What are the best extracurricular activities for medical school?

What are the best extracurricular activities for medical school?

4. Extracurricular Activities For Medical School

• Medical Experience: i.e. shadowing a doctor in a hospital or general practice clinic or volunteering on medically-related activities.
• Service: Volunteering, community work for people with disabilities or low socioeconomic background.

What extracurricular activities should I do to be a doctor?

They bounce between teaching, swimming, chess club, debate team, volunteering with kids, shadowing a doctor, and keep moving around trying to collect as many experiences as they can. Medical school extracurriculars are not like Pokemon, which means no, you don’t need to collect them all.

Do extracurriculars matter for med school?

It is no secret that extracurricular activities are a necessity for getting into medical school. Even with the highest GPA and MCAT score, medical schools will not consider an applicant without any experience in the medical industry.

Can I get into med school without extracurriculars?

Med school admissions committees (Adcoms) are almost certain to reject you without any extracurriculars. Even with an exceptional GPA or MCAT score, having no extracurriculars is an indicator of a lack of commitment. Many pre-meds come out with similar GPA’s and MCAT scores. But extracurriculars can be diverse.

How old do you have to be to shadow a doctor?

16 years of age
Each healthcare facility has the right to institute their own rules, but most programs will allow students who are at least 16 years of age to shadow a willing doctor or surgeon.

Do medical schools verify extracurriculars?

According to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), each medical school has its own specific process for reviewing their applications. This means there’s no one way schools verify activities. What does happen in most cases is that applications go to an admissions committee.

Can you lie about shadowing hours?

If you are going to fabricate shadowing experiences, you will be busted in your interview — if not as soon as they read your personal statement about the time that you got so good at shadowing that they let you close up the patient at the end of the last spinal surgery you attended at the urgent care center.

Do residencies care about extracurriculars?

Excelling at both extracurricular activities and exams in medical school is critical to deciding what residency you want to pursue and ultimately getting into that residency. Most medical school students are well-versed in successfully juggling multiple endeavors and demanding schedules.

Can high schoolers shadow doctors?

The answer is yes, if you are in high school there are opportunities to shadow doctors at a hospital or clinic. Each healthcare facility has the right to institute their own rules, but most programs will allow students who are at least 16 years of age to shadow a willing doctor or surgeon.

Can I shadow a doctor at 14?

Any individual 14 years of age and older, is eligible to job shadow. To job shadow in the emergency department or surgery, individuals must be 16 years of age. High school students deciding on a career path who want to observe a professional doing everyday activities, may apply for a one-time, four-hour job shadow.

What should you do as an extracurricular activity for medical school?

Research experience is a wonderful extracurricular activity to add to your application because it shows the admissions committee that you are curious about the unknown, have an interest in learning new information and possess a desire for discovery. These are excellent attributes that will carry over in your medical school training.

Can you spend less time on extracurricular activities?

If you had that information, you could spend less time on extracurricular activities you don’t love, and more on the ones you do. Fortunately, this information is available to you.

Why are extracurriculars important to a university admissions officer?

Extracurricular activities can really help admissions officers get a better idea of who you are, what interests you, and why you may be an ideal fit for their university.

What do you need to know to go to medical school?

Preparing for medical school demands displaying your passion for both medicine and helping others. Like medical schools, other graduate school programs (think: business or law) require strong grades, test scores, leadership experience, and resumes. But medical school requires so much more than that.