Need some advice from you knowledgeable people

[zzzz]

<p>DS is a senior and has been on a pre-med track for awhile. He plans to take a gap year after college. He met a current med student from his university's med school recently. The talk with that med student (in his final year in med school) seems to throw him off track a bit.</p>

<p>The med student says that DS is doing well in a big name school, with a really hard science major. His MCAT score is good. His research experience is sufficient - doing research in both summers after freshman and junior year, as well as during the junior and senior school years. However, he may not be able to publish in his undergraduate years. In the summer after sophomore year, he went to Africa for almost 3 months, helping an organization in its outreach on HIV prevention. He has shadowed some doctors, but not extensively. The med student told DS that he really needs to beef up his direct contact with patients. </p>

<p>Originally, DS has planned to apply for a research position in US during the gap year. Now DS is thinking of going back to Africa for another year (hopefully in some capacity of being in contact with patients there) if he can secure a funding source. My questions are:</p>

<p>1) Is direct patient contact really a deciding factor for admission into med schools?</p>

<p>2) How can the interviews be arranged if DS really goes to Africa during the gap year?</p>

[somemom]

<p>Re: interviews from abroad, if that is your situation, you would need to apply early and try to schedule all the interviews around a break, like Christmas, when DS can return to the US.</p>

<p>Re: patient contact, yes, they, in general, like to see actual patient contact- volunteer in a hospital, volunteer at a senior center, shadow a physician, etc. On SDN one advisor says patient contact = being near enough to smell a patient ;)</p>

[Mythreesons]

<p>I do not believe it is possible to be abroad during the months of September to December during the year you are applying. You do not tell medical schools when you are available for an interview. You take the first date they have available. </p>

<p>As for patient contact, my son had: (1) a summer volunteering wheeling patients around, and (2) a program at his school where he shadowed emergency room physicians once a week for a semester. That was it. They just want to be sure you understand what being a doctor really involves.</p>