Premed junior seeking application advice

[brittney101]

Just posted this on reddit but thought it couldn't hurt to post it here as well. Thanks in advance.
Hey everyone. I’m halfway through my junior year and I plan to take a gap year, so I am a while away from applying. But if there are holes in my application, I’d like to start filling them now.

4.0 GPA, taking MCAT in the summer. I am not a great test taker, so I am not expecting anything spectacular here. URM? I think? I don’t really know.

Non Clinical volunteer work:

• 350+ hours over 2 years of work with a non profit organization, serving rural areas through free healthcare pop up clinics. I have been in training for over half of those hours and just got certified for an influential leadership position. All hours going forward will be in that leadership position.
• 100 hours of sewing toys and clothes for children affected by abuse in rural areas through a non profit organization locally.

Clinical work: -200 hours over almost 2 years, working at a COVID testing site on my campus

Leadership:

• President of the premed club on campus for a year

Research:

• 160 hours of research between two projects on campus, no pubs. (Our data was trash )

Jobs/Internships:

• Chemistry TA for 2 semesters
• RA on the housing team on campus for 2 years
• A 120 hour, 3 credit, one semester long internship with the athletic trainers on my campus

Shadowing:

• None! Yet. COVID’s timing was really unfortunate.

Other:

• I am a dedicated college musician and am doing a performance concentration

I want to go into rural primary care, and will apply especially to schools that have good programs in place for that, or that have a strong rural mission.

I plan on continuing with most, if not all of these ECs for the next year and a half while I’m at school. I also plan to work full time during my gap year at any clinical job- think scribe, medical assistant, etc. Additionally, I will continue volunteering with the pop up clinic non profit.

What do you guys think? I appreciate any advice. Thanks!

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[MyOdyssey]

How many of your premed courses have you completed so far?

 

[brittney101]

How many of your premed courses have you completed so far?

i am in cell bio & physics 1 rn. Next semester I’m taking genetics & physics 2. I’m taking advanced biochem over the summer. Then my MCAT after that.

 

[LizzyM]

You need shadowing, of course. Might it be possible to do a home stay with a rural physician for a week? Some colleges arrange these with alumni who are rural doctors -- works out nicely for the doc to help his/her alma mater and for the current student to get a chance to really see what rural medicine is all about.

Figure on several hundred hours of MCAT prep including content review, test strategy and 7 hours/week devoted to taking a practice test and almost that much time to review the test and analyzing what you got wrong and what you got right (did you really know the answer or did you make a lucky guess?). If you are diligent in taking practice tests under test conditions you should do well on test day as it will be in the words of one successful applicant, "just another Saturday".

 

[MyOdyssey]

i am in cell bio & physics 1 rn. Next semester I’m taking genetics & physics 2. I’m taking advanced biochem over the summer. Then my MCAT after that.

I assume you’re completing 2 semesters of organic chemistry before you take biochemistry? Orgo is required by medical schools, tested on the MCAT and provides important foundational information for biochemistry.

Here’s a useful thread on medical schools with rural programs:

Rural medical schools?

Hello. I am posting this in the MD section but this question is for ALL medical schools. Are there any in a more rural area? I know cities provide amazing resources and opportunities, but I am from a city, currently living in a more rural community and love it. I plan to practice medicine in a...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[brittney101]

You need shadowing, of course. Might it be possible to do a home stay with a rural physician for a week? Some colleges arrange these with alumni who are rural doctors -- works out nicely for the doc to help his/her alma mater and for the current student to get a chance to really see what rural medicine is all about.

Figure on several hundred hours of MCAT prep including content review, test strategy and 7 hours/week devoted to taking a practice test and almost that much time to review the test and analyzing what you got wrong and what you got right (did you really know the answer or did you make a lucky guess?). If you are diligent in taking practice tests under test conditions you should do well on test day as it will be in the words of one successful applicant, "just another Saturday".

I will look into doing a home stay with a rural physician. Hmm… maybe a week of full time shadowing over thanksgiving break and a week over Christmas break would be a good place to start.
The MCAT is a beast. I’ve always thought that it would be the biggest barrier between me and being a doctor. I plan to make it my full time job over the summer. Thank you!

 

[brittney101]

How many of your premed courses have you completed so far?

i am in cell bio & physics 1 rn. Next semester I’m taking genetics & physics 2. I’m taking advanced biochem over the summer. Then my MCAT after that.

I wasn’t clear here. I have competed all of them (Gen chem, gen bio, Orgo, A&P, stats and gen psych. I may be forgetting some of them here?) except for: cell bio & genetics physics I and II and advanced biochemistry.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

Looks good. MCAT will obviously be the biggest factor in determining target schools. Aim for 500+ for DO 505+ for MD, 515+ for T20