

Yeah, so my 50 shadowing, 50 volunteer, and 200 EMT would be plenty to be competitive?

 

[Damson]

in my opinion a little on the lower end, but enough for adcoms to check off the box

 

[datboi_58]

Yeah, so my 50 shadowing, 50 volunteer, and 200 EMT would be plenty to be competitive?

As stated above, it checks the box but I would not call it competitive. It’s enough to not have a red flag so as long as you have other activities that are interesting (research, employment, hobby, sport, etc.), you should be fine.

 

[KatsuCurry]

What's going on in this thread? Did people not read the original post? OP has 250 hours of non-shadowing clinical experience! How is 200 hours of EMT not plenty?

 

[Justapremedguy]

What's going on in this thread? Did people not read the original post? OP has 250 hours of non-shadowing clinical experience! How is 200 hours of EMT not plenty?

That’s what I was wondering. Seems like the fact that it was employment and not volunteer makes a difference. But I have lots of non-clinical volunteering

 

[Cornfed101]

Haha the advice in this thread is wild... You are golden. You need clinical experience and you need volunteer experience, they don't need to be combined (clinical volunteering). You are golden as long as it was meaningful and you can discuss how your clinical experience influenced your decision to become a doctor.