It is so easy to see that one pre-medical volunteering club that everyone is in and convince yourself that if you don't join that club, you'll never get in to medical school. This actually quite untrue! Sometimes it is best to first try to figure out what your interests are, narrow down organizations that reflect those interests, and then apply to those. Many organizations can be competitive to get into, so apply broadly, but not so broadly that you are overwhelmed with applications and are anxious to pick the first one to accept you.

It can be extremely helpful to keep a log of your volunteer hours for your extracurricular activities on Google Sheets or Excel. If you update it regularly, you could make things a lot easier for yourself when you have to list the number of hours you accrued for each activity in your AMCAS® application.

Some programs (ex.: hospital volunteering where you have to sign in) can give you a list of all your hours, so you don't have to keep track of those. However, for activities where they do not keep a running record, we really recommend keeping this list! It will also help you recount the types of activities you did for that respective extracurricular and you can speak more confidently and thoroughly about everything you accomplished.

Maybe one day at the hospital you saw something or did something significant, and you might want to be able to refer to it when you are applying to medical school (even if you are a few years out from applying). Along with your hours, keep a list of some significant experiences you had or things you learned.

For example, when scribing or volunteering, you may keep a running list on your phone Notes app of pointers and bits of advice that physicians recommend to you for your future career (ex.: "find the balance between empathy and being grounded in the values of medicine" along with a brief and anonymous hypothetical example of what that would be like in practice with a patient). You can integrate these lessons into your primary and secondary applications, as well as speak about them in your interviews!

As you start to write your personal statement when applying to medical school, you will realize that you probably want to tie everything together under a theme.

For example, a student may demonstrate their interest in cardiovascular health from a public health, research, and clinical perspective in their personal statement. Finding a theme can give you a great place to start, and a good way to showcase various aspects of your personality and career interests.

At the same time though, don't be afraid to try out different things and refer to those in your application! Those experience can help you learn and grow in new ways, while broadening your knowledge and experience!

This is a really common question that medical school applicants have! Clinical exposure can come from activities such as hospital volunteering, clinical research with direct patient contact, and paid experiences such as scribing or EMT. Regardless of whether or not you are being paid, gaining experience in the medical field is incredibly valuable to your application!

CLINICAL VOLUNTEERING

Volunteering is a great way to get exposure to the medical field. Typically, the rule of thumb is that if you are working directly with patients, usually in a clinic or hospital setting, the volunteering experience is considered to be "clinical volunteering."

Some examples of tasks a volunteer can do are restocking medical supplies, bringing food or supplies to hospital patients, scribing for a physician, transporting patients, providing company to patients, and surveying patients or healthcare workers about their hospital experience.

At most hospitals and universities, you will need to apply to specific volunteer programs. If you are accepted, you will have to complete certain on-boarding tasks, such as CPR or Child Life training. Make sure that, as a volunteer, you follow all of the rules and stipulations of the program. Be professional and respectful, and make sure you do not do anything you are not assigned to be doing, as some of these may have legal implications. Additionally, some programs require that you meet a certain number of shifts or hours by the end of the year.

Look out for programs that allow volunteers to rotate through different departments or clinics - this can be a great way to see medicine from multiple angles!

PAID CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

If you are looking to become a physician, paid clinical experiences are a great way gain exposure to the medical field! Some examples of paid clinical experience include becoming a medical scribe, EMT, phlebotomist, medical assistant, or certified nursing assistant. Several applicants to medical school also include people who are coming from other major health professions, such as nursing or public health.

Paid clinical experience will typically require you to go through varying lengths of training, depending on which job you are aiming for. As a medical scribe, you may undergo a few weeks of online and in-person training specific to your job. As an EMT or phlebotomist, you will typically have to take a larger training course and receive an official certification that you can use to apply to multiple jobs.

Do you need shadowing? Not necessarily! Many people gain exposure to the field of medicine from hospital volunteering. However, if you have the opportunity to shadow a physician, definitely go for it. Not only will you learn about what a doctor may do on a typical day, but you may also get a chance to speak with a physician about things they like (and do not like) about their job. This can help you determine if you are truly interested in medicine and can show medical schools that you have a strong grip of what a physician does.

While it is valuable experience, shadowing is not easy to come by. Doctors have extremely busy schedules, and many of them are unable to take on students, either due to time constraints or hospital restrictions on student shadowing. Here are some ways you can find shadowing opportunities near you:

a) Send emails to local physicians: Have a specialty in mind that you want to shadow? Search up nearby clinics for that specialty and email one of the doctors that works at the practice. Let them know you are a pre-medical student interested in shadowing a physician to learn more about the field of medicine, and most physicians would be happy to take on a student. You may not immediately get a reply, so follow up if they have not responded within a week. If you still do not get a response, reach out to different people.

b) See if your local hospital has a shadowing program: Some hospitals have specific shadowing programs for pre-health students. You can submit an application and come to the hospital as an observer if you have been approved.

c) Contact a known family member/friend/parent of a friend: If you know a physician in your own social network, reach out to them and ask if they would be willing to take you on as an observer. They may be more willing since they know you already!

Regardless of how you find a shadowing opportunity, always make sure that:

a) you respect patient privacy

b) refrain from asking questions while you are with a patient (ask the physician questions before or after the patient encounter)

c) the physician you are shadowing receives the patient's permission for you to observe before you enter the room

d) the physician you are shadowing clarifies that you are a pre-medical student, not a medical student or doctor

In the end, even though this is a learning opportunity, you are an observer. Many patients don't mind having an additional person observe their appointment, but others may want to retain the privacy of the appointment.

One last tip - always reflect on your experience after a day of shadowing and write down important things you learned! Do not include any patient information, but write down observations you made or interesting procedures you saw. You could refer to these later on in your applications or interviews!