Looking for feedback on experiences?

[bme94]

Hello all,

I'm a premed student new to this site and I was just looking for some feedback on the experiences I have thus far. Would anyone mind helping me out? Thank you

Research assistant at a children's hospital: a little over a year now, through the school year and summer (300 hours)
Research assistant at health Laboratory at my school: about a year, worked through the school year and the summer (350 hours)
Shadowing: Emergency Physician and at a Dermatology clinic, about 20 hours.
Clubs: Tennis club and culinary club at my school
Service: community service through my local center and nursing homes, hard to say the number of hours, but I guess around 50

Oh, and overall gpa is a 3.67, science I believe 3.5-3.6 (calculated before, don't remember exact number)
Took the MCAT, but scores don't come out until next week.

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[NotASerialKiller]

Lookin' good pumpkin, keep on truckin

 

[bme94]

Lookin' good pumpkin, keep on truckin

Thank you

 

[ofthesaints]

I'd look to find leadership roles in clubs/organizations you enjoy (Tennis club, Culinary club, etc.)

 

[bme94]

I'd look to find leadership roles in clubs/organizations you enjoy (Tennis club, Culinary club, etc.)

Thanks for your feedback. What about shadowing? Is it necessary to have a lot of hours or do they just want you to do a little so you know what its like?

 

[Meeehai]

Thanks for your feedback. What about shadowing? Is it necessary to have a lot of hours or do they just want you to do a little so you know what its like?

Keep in mind that your experiences are to demonstrate/prove that you have interest and the skills or qualities to be a medical student. If you shadow a doctor for 3 hours and learn a lot from it, it's just as beneficial as someone who shadowed for 50 hours and got the same benefits out of it.

 

[ofthesaints]

Thanks for your feedback. What about shadowing? Is it necessary to have a lot of hours or do they just want you to do a little so you know what its like?

I'd advise to shadow doctors within multiple specialties just to get a feel for the broad sense of medicine. However, don't be discouraged from spending a lot of time shadowing a doctor of a specific specialty if you enjoy the field (assuming the doctor is open to having you shadowing for an extended period of time). I started shadowing a diagnostic radiologist 4 years ago and now I shadow/assist him 2-3 times a month. Not only has he become my mentor, he has given me the opportunity to receive first authorship in a paper we are currently working on. Also, he has connected me with his colleagues in other specialties so I can shadow them as well.

 

[Munty]

Thanks for your feedback. What about shadowing? Is it necessary to have a lot of hours or do they just want you to do a little so you know what its like?

From my experience the adcoms generally like a diversity of experience over a large quantity of hours. So diversifying experience is good, also make sure you get some good primary care hours in there. I've known people who didn't get accepted and the reason given was that they had no primary care shadowing. I personally have shadowed about 7 or 8 doctors and in several interviews it has been brought up. They ask me about my favorite experiences and specialties a lot.

 

[bme94]

Keep in mind that your experiences are to demonstrate/prove that you have interest and the skills or qualities to be a medical student. If you shadow a doctor for 3 hours and learn a lot from it, it's just as beneficial as someone who shadowed for 50 hours and got the same benefits out of it.

Thank you!

 

[bme94]

I'd advise to shadow doctors within multiple specialties just to get a feel for the broad sense of medicine. However, don't be discouraged from spending a lot of time shadowing a doctor of a specific specialty if you enjoy the field (assuming the doctor is open to having you shadowing for an extended period of time). I started shadowing a diagnostic radiologist 4 years ago and now I shadow/assist him 2-3 times a month. Not only has he become my mentor, he has given me the opportunity to receive first authorship in a paper we are currently working on. Also, he has connected me with his colleagues in other specialties so I can shadow them as well.

Thanks for your help. I'll try to shadow doctors from a variety of fields. If I do this, do you think my experiences would be substantial?

 

[bme94]

From my experience the adcoms generally like a diversity of experience over a large quantity of hours. So diversifying experience is good, also make sure you get some good primary care hours in there. I've known people who didn't get accepted and the reason given was that they had no primary care shadowing. I personally have shadowed about 7 or 8 doctors and in several interviews it has been brought up. They ask me about my favorite experiences and specialties a lot.

Really? I didn't know it mattered what type of shadowing you did as long as you enjoyed it and learned a lot. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[Chelsea FC]

I would do some service unrelated to medicine .. become a big brother, habitat for humanity , do something different but only if you like it!

 

[ofthesaints]

Thanks for your help. I'll try to shadow doctors from a variety of fields. If I do this, do you think my experiences would be substantial?

No problem! I think your experiences within research and clinical experience would be. However, I still believe you could strengthen your experiences within community service and leadership.