WAMC 2024-2025 Cycle

Smart-hair · Nov 6, 2023

Please give advice on my current school list and maybe suggest some more schools I should consider, preferably research focused and service oriented.

Career Interest: Academic medicine (Principal Investigator)

MCAT: 513 (129,126,130,128)

cGPA: 3.73, sGPA: 3.70

Demographics: CA resident, ORM, not SES-disadvantaged, not first gen, 4 gap years

Activities: 2200+ hours paid clinical research, 1700 hours paid medical assisting, 500 hours undergraduate basic science research, 280 hours clinical volunteering, 230 hours non-clinical volunteering, 2 posters, no publications, no shadowing

School list: UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UC Irvine, UC Davis, USC Keck, Stanford, Kaiser, U Miami, USF Morsani, Mt. Sinai, Einstein, Hofstra

I have some family ties to NY and FL, so that's why I included some schools in those areas.

- EDIT: Currently working towards Master's Degree in Clinical Research.

Mr.Smile12 · Nov 6, 2023

When did you submit your application? Why not Ph.D.?

Please break down your clinical and non-clinical experiences, including community service activities. What are your responsibilities in clinical research and medical assisting?

Smart-hair · Nov 6, 2023

Mr.Smile12 said:
When did you submit your application? Why not Ph.D.?

Please break down your clinical and non-clinical experiences, including community service activities. What are your responsibilities in clinical research and medical assisting?

I have not submitted my application yet. I am applying for the 2024-2025 application cycle. My interests are in surgical oncology research. Therefore, a Ph.D. would not suffice for my career goals.

* = ongoing activity

Clinical volunteering:

*10 hour of volunteering at a dialysis clinic (2 hours per week)
80 hours of volunteering a physical therapist's assistant (summer internship)
80 hours of emergency medicine volunteer research; recruited patients to clinical research studies within the ER (summer internship)
120 hours of medical volunteering abroad; set up mobile clinics in rural areas without access to healthcare (summer internship)

Non-clinical volunteering:

60 hours of fundraising and volunteering to help send excess medical supplies to impoverished countries
160 hours of volunteering as a summer camp counselor for children with disabilities
*40 hours of teaching swim lessons to children with disabilities (2 hours per week)
*60 hours of volunteering at an animal shelter (2 hours per week)

Paid clinical experience:

*2200 hours working as a clinical research coordinator at an academic teaching hospital; carrying out clinical research trials in the department of surgery (full-time).
1700 hours working as a medical assistant at an ophthalmology private practice

Non-clinical research:

250 hours of undergraduate basic science research investigating Alzheimer's disease in drosophila (presented 1 poster)
250 hours of undergraduate basic science research investigating neuromapping of fear/anxiety emotions using mice (presented 1 poster)

Shadowing:

0 hours

Hobbies:

Mountain biking/road cycling

Mr.Smile12 · Nov 7, 2023

Smart-hair said:
My interests are in surgical oncology research. Therefore, a Ph.D. would not suffice for my career goals.

That's a long road, so good luck! This specialty comes as a fellowship after residency for what I can gather. Is this department where you are working as a CRA/CRC?

What is Surgical Oncology? Q&A with the Director of the New Division of Surgical Oncology | Columbia Surgery

A conversation with Sam Yoon, MD, Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Vice Chair of Surgical Oncology Research and Education.What is surgical oncology?Surgical oncology is an area of expertise that focuses on the surgical treatment of various cancers.

columbiasurgery.org

https://ccr.cancer.gov/training/clinical/surgical-oncology-fellowship

Shadowing specialties that are not represented in the work you are doing will help you, but until you are in a position to choose your niche in surgery/oncology, you need to be receptive to all the specialties where you have frequent cancer diagnoses. You also need to embrace interprofessional contributions and ultimately show teamwork and collaboration is a strength (and growing). The disabilities volunteering work you do is fantastic (need more consistency/year-roundwork if possible), but it doesn't connect with your goal as a surgical oncologist (as you describe it). Neither does the research, though that's not as critical... you can always try to pick up the bench research as a medical student, definitely if you go PhD.

Research as an MD is possible but requires a strong time management and mentorship component. Your letters, especially with residency and fellowship, will be key here.

Every major academic hospital should have surgical oncology, so what is your purpose as a physical? What is your mission match with the schools on your list?

Smart-hair · Nov 7, 2023

Mr.Smile12 said:
That's a long road, so good luck! This specialty comes as a fellowship after residency for what I can gather. Is this department where you are working as a CRA/CRC?

Research as an MD is possible but requires a strong time management and mentorship component. Your letters, especially with residency and fellowship, will be key here.

Every major academic hospital should have surgical oncology, so what is your purpose as a physical? What is your mission match with the schools on your list?

As a CRC, I am currently engaged in research related to transplant surgery, encompassing both pre-operative and post-operative clinical trials. These studies range from interventional drug trials to observational registry investigations. While I haven't fully committed to surgical oncology as my definitive specialty, I find myself leaning towards this field. My inclination towards surgical oncology is driven by my deep involvement in research and a personal motivation rooted in witnessing my family members' struggles with cancer. I aspire to contribute to this field as a way of giving back.

Although I am no longer a summer camp counselor, since I graduated from college, I still each swim lessons to children with disabilities once a week for 2 hours .As you mentioned, mentorship plays a significant role in academic medicine. I have always appreciated the role model and leadership aspects, which I first experienced as a summer camp counselor and continue to cultivate in my role as a swim instructor.

During my undergraduate years, I had the opportunity to engage in some shadowing experiences. However, I found the passive nature of shadowing to be unexciting and lacking in meaning. I much preferred working as a medical assistant, where I felt more hands-on and more involved in the medical field.

chilly_md · Nov 9, 2023

You will need 50 hours of shadowing, with some of that being in primary care.

If you have interest in service oriented schools, then it would be better to volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank as opposed to an animal shelter. You don’t need to divert time to clinical volunteering anymore. You’ve already done enough as an MA. And the abroad volunteering may be seen as voluntourism.

Your current list is rather top heavy for a 513 MCAT. I suggest:

UC Irvine
UC Davis
UCR (only if from the IE)
CUSM
NYMC
Albany
Quinnipiac
Tufts
Dartmouth
Hackensack
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Vermont
George Washington
Georgetown
VCU
EVMS
Wake
Nova MD
Wayne State
Oakland
MCW
Rosalind Franklin
St Louis
Creighton
TCU
Tulane
Colorado

Smart-hair · Nov 17, 2023

chilly_md said:
You will need 50 hours of shadowing, with some of that being in primary care.

If you have interest in service oriented schools, then it would be better to volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank as opposed to an animal shelter. You don’t need to divert time to clinical volunteering anymore. You’ve already done enough as an MA. And the abroad volunteering may be seen as voluntourism.

Why do I need 50 hours of shadowing? And why in primary care?
Aren't I already helping the underserved by volunteering at a dialysis clinic and teaching children with disabilities how to swim? Why a homeless shelter or a foodbank?
Are you saying to not include the abroad volunteering in my app?

gyngyn · Nov 17, 2023

Smart-hair said:
Why do I need 50 hours of shadowing? And why in primary care?

Schools want to see that you understand what it means to be a physician.
They are educating you to be trained in any number of specialties and the majority of those jobs are in longitudinal care specialties.

Smart-hair · Nov 17, 2023

gyngyn said:
They are educating you to be trained in any number of specialties and the majority of those jobs are in longitudinal care specialties.

Does my work as an ophthalmologist's medical assistant check off that box? Part of my job was assisting the doctor with the patient examinations and writing the clinical notes. Many of the patient were under longitudinal care.

wysdoc · Nov 17, 2023

Smart-hair said:
Does my work as an ophthalmologist's medical assistant check off that box? Part of my job was assisting the doctor with the patient examinations and writing the clinical notes. Many of the patient were under longitudinal care.

That’s a clinical/health care job so it will go in a different category on your application.
Since you seem to have doctor contacts though, ask a few of them if you could spend a few afternoons shadowing.

Smart-hair · Nov 17, 2023

wysdoc said:
That’s a clinical/health care job so it will go in a different category on your application.

I shadowed a little bit in the past (shadowed an orthopedic sports medicine doc for about 8 hours). The problem is that I find shadowing to be very passive and unengaging. I prefer doing more hands-on/active activities, such as research, medical assisting, volunteering, etc.

How would I be able to convey the significance of shadowing in my med school app description?

wysdoc · Nov 17, 2023

Smart-hair said:
I shadowed a little bit in the past (shadowed an orthopedic sports medicine doc for about 8 hours). The problem is that I find shadowing to be very passive and unengaging. I prefer doing more hands-on/active activities, such as research, medical assisting, volunteering, etc.

How would I be able to convey the significance of shadowing in my med school app description?

The point of shadowing is to observe how a doctor interacts with patients, and to see all the parts of their work day. See what approaches and communication styles you would like to adopt later. You don’t engage or interact with the patient encounter at all.
Not having 40-50 hours on your app will be seen as a lack.

Smart-hair · Nov 17, 2023

wysdoc said:
The point of shadowing is to observe how a doctor interacts with patients, and to see all the parts of their work day. See what approaches and communication styles you would like to adopt later. You don’t engage or interact with the patient encounter at all.

In that case, could I just count some of my medical assisting hours as shadowing?

On my app I would list medical assisting for an ophthalmologist as a paid clinical experience. Then list shadowing the same ophthalmologist as a shadowing experience.

gyngyn · Nov 17, 2023

Smart-hair said:
On my app I would list medical assisting for an ophthalmologist as a paid clinical experience. Then list shadowing the same ophthalmologist as a shadowing experience.

Double-dipping in an ophthalmologist's office will not give you the experience one gets in a primary care office.
...and we will see right through it.

Smart-hair · Nov 17, 2023

gyngyn said:
Double-dipping time in an ophthalmologist's office will not give you the experience one gets in a primary care office.
...and we will see right through it.

I see. I will look for opportunities to shadow a PCP. Besides that, is there anything else I should do to best prepare myself for the upcoming application cycle?

chilly_md · Nov 20, 2023

Smart-hair said:
Aren't I already helping the underserved by volunteering at a dialysis clinic and teaching children with disabilities how to swim? Why a homeless shelter or a foodbank?
Are you saying to not include the abroad volunteering in my app?

Dialysis clinic is clinical experience, not non-clinical volunteering. Teaching children with disabilities is admirable, but it is unlikely you will end up with substantial hours for service-oriented schools doing it at 2 hrs/wk (especially if that stops during part or all of winter). It would be best to have experience in the community with underserved adults.

Do not include the abroad volunteering.

Smart-hair · Nov 20, 2023

chilly_md said:
It would be best to have experience in the community with underserved adults.

I see. I will look for opportunities to volunteer at a foodbank/homeless shelter/underserved. Besides that, is there anything else I should do to best prepare myself for the upcoming application cycle?

Mr.Smile12 · Nov 20, 2023

Lots

Smart-hair said:
I see. I will look for opportunities to volunteer at a foodbank/homeless shelter/underserved. Besides that, is there anything else I should do to best prepare myself for the upcoming application cycle?

Read the articles.