Hi!
I completed my undergraduate degree this past August and am currently hoping to apply to medical school this upcoming cycle (as of now I’m leaning MD-PhD programs specifically). I’m currently in the midst of an internal debate as to whether or not I will be a solid applicant this coming June and am debating pushing an application back a year. Some advice on the matter would be marvelous.
I’m ORM with a degree in psychology. In terms of pure stats I feel relatively confident with a 518 on the MCAT and a 3.97 GPA (3.93 sGPA). Beyond this, however, I become very hesitant. The majority of my time as an undergraduate was spent doing research.
-1200+ hours over 3 years to an autism lab yielding no posters or presentations
- 250 hours over a summer working on a behavioral task of osteoarthritis which yielded a poster.
-30 hours assisting with the implementation of patient surveys as a tool for physicians and subsequently examining their potential use in detecting adverse effects of medications (ongoing)
Concern #1) My primary lab was a start-up lab, I was actually the first person to join after the PI. The first two years were essentially setting up the lab and running pilot experiments. The third year I was able to independently contribute towards a project and am currently wrestling with trying to draft a manuscript. Is this an acceptable justification for a lack of published works?
To date, my clinical experience and volunteering time is sparse.
-50 hours ED volunteer
-40 hours shadowing family medicine, pediatric genetics, and psychiatry doctors (plan to get some rheumatology time in there at some point)
-25 hours tutoring low income child with ASD and ADHD (ongoing)
-45 hours providing produce to individuals at risk for food insecurity (ongoing)
Since graduating I’ve been taking an EMT course and expect to get my license by mid-January. I’ll be applying to ED tech jobs and failing this will take a job on a private ambulance.
Concern #2) I realize that things could change but if I maintain my current pace I’ll have around 210 hours of non-clinical volunteering by June. Am I on the right track?
Concern #3) I don’t have any plans to do more clinical volunteering. Would working a full- or part-time job in EMS be sufficient?
There are a few other things but what I’ve presented is pretty much the meat and bones of my application so far. Thanks for your time!
