I have a year off between undergrad and applying. What do I need to do?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>Hi all. I finished college this past May with a 3.7 as a B.S. in bio. I had no interest in medicine until this past year, so I more or less don't have any of the relevant extracirriculars. I've spent this entire summer studying for the MCAT and I'm getting around a 33 consistently on practice tests. I'm taking it in September but I'll probably take it at least one more time next year to try to get a 35+. So I think I'm good on my MCAT grind and can start getting some extracirriculars in order.</p>

<p>I want to apply in the summer of '10. I was told by my advisor that I should try to get a job for the next 2 years as a research technician. I don't have any premed friends who I can ask these types of questions to, but is that enough research experience? I would be working more or less full time for 2 years, but the descriptions for most of these jobs make it sound like I just do clerical stuff a monkey could do - is this the extent of 'doing research'? I've read a few of the topics on this board the past few days and a lot of the premeds here make it sound like you're curing cancer. I started applying near the end of July and so far I'm up to about 50 applications (not an exaggeration) over the past 3 weeks and no call-backs yet. Am I a pariah or does finding a job just take this long?</p>

<p>Also, I need to spend time in a clinic. I've looked around on a lot of hospital websites, but I don't see volunteer opportunities for these types of things (lots of stuff for answering phones though). In my MCAT class I overheard a lot of the other people talking about getting to shadow doctors for a few hours a week, is this the kind of thing I need to have connections/family to get into? Should I go outside and roll around in a poison ivy bush so I can see my doctor tomorrow and ask him to let me follow him around? I live in Boston so there's no shortage of hospitals around.</p>

<p>Any help would be appreciated</p>

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<p>lol, the way you write it is so funny :)</p>

<p>Seriously, can you possibly get a lab position from a bio professor at your alma mater? As regard to the volunteering opportunity, DS found a hospital volunteering opportunity by locating some email address at its website. In the past, some people suggested that you can start by asking your family doctor.</p>

<p>I am not experienced with this at all. Maybe some more experienced ones here could give you more help more I could.</p>

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<p>going into the mcat planning to take it again is completely wrong. this isn’t the SAT…the majority of people who get into med school take it once and are done with it. it’s way too risky to retake if u do get a 33…trust me i thought about it cause of a 9 in verbal and found it to be too much hassle with a poor chance of positive return. there are stats out there from the aamc about retakes and they aren’t pretty. </p>

<p>if you’ve never done lab research before good luck finding someone to actually pay you to do it. bio majors who have a couple gap years before med school are a dime a dozen (that’s why the pay is really crappy for lab tech jobs) so why would anyone hire someone with no experience. i’m not saying don’t apply to those jobs just make sure you also apply to other healthcare related jobs or clinical research positions as backups.</p>

<p>shadowing can be done easily especially if you are in a big city. many hospitals have a volunteer department you can go to and ask about opportunities. if you went to college in boston too you should contact your alma mater and see which hospitals they send premeds to. going to your family doctor can be ok but it will get boring and lame really quickly and you’ll have little to talk about in essays or during interviews. and if u get a job at a hospital its a good way to find doctors to shadow</p>