“How does (PC) not eliminate local jobs?” They send in subject specialists, not people to help with filing. It’s a completely different commitment. You get well past the “exotic” phase. You integrate with the community on a longer term basis. Prior to her med apps, a young (now an MD) friend did a year with a Haitian clinic. Medical work. That was after a prior long term commitment at the same place.
Yes, a lot of kids giving shots, etc. Even high schoolers. But many of these short term vol programs (weeks, not months,) have a heavy dose of the relax component, as well.
OP, don’t be offended at these comments. But just being there isn’t the “it.” Just becoming aware isn’t it. It’s not a black and white thing that it’s “negative.” Rather that it isn’t enough. It isn’t hands on involvement in healthcare delivery. In many cases, nothing more than observation.
And there is plenty to be done at home. Less expensive, too.
@lookingforward Why would these comments offend me? I’m simply trying to gain an understanding of this concept. I personally enjoy getting to see new places and being useful while I’m there. Equador was a mission trip I took with my cc (most of the students were at least 23, not 16-18). However, whenever I find myself anywhere, I always make sure to take a few days out and volunteer, even in the US. I went to Nassau, Bahamas for a friends wedding, I booked for four days and the day after the wedding I met with one of the volunteer coordinators and asked how I can be of use. If they cannot afford to hire workers, and they aren’t receiving any donations how am I harming them by offering my hands? I definitely see how it can be exploitive in some cases where non-professionals are doing things that require qualifications. If I’m somewhere and have spare time, why not give back? I understand the valid points you guys are making about the vaccines and everything, however, I administer vaccines in the US as a certified MA and phlebotomist. Never under any circumstances would I never think of vaccinating children in a foreign country, simply because it doesn’t seem ethical. Medical schools want to see more than MCAT scores and a GPA, they want to see what made you into the person you are as well. Traveling and volunteering has helped me grow into the mature-responsible person I am today. I know first hand the difference that volunteers and donations can make from my own terrible personal experience.
I love traveling and visiting new countries. One of my goals is to visit at least 100 countries before I turn 21, ( I don’t know how I’ll make that happen). I am planning on visiting four countries this summer with my family, and I plan on volunteering in all four of these countries. It may not help towards med school admissions, but I feel like it’s only right to contribute something while I’m visiting.
You’re missing our point. It’s not dart in/dart out. It’s not filing. It’s not one day or week.
Yes, your attitude shows character. But they’re looking for specific sorts of experiences.
You mentioned stretching to pay college costs. Not sure 100 countries makes sense until out of med school. That’s not an investment in your future goals.
Instead of spending the money traveling, can you ask your family to pay for you to take all of the proper prerequisites at your four year university?
I am still confused about what you have versus what you need to take. Taking care of this is very important. Traveling the world will not get you into medical school.
I’m baffled by this entire thread. OP repeatedly cries poor, to the point where s/he may have taken non-science major courses to fill prerequisites for medical school for the express purpose of saving money, while at the same time blithely announces the goal of visiting “at least 100 countries” before turning 21. The extent of that travel and travel ambition bespeaks very extensive financial resources. In light of that, it causes one to wonder if this whole thread is a charade.
@crankyoldman It doesn’t cost much to travel if you book in advance and look for the best deals possible. One of my close friends is a travel agent and receives major discounts on hotels tour guides. Visiting 100 countries is one of my goals, and as I said I don’t know how I’m going to make it happen. I took the non-science major classes while still in high school because it was the only option at the time. I did not want to retake those classes, but as I’ve come to understand, it’s unavoidable. I have already enrolled for BIOL 1 and 2 for 6-week courses in the fall semester. The amount of money that I spent on tuition and fees this summer alone vastly exceeds the amount that I will spend on visiting four close and inexpensive countries. For example, the flight from LAX to Aruba cost me $145, then from Aruba to Venezuela was $65. I can easily take a trip from Guatemala to Costa Rica for $70. Do you know of any university that charges $280 for a class? That’s less than I paid for the lab kits for Biol for non-science majors at a cc. My school charges around $350 per credit hour. BIOL is 4 credits, therefore I’m paying around $1400 for one science course excluding the cost of the fees, books, and lab kit. Yes, my scholarship helps, but it’s still a lot of money for me to spend on a class.
Sorry, but I call baloney on this whole thread:
- You cry poor, but have enough money to travel, hopefully, to over 100 countries before you are 21. It doesn’t make any difference how much the airfare is, there are the costs of in-country travel, hostels, etc etc. To travel to 100 countries, even on a budget, would cost a lot. Someone with genuine financial need wouldn’t have the $65 for the ticket-since there will be dozens more.
- You have the funds to not just visit countries, but to tour medical schools in Europe and Australia. By the way, there are no cheap tickets from US to Australia-at least not for someone who is financially challenged.
- You come from a family of doctors, but can’t get advice from any of them. Or you can’t have any of them put you in touch with someone who can help; instead you hit the internet and then argue with the advice you get. But you can get relatives who are doctors to help with the shadowing, etc.
None of this, when added up, rings true. If you’ve got such an extensive network of ready experts, why show up here? And what under 21 year old can afford to visit 100 countries? And tour medical schools in Europe and Asia? And not ask relatives who are physicians how difficult it would be to get licensed in the USA if the medical degree is from Europe or Australia? HINT: It’s really, really tough.
My suggestion is to visit SDN and run this by them. Their responses will be very interesting.
As a PSA: travelling to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, or Venezuela right now is NOT recommended and could be seen as suspicious. These are countries in the midst of chaotic conflicts and they’re not safe. Those travelling there right now from the US tend to have unsavory/illegal reasons.
I don’t understand how biology is a 6 week course in the fall…
I think you should put all of your money into taking the right classes that you need to apply to medical school. Every little bit helps, and like I mentioned above…visiting countries will not get you into medical school. You need to decide what your priority is…getting into a school, or traveling? I also question your plans. As noted above, some of these places are not safe and not recommended.
@MYOS1634 I have family that lives in Venezuela, Guatemala, and a family friend in Honduras. I am not going there for illegal activities.
@twogirls I am going to enjoy my summer in addition to working towards med school. I have family in those countries, nothing unethical is in my plans. You’ve never heard of 6-week courses offered during the fall/spring? I already know the core concepts of biology I, II, and biochem. Taking them this fall will simply be a review for me.
@crankyoldman The purpose of this forum is to talk to those who have analyzed the undergrad and med school admissions, correct? I have talked to my relatives, but at the end of the day, they only have their personal experiences to talk from. My aunt has connected me with one of her friends whose an endocrinologist (my desired specialty) so hopefully, I’ll shadow her sometime soon. Financial circumstances can change from year to year. When I went to Australia, I didn’t have the medical bills that I have now. Also, I don’t want to look foolish in front of my family, how did I not know that med schools wouldn’t accept science for non-science majors? Did I say that I had the financial means to make it to 100 countries? No, I said that it was a goal of mine. Key word “goal”… I have asked my family in the past about med schools in Europe and they said I’d be fine. Also, the doctor I work under attended a med school in Egypt… She’s fine.
Also, my initial question is basically irrelevant now, as I will not be changing my major. I have also listened to the suggestions of @WayOutWestMom and @twogirls (some others as well) contacted the med schools in my city and asked them about their requirements. Guess what, all three of them not only accept courses from a cc, they accept AP/CLEP and online courses as long as they are from an accredited college. Of course, I want to meet the requirements for more than those three schools, and I still haven’t taken the MCAT yet. As far as me attending a school outside the US, that’s my last resort but I don’t see it as being the worst thing possible.
I often provide pre-med advice for students at the high school where I work. Can you let me know which med schools accept CLEP credit? I didn’t know any did. I know some allow AP as long as the undergrad college allows it, but they’ve all wanted an additional course at the 4 year school. Is that the same advice you got or did you hear they accept pure AP/CLEP as “the” prereq?
I’ve also seen med schools accept cc course credit with additional classes afterward esp if the student decided late to go pre-med (vs those that knew ahead of time), but it’s considered in the “con” column so our school doesn’t ever recommend it. Were the schools you asked allowing “non-major” courses to count from the cc? Or weren’t you that specific with your question?
I’m very curious to know if I can modify my thoughts. If I know the names of the schools, it could be very, very useful for some future students. I wouldn’t change a thing from just a post on a thread on an anonymous forum of course. I’ll double check with the med schools myself when the new school year starts. There’s just no way I want to check with every med school out there. There’s over 100!
Upon further research I learned that some schools accept CC credits…but…these schools also want upper level classes. So if you took biology through a CC, you must take upper level bio classes to show that you can do the work.
I never heard of biology classes during the fall semester that last for 6 weeks. My daughter’s science classes began in mid August and ended in December.
@beangoals Posting again to be sure you see this. I really would like to know which schools you contacted that will accept CLEP for pre-req credit. I did a little google searching and have yet to come up with a US school that accepts them, but of course, I haven’t looked at all of them.
I see you were last on early this morning, so figure my request might have gotten overlooked. Which city - or state? I can go from there with my search.
@Creekland
It’s easy to figure out, @Beangoals said he called the Three med schools in his city. So it’s real easy to figure out that most if not all his claims are just to mislead us to a long discussion to no where. As far as md schools concerned there only a few cities in the US has three med schools, nyc, Chicago, Boston, DC and few others has that many med schools and none of them accepts clep credits.
Besides, no one can take more than full load in a college and summer sessions AND travel to 4 countries the same time. I refuse to answer some one intentionally mislead me in a discussion.
@creekland Arizona. I’ve attached the links for the three schools I was referring to. I hope this can help someone. However, even though these schools accept CLEP for the prereqs, I wouldn’t take any to fill those requirements due to the vast majority of med schools in the US not accepting them.
U of A’s MD program Coursework Explained:
http://phoenixmed.arizona.edu/admission-requirements/academic
“At least one course from the Chemistry or Biology courses must be upper division as defined by your institution. Labs are not required.
A course is satisfied when completed with a grade of “C” (2.00) or better, regardless of the credit hours.
Coursework must be completed no later than the Spring Semester/Quarter prior to matriculation.
[Advanced Placement (AP), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) credits will be accepted if they appear on an official college transcript].”
Midwestern:
https://www.midwestern.edu/programs_and_admission/az_osteopathic_medicine.html
ATSU:
https://www.atsu.edu/school-of-osteopathic-medicine-arizona/admissions/requirements
@artloversplus Your comment speaks volume concerning your life vision. I am a female for one, and for two this discussion was to help me decide between majoring in communication or psychology. It was never to draw you into a conversation. If you take a look at my previous comment, the schools that I’ve listed are more than willing to accept CLEP credit 
Finally, my summer sessions are a few days apart, giving me a few free days to travel. I once visited five countries in Europe over the proximity of 12 days. Why would I come on here and lie? I’m not sure about the rules of this board, but if you pm me I’ll be more than happy to give you my instagram username so you can see just how “misleading” my life is.