Trust me when I say this, every medical student has been in your shoes.
Figuring out what extracurriculars to participate in can be frustrating and at times overwhelming. I’m sure we all know a student that is involved in everything from research and leadership to volunteering in the community and playing sports. We see what they are involved in and begin to panic because we feel behind. We may ask ourselves, “how can I even compare to them” or “I am so behind”.
Well, before we continue and give you the answers you’ve been waiting for, remember that comparing yourself with another pre-med student is doing you a disservice. Every pre-med student walks their own path and makes it their own. So if you are passionate about going into medicine, these tips will help establish a basic foundation of what extracurriculars you should participate in.
In this guide, we will talk about the various activities that are available, the recommended hours for said activities, how to choose an extracurricular, and answer some commonly asked questions.
Table of Contents
What Extracurriculars are there?
Volunteering
This is one of the most important activities pre-med students can involve themselves in. I loved volunteering in the community and around the school. The great thing about volunteering is that companies, organizations, and schools are always looking to recruit new volunteers.
There are many different ways to find volunteering, some examples include: volunteering at a soup kitchen, Mental Health Orgs (E.g. Suicide Hotlines, Animal awareness), through student organizations at your school. Remember to make it your own experience, don’t follow someone, and just volunteer because you see it as a box you have to check. Volunteer in an area you are passionate about or have an interest in. Personally, I volunteered in soup kitchens and areas where I could devote my time to working with unhorsed members of my community.
- Recommended Hours: I recommend you get a minimum of 40 hours under your belt. If you want to be more competitive if you can aim for +100 hours that is great.
Patient Exposure
The forefront of medicine is interacting with patients through compassionate and empathetic care. On the road to becoming a physician, gaining patient exposure helps one become more confident with patient interactions. As an undergraduate student, gaining patient exposure can be hard but is doable. Most of these can apply to those working in undergrad or taking gap years. Patient exposure consists of hands-on experience. The following list is not exhaustive but it will give you an idea of what patient experiences you can gain. Some examples consist of scribing, medical assistant, emergency medical technician (EMT), clinical volunteer, and phlebotomy.
- Recommended Hours: We recommend about 50 hours for these experiences. But many people that go into these areas end up gaining many more hours.
Research
Research is something you will always find yourself being involved in, whether it is reading research, writing about others’ research, or conducting your own. It is easy to find depending on what you want to do. Some examples of research include, clinical research, benchwork (wet-lab and dry-lab research), and case reports. For those that like working with cell counters, making measurements, and working in a lab, benchwork might be for you. If you want research that is patient-centered, clinical research might be right up your alley. Lastly, case reports are always great because physicians and professors always have interesting cases to be written about and published.
- Recommendation: If you partake in research, we recommend you stick with one lab for a minimum of 50 hours. To be more competitive, +150 works well.
Physician Shadowing
When you are applying to medical school, admissions officers want to see that you have an idea of what to expect as you delve into the medical field. Physician shadowing is a prime opportunity to show that you have seen what a physician does. Now, I understand that since the COVID-19 pandemic began, shadowing has been even more difficult than it used to be. Medical admissions officers are aware of this and they understand if you aren’t able to shadow.
Fortunately, due to the pandemic, there have been places that have started virtual shadowing, one of which I participated in. Another one is here. You can find the links below. If you are able to shadow in person, there are different contexts you can shadow, for example, in-patient, out-patient, private practice, and community hospital. By familiarizing yourself with these different forms of practicing, you can display your depth of knowledge about clinical practice.
- Recommended: Try to shadow at least 1 physician. With virtual shadowing, you should be able to shadow more specialties because the more exposure you get, the more medical schools will see your interest. For those interested in DO, it is highly recommended to shadow a D.O. physician but not required.
Leadership
- Being a physician and being a leader go hand in hand. As a future physician, it is important to be confident being a leader. Through your leadership activities, you can portray that you are innovative, competent in directing others, and being in charge of a team. Leadership also is not only limited to club positions. If you’re volunteering, spearheading a new event for local community members. You can find leadership by taking charge of your research project, tutoring others, or even taking a leadership role on a sports team. You have an infinite amount of possibilities when it comes to leadership opportunities.
- Recommended Leadership Positions: If you are focused on officer roles, at minimum one or two roles are great.
Hobbies
- Hobbies are by far the most relaxing extracurricular activity for premeds. Your passion for the hobbies you are involved in can help you stand out in your medical school application and interviews. Hobbies are a great way to showcase your uniqueness. But more than that, hobbies are a great way to promote mental health, meet like-minded individuals, and add enjoyment to your busy schedule.
What Extracurriculars Should I Choose?
1. Devote more time to fewer things
The problem I had as an undergraduate student was spreading myself too thin. I wanted to be involved in everything because I had a lot of interests and wanted to find what I liked. While you learn a lot, sometimes your grades, free time, or health are put on the back burner. To avoid the same mistakes I made, try and devote your time to fewer things that you are passionate about. There is no problem in joining several opportunities, in the beginning, to see where your interest lies. But do not be afraid to say “no” and discontinue the activity if you are not interested.
Here’s an example to solidify what I am trying to say. It is more impactful to be in a leadership position of two different clubs for a year and in one research lab compared to being in every single club that you think might be interesting and not having enough time to fully participate and fully invest your time in the clubs. In this case, the quality of your activities is far more important than the number of activities.
2. Should you specialize or diversify your experiences?
This is a follow-up to what is above regarding devoting more time to fewer things. In undergrad, I diversified my experiences. That is not to say those who specialized in certain areas are doing it wrong, but being more diverse in my experiences fits more with my personality and my various interests. If you do not know whether to have your activities relate to a certain area or diversify your activities, take a step back and ask yourself some questions. What are my interests? Do I have a lot of interests? Do I only like participating in certain activities (e.g. research)? When you figure out what you enjoy that is when you can decide what you want to do.
To give you an example, I was involved in soccer, a medicine & art club, a mental health club, volunteered in a sports medicine clinic, and participated in clinical research and benchwork. You may have an interest in cancer and focus your activities around that. On the other hand, you may decide to have an eclectic mix of activities because you have various interests. No matter what you decide to choose, make sure you can find meaning in it.
3. Make sure there is the meaning behind what you’re doing
Understand this, admissions committees are not impressed if you have participated in every single club on campus and are involved in ten other research labs. These same admissions committees know some people see these activities as boxes that need to be checked off. When you apply for medical school, you will have to write about these experiences and possibly talk about them in your interview, if admissions committees see you just saw it as a checkbox and you were not interested in it, they might look towards other candidates to fill their incoming seats.
That being said, join clubs, and volunteering opportunities, and participate in research that you are passionate about or at least have an interest in. It is very easy to tell when someone does not have an interest in an activity compared to when they do. Make sure to stay true to yourself in each experience and when the time comes you might find it easier to talk about your experiences.
Conclusion
I hope this guideline helped you understand the various areas you can become involved in. If you take anything away from this, remember these three things: stay true to yourself, follow your interests, and quality over quantity. When you get to the medical school application process, there is a section where you will write about a max of 15 different activities you were involved in. This is where you reflect on your experiences and talk about what you did and how it helped you grow as a student. All that being said, don’t forget that GPA and MCAT are important too but they aren’t the only factors medical schools take into consideration. Being a well-rounded applicant can help your application and help you stand out.
Lastly, try not to compare yourself to other pre-med candidates. Your experiences and journey are unique to you and can help you get to where you want to go. Remember to run your own race.
by Teza Harrison