pedneuro6894
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- Joined
- Jul 24, 2022
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This next cycle I will be my 4th and final time applying. Many of the experts on here have seen my application info before and the consensus between SDN experts, admissions teams, and other medical students is that my writing sucks and I could use better non-clinical volunteering, both of which I am working on now. However, I need to make more money to support my family's needs, and I have a few options. I was hoping to hear what you all thought would be the best option for my application. Here are my options below and a little background info in case you need it.
Previous experience:
-800 hours research through state school's internships, 1 pub as 2nd author, letter of rec from one of my mentors
-60 hours shadowing neurologists and neurosurgeons
-430 hours as patient care tech at hospital
-105 hours volunteering at hospital
-3000+ hours as a Medical Assistant (CURRENT JOB)
JOB OPTIONS:
1 - Clinical Research Assistant at my state school of medicine. I would earn some pubs/abstracts, some of them could be first author, and it gets me back into research while also being patient facing. I would get a rec letter from director
2 - Lab Assistant also at my state school of medicine. I would definitely earn multiple pubs, but would be middle of the pack for all of them I think. It gets me true benchwork, and the PI I would be working with is a distinguished professor at my state school of medicine, and said she would write me a rec letter
3 - Stay as a medical assistant at my current job. My pay would increase and I would be made the Lead MA, so it looks good to be promoted, but I don't know if med schools actually care about that. In my opinion, this is by far the best job prior to med school in terms of learning purposes. I deal with patients all day and learn about a broad spectrum of diseases, treatments, and preventative care, so my base knowledge entering med school is going to be pretty solid. I would get a letter of rec from head doc.
For my application and previous experience, is it smart to get back into research, and if so, lab work or clinical research? Or is it smart to stay in a true clinical setting like the one I'm in now with a promotion tagged onto my resume? Or am I just overthinking everything and should take the one with the most money because it doesn't really matter?
Previous experience:
-800 hours research through state school's internships, 1 pub as 2nd author, letter of rec from one of my mentors
-60 hours shadowing neurologists and neurosurgeons
-430 hours as patient care tech at hospital
-105 hours volunteering at hospital
-3000+ hours as a Medical Assistant (CURRENT JOB)
JOB OPTIONS:
1 - Clinical Research Assistant at my state school of medicine. I would earn some pubs/abstracts, some of them could be first author, and it gets me back into research while also being patient facing. I would get a rec letter from director
2 - Lab Assistant also at my state school of medicine. I would definitely earn multiple pubs, but would be middle of the pack for all of them I think. It gets me true benchwork, and the PI I would be working with is a distinguished professor at my state school of medicine, and said she would write me a rec letter
3 - Stay as a medical assistant at my current job. My pay would increase and I would be made the Lead MA, so it looks good to be promoted, but I don't know if med schools actually care about that. In my opinion, this is by far the best job prior to med school in terms of learning purposes. I deal with patients all day and learn about a broad spectrum of diseases, treatments, and preventative care, so my base knowledge entering med school is going to be pretty solid. I would get a letter of rec from head doc.
For my application and previous experience, is it smart to get back into research, and if so, lab work or clinical research? Or is it smart to stay in a true clinical setting like the one I'm in now with a promotion tagged onto my resume? Or am I just overthinking everything and should take the one with the most money because it doesn't really matter?