<p>So I just finished my freshman year as a premed student, and here are my plans for this summer. </p>
<p>Any suggestions would be appreciated!</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Doing an unpaid internship (or should I say volunteering) with a biology professor at my local state university.</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteering at a hospital about 4-8 hours every week </p></li>
<li><p>Finding a summer job (not medical related) to save money for school</p></li>
<li><p>Maybe listening to some lectures at my local university's summer school</p></li>
<li><p>Prepare for the orgo and biology classes of next semester.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>One more thing: should I start shadowing already? When's the optimal time to do that? </p>
<p>Again, any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated!!!</p>
<p>I did not see the most important thing for summer: spending time with your friends at home. The other activities all depend if they are available in your home town. D. did everything during school year at her college away from home. Nothing, absolutely nothing was available for her in a summer at home. She was able to find some shadowing and very little volunteering because she was much more persistant than most. We have waiting lists even for volunteering positions, so D. did not get her choice #1, but she found one in area of personal interest. Nothing else, including the dirtiest manual job is available here. She had an awesome job, great volunteering experience (with extensive training), great Med. Research Lab. internship (again in area of her personal interest), all at her college. She hnever needed to take summer classes or study for anything during summer, since she took MCAT in May of junior year. This summer will be the first one for her to be at school - her Med. School starts on July 7, this will be very unusual, but she is looking forward. So, you do not haveto do anything in a summer in case you do everything at school during school year. Good luck finding some summer opportunities if this is your choice.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. The problem for me is that I didn’t do ANYTHING that would help my med. school application during my freshman year (no job, no internship, no research, little volunteering not med-related), so I’m trying to make up for it this summer.</p>
<p>Try to pace ourself. D2 spent the summer after her freshman year working an hourly wage job in a National Park. Good pay plus the perk of living in the Park for free. She had a marvelous time, made some lifelong friends, watched a elk calf born less than 10 feet from the front door of her room and saw a grizzly bear up close and way too personal. Would she trade it for summer in the lab? Never!</p>
<p>While working at the Park, she arranged to get into a research lab and arranged to start as medical volunteer at the hospital near her college campus. (Thru the miracle of the internet and cell phones!) She got Wilderness First Aid certified. (Mostly for her own safety and those of the people she hiked with, not because it looks good for med school.) </p>
<p>D2 has everything she needs to apply now at the end of her junior year. So will you. Don’t stress yourself out over this. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.</p>
Unfortunately this just doesn’t work for most premeds. Most premeds need research jobs over the summer and can’t find them in their hometowns. Or international exposure, which obviously isn’t usually in a hometown. Or clinical experience, which isn’t always in their hometowns.</p>
<p>I see the values you’re espousing. But unfortunately you need to spend your summers wisely, and being at home doesn’t always work for that.</p>
<p>Don’t prepare for orgo and bio over the summer. Its useless.</p>
<p>Why would you listen to some lectures at your local university’s summer school? Are you taking classes there? If not, then you should probably spend that time doing something else…</p>
<p>I am unlike bdm when it comes to summer stuffm as I spent my first two studying abroad and chasing girls. A healthy dose of leisurely activities on your first summer of college isn’t going to kill your application. Don’t pre study, spend that time having fun. If you are doing pre med stuff more than ten to twenty hours a week this first summer on top of a job you should take up a hobby instead. The fact is that a lot of pre meds don’t really rev up until after first year, in part because they just aren’t well established after a single year in most cases. Pick one thing that you are interested in and focus on that. Quality and duration count just as much if not more than quantity of activities. The shot gun approach leaves with a lot tiny pieces that don’t fit into anything impressive.</p>
<p>D. had very good Med. research internship with presentation and even obtained couple grants for research by writing proposals by herself. It lasted 2 or more years, but it was at her college. She had developed great relationship with grad. student at this lab, who is actually planning to be working after her own graduation close to D’s Med. School. So, it looks like D. might have couple Research opportunities lined up for her at Med. School with people she has worked before. Everything was so easy to get at college, while at home it was a different story. D.has spend most of the summer time with her home buddies from HS, it was very valuable for her also. She had few shadows and couple short volunteering opportunities, but not at the level that she had at college. Then, it all paid off during Med. School applicatio (Rec. Letters) and nominations for various awards and Honors during senior year before graduation. So, looking back, it seems that doing EC’s at college during school year has more benefits:
Engagements are longer, lasting several years,
Rec. Letters,
nominations for awards,
long lasting relationships with opportunities in a future.</p>
<p>I would say don’t <em>formally</em> pre-study. I’m in exactly the same position. I was actually considering getting orgo or diffeq’s out of the way this summer, but decided against it. It’s nothing you can put on the application, and in the long run, it’s time you could spend getting medical experience or working in a research lab. But, DO order books early and look over the stuff briefly for your upcoming classes if you want, just to know how much work you’ll be putting in.</p>
<p>Question for MiamiDAP: how exactly did your D. arrange shadowing? I want to do it, but I have no idea where to start. I have formally applied for volunteering positions in the past, but it seems that shadowing is something that is done personally. No one in my family is in medicine, and I virtually know no one who works in medicine.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice! Perhaps this would be a strange question but, from your experience, do doctors/hospitals see a pre-med student as a burden that they need to take on, or are they happy to have someone learn from their day-to-day work?</p>
<p>I know I want to shadow because it sounds like a great opportunity, but I would just like to know the clinics’ and doctors’ opinions on it. And, is it too late to do it for this summer? I already have a research job and clinic volunteering at one hospital and hopefully a second one, so I’m not screwed. But, I would still like to shadow if at all possible.</p>
<p>What’s the best way to contact doctors? I have a dermatologist that I saw frequently - that’s the only doctor that I actually know somewhat. Thankfully for my health I’ve spent very little time in hospitals, but ironically that’s a downside now that I’m looking for connections. Should I call?</p>
<p>"Question for MiamiDAP: how exactly did your D. arrange shadowing? "</p>
<p>-She contacted every MD that she could think off. Her Primary physician (shodowed), her previous employment place at Med. Research lab that was part of the hospital. She looked on-line and they listed physicians who you could contact. Most of her friends have MD parents. She contacted good number of them. Most of her contacts fell thru, some worked. The more you contact, the better outcome. No family members are in medicine, not remotedly. Volunteering was also very hard to get in home town, but she got it. Just be persistent, search, do not give up. She had great volunteering at school and also organized one herself, but funny enough it was after she was accepted to Med. Schools. She just had great time doing it and made it available for others.</p>
<p>Most of the doctors I know genuinely love their profession and are willing to invite young people in to shadow as their part in training the next generation of physicians. Some may find it a bother and refuse your request, but many won’t.</p>
<p>Some may refuse because their practice isn’t conducive to shadowing or there are patient privacy concerns. </p>
<p>If you have a good relationship with your derm and feel comfortable asking, then go ahead and ask. The worst he can say is “no”. And if he can’t accommodate you, maybe he can suggest someone who can. Network!</p>
<p>That’s a good idea. I’ll actually call and ask him, or maybe see him in person. I love how you said “the worst he can say is ‘no.’” That’s something I always forget, but that really puts it into perspective.</p>
<p>And, he MUST know other doctors that he could ask.</p>
<p>In general the ones that find pre-meds a burden don’t agree to let them shadow, so you don’t really have to worry about them being annoyed with you.</p>
<p>The worst that has actually happened was not even NO. It was no returned calls. After several of no returned calls over few months period, you will know not to contact this person, who actually has said YES. That is why it is important to contact many. Dermotologist was one of my D’s most rewarding shadowing, although she was not her doctor, no previous relationship, basically almost random call, although D. used to work at Med. Research Lab at the same facility. So that is how she has introduced herself. Again, be persistant, but not annoying, it might take time, start few months ahead of your planned shadowing time.</p>
<p>Just starting to think about shadowing, volunteering, research, internships, etc. – what kind of documentation/proof is required on most med school apps?</p>