So, I recently decided to switch to premed after a year of college. I had previously done tutoring in Chinatown for a semester and originally planned to continue this. However, now that I am a premed, I realize that I now have to do some clinical volunteering as well (although I did this in high school already so I already have the experience of interacting with patients and seeing doctors in the hospital setting; not sure if it’s still highly recommended that I do this again?).
Should I stop tutoring and strictly do hospital volunteering as my community service activity? Or will medical schools still find non-clinical volunteering important to have on the application?
I think, with all my other ECs, having two volunteering activities might be a bit much…
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Med school adcomms will want to see long-term altruistic volunteering that is not medically related.
No, you should continue to do both.
Med school adcoms look very carefully at ECs in conjunction with LORs, PS, and interview to see what applicant got out of ECs or other life experiences to help them assess if an applicant has the qualities (eg, altruism, good communication skills, leadership, etc) that they believe will make a good MD. ECs are not simply a checklist of activities. ECs such as “some clinical volunteering” that started/ended in high school will probably not carry a lot, if any weight, with adcoms. Adcoms will expect you to do much more post high school. So I’d agree that both of the replies you’ve received offer solid advice.
You don’t have to do everything concurrently. Do your medical volunteering over the summer if you like. It’s not necessary to rack up hundreds of hours doing it. Med Schools just want to know that you have a good understanding of what practicing medicine will mean. If you enjoy tutoring, keep doing it.
They look for well-rounded candidates with significant strengths in several areas, including non-clinical.