Would a 3-4 month clinical experience opportunity look bad?

[deleted1060978]

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[LizzyM]

Well it certainly looks better than 30 hours none of which have been done recently.

 

[deleted1060978]

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[KnightDoc]

Well it certainly looks better than 30 hours none of which have been done recently.

This^^^^. At the end of the day, you are doing what you can, and that's all you can do. It's not a matter of being looked at poorly. It's a matter of what other applicants manage to have. If typical applicants have 100 hours, you'll be in great shape. If thousands of applicants manage to pull together hundreds of hours, nobody is going to give you a gold star for trying.

 

[deleted1060978]

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[EdgeTrimmer]

Should be OK. my N=1 (not my kid) has around 100 clinical hours from one summer and already got multiple T20 IIs this cycle.

 

[deleted1060978]

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[KnightDoc]

I don't think it's that black and white though. My city legitimately is currently among the top 5 worst COVID cities and is the epicenter of the US right now (and has been only getting worse since a brief downturn in May), meanwhile, my friends in other cities have been able to restart clinical volunteering, some since mid-August, even) -- I can't do anything about it. At the same time, I would hate to take a gap year because the only thing about my application that is remotely weak is the number next to my clinical volunteering hours. I have strong stats, a strong x-factor, strong ECs, and come from a great undergrad, but if you compare my clinical hours to a pre-med applicant living two states below me there will be a massive discrepancy.

I've heard so many different responses from different advisors and health mentors from different schools so I came here to ask.

But it is that black and white. As adcoms expressing their views on all sorts of COVID accommodations have made clear since last March, they seem less than inclined to do anything at all for us, reasoning that med school isn't going anywhere and that it's a sellers' market. What has become clear, however, is that the schools DO make accommodations, seemingly when they have to (i.e., tens of thousands of people can't take the MCAT, thereby significantly reducing the potential applicant pool, so they manage to find a way to rejigger the test, push it out to everyone, and then start making interview decisions without them while awaiting test results).

If a critical mass of applicants find themselves in your situation, accommodations will be made. Otherwise, you will be told there is always next year. Cold, but it's apparently a cold business, and, unfortunately, the adcoms really don't care about any of us individually, apart from how we as a group can help them fill their classes.

 

[KnightDoc]

Should be OK. my N=1 (not my kid) has around 100 clinical hours from one summer and already got multiple T20 IIs this cycle.

YAY!!! N=1!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the input, but I'll stick with what your kid did rather than the n=1 you like to contribute every now and then.

For the record, I PROMISE you there is no cause and effect between around 100 hours and multiple T20 IIs, since n=thousands of folks with multiple hundreds of hours and zero T20 IIs.

All you are saying, assuming it's even true, is that there is at least one candidate out there who is so exceptional that s/he was able to score multiple T20 IIs IN SPITE of very light clinical hours, NOT because of them. So, no, should NOT be okay for most of the rest of us, just like it was not okay for your own kid.

 

[deleted1060978]

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[EdgeTrimmer]

Decent applicant all around or is this a kid with 5 nature publications who would have gotten them anyway? 😛 thanks for the note

No pubs, high stats and campus leadership

 

[GreenDuck12]

My city legitimately is currently among the top 5 worst COVID cities and is the epicenter of the US right now (and has been only getting worse since a brief downturn in May), meanwhile, my friends in other cities have been able to restart clinical volunteering, some since mid-August, even) -

I can't do anything about it

I don’t mean to be harsh, but you can do something about it: gap year. But, your sentence after the one quoted above explains why you do not wish to take one. It’s up to you to decide when you believe your application portfolio is the strongest it will be. Having 30 hours of clinical experience is insufficient. Having 3-4 months is better, but again, it’s not about the hours you accumulate, which is what you’re getting at here. Rather it is about having the time to really see what medicine is like and to demonstrate your commitment. If you feel 3-4 months is sufficient then you can send off your application. However, if you feel your application would be made stronger and more competitive with a gap year, then I think you have your answer - even if it’s not ideal.

One final thing I will leave you with is this:
2/3 of all applicants to MD programs will not receive a single acceptance.
1/6 of all applicants will receive a single acceptance.
Plenty of high stat applicants are rejected each year due to weak portfolios - see AAMC GPA/MCAT matriculation data.
Its not just about the grades or the numbers.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

YAY!!! N=1!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the input, but I'll stick with what your kid did rather than the n=1 you like to contribute every now and then.

For the record, I PROMISE you there is no cause and effect between around 100 hours and multiple T20 IIs, since n=thousands of folks with multiple hundreds of hours and zero T20 IIs.

All you are saying, assuming it's even true, is that there is at least one candidate out there who is so exceptional that s/he was able to score multiple T20 IIs IN SPITE of very light clinical hours, NOT because of them. So, no, should NOT be okay for most of the rest of us, just like it was not okay for your own kid.

I have consistently said 100+ clinical hours should be enough provided your rest of the application is good (based on my conversation with multiple students I know). Why do you need to assume what I said is true? I don't have any vested interest to waste my time and give false info!!!! I only share info when I am certain about the info I am getting.

As per my kid, clinical hours are between 100-300 hrs, depending on who is counting (spread over 2 years) and he is having very good cycle so far. I won't share more than that but I will definitely give out the details once cycle is over if that helps kids like you.

 

[deleted1060978]

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[KnightDoc]

Yep, this is my worry for sure. I just know, personally, that I know what I'm getting into, but obviously, I can't convey that to MD admissions officers. I spent a lot of time in hospitals growing up for reasons I'd prefer to not disclose (not a sickness or anything) and have >2000 hours in the clinic and shadowing from 2014-2018 from clinical internships and other volunteer activities during HS. Obviously, it sucks I can't include that despite doing them until the moment I left for college, but yeah if I were to get interviews it wouldn't matter. Just doesn't feel right to take a gap year for something that I know will make absolutely no difference personally.

Yup -- it's the same for all of us. In order to be successful, we have to play the game. The whole gap year thing is just an outgrowth of the EC arms race. It's not necessary, other than because EC hours keep going up and up and most people need to do it to gather the experiences necessary, not to be great doctors, but to compete with everyone else. Just one generation ago, the only people taking gap years were career changers and people needing GPA repair or to pick up prereqs they didn't take in college (i.e., no one took gap years to do research or gather volunteer hours).

 

[deleted1060978]

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[KnightDoc]

Haha, well there's still some hope, I won't give in to that option just yet. Hopefully, I'm not back here in May asking the same question after my on-campus clinical activities are still halted...

And, I can save you keystrokes by answering that question now. I did exactly what you are afraid of because my MCAT and ECs were interrupted by COVID. I had been planning to apply this cycle, but realized that my hours would be too light due to everything stopping in March. I also planned to take the MCAT in April, not, as it turned out, August, and couldn't handle working on apps while studying for the MCAT, or rushing them after the exam, so I bit the bullet and pushed back a year.

You should do the same if you don't have everything you planned to have by the time you apply. As painful as a gap year is, a failed cycle followed by a gap year plus a reapplication will be much more painful. JMHO, but this is exactly what i did, so at least I am walking the walk. 😎

 

[deleted1060978]

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[GreenDuck12]

This is another reason I don't want to take a gap year, it's just the clinical hours.

I would highly recommend you reframe your thinking from “its just the clinical hours” as that can minimize what we’re talking about, to ”one of the major components of my application is severely deficient.” Many programs are more than happy to tell younger applicants to reapply in the future when their app is well-rounded. You’re talking about applying during your senior year. This means you need to come across as a serious applicant who has the necessary experiences. Right now, with 30 hours, you’re putting yourself in a bind by trying to rush the process.

GL to you.

 

[deleted1060978]

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[EdgeTrimmer]

if I could include my college matriculation year up to the moment I left for college, I would have 350 clinical hours from that year alone.

Did you continue sat same place in college some how like summers?

 

[deleted1060978]

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[EdgeTrimmer]

No, unfortunately. I spent the two summers doing research at my university. Getting to college, I spent the first semester grounding my academics, applied for a clinical position around December of that year, then the entire process (sending app, interview, onboarding, etc.) took like 6 months, then I was able to volunteer for a few months before COVID hit, and we were one of the first places hit so we closed very early. Now I'm here.

You can mention in your essays and get 100 hours and you will be fine.

 

[deleted1040417]

One gap year won't hurt. Just a naive pre-med myself and shot myself in the foot since I didn't have the EC's. I feel soooo relaxed now completing my senior year besides the fact that I'm in about 40 hours of just EC's a week with classes right now. Which is totally unnecessary, but with COVID needed to get clinical employment.

I was overstressed wishing I just applied to another professional school and not have to gap, but I wouldn't be gapping if I thought I'd be satisfied to do anything else for a lifetime.