kevinkwon84 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 Hi, everyone! I am just 2 years away from applying to Canadian med schools, and I just wanted to hear some opinions from you people about my extracurricular achievements. I have neither publication nor research experiences...I just have bunch of volunteering experiences and it kinda starts to worry me. Volunteering I volunteered at 4 different hospitals (with Dept of Cardiology at Toronto General Hospital, Neurology at Toronto Western Hospital, Gastoenterology at St. Michael's Hospital, and Pediatric at Toronto Hospital for Sick Children). My regular duty was to assist patients and their families, deliver charts, serve juices and other beverages to patients and their families, run errands for patients (e.g.: deliver newspapers), etc. I also volunteered at Toronto Home for the Aged for 4 years to serve retired people. My duty there was to assist residents eat their meals, help organizing events (e.g.: monthly dance party, Christmas party, etc), and show new volunteers around the facility. Every summer, I work with Toronto Wildlife Center to help orphaned wild animals. I help to cage them and bring them safely to facilities where they get their necessary treatments (e.g.: Vaccination, rehabilitation, etc). This coming summer, I'll be going to Ecuador with my very best friend to volunteer at children's day care. I simply LOVE working with kids, and I think this is going to be a great opportunity to learn more about cultures of other country. Job-Shadowing I personally visited a family practioner, an internist, and a respirologist for job-shadowing opportunities. They were very kind enough to accept me, and I had great times learning what it means to become a doctor. Our school, UofT, offers 1 week externship program twice a year. I shadowed a dentist, a kindergarten teacher (as I have said, I adore kids), and a veterinarian. It was a great opportunity for me to take a step back from my dream for a while and think about other paths I can walk on. (But I realized that becoming a family physician is my true dream). Sports I've been practicing Kendo at UofT Kendo club for 2 years now. lol Never went out for a tournament as I had no BIG talent on Kendo, but I really enjoyed it and I still love practicing. Research None Publication None Awards None Well, thats about it. Nothing fancy lol (except for maybe that Ecuador thing for this summer ). I still have 2 more years to go and UofT & UBC are my top choices. Do you think my extracurricular stats would stand out? Any comments will be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyDude Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Are you bragging about your EC's? lol, jk. They look good. Try get some research experience, look around and apply to labs etc for some research opportunities. I am assuming you're in second year so you can utilize this year for writing MCAT, research, etc. Continue to do your volunteer work, it seems pretty solid. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 This has been mentioned before in other threads... it isn't so much how many EC's you have or how 'impressive' they may look on paper. Rather, what's really important is whether you can explain in an essay or to the interviewer what you have learned from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Ditto (posted before I saw the above post). If you can elaborate on what you particularly found meaningful or how you realized family medicine was your dream, and use examples from your experiences to support your assertions, you'll be in good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinkwon84 Posted April 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 I am assuming you're in second year so you can utilize this year for writing MCAT, research, etc. Nope, I'm in the middle of 3rd and 4th year lol. I am going to take one more year to raise my GPA (currently ~3.6ish) and rewrite the MCAT exam (received 10PS, 10BS, 8VR, and Q on last exam). I was just worried because I've been focusing over-excessively on volunteering. It almost seems like I neglected the importance of research experience, publication, winning a national championship for kendo tournament (lol), and etc. Thought it might reflect negatively on my application due to lack of "diversity of experience"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamP Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 There is no recipie for getting in to med school, other than being well rounded like a cookie...so i guess there is a recipie and it is similar to making cookies, except for the christmas tree shaped ones, they are pointy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lactic Folly Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Well, if you are concerned about diversity of experience, is it possible for you to address those areas you identified? e.g. take a research course, apply for an award based on the volunteering you've done, publish an article (perhaps in a student journal, or online journal - doesn't have to be about research).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skvangs Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 They aren't too bad, but your gpa is not too competitive. Take a hiatus on the volunteering, try to focus and boost that gpa, approach profs/docs to get publication opportunities. Practice and study for the MCAT! This should be what you need at this stage in the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinkwon84 Posted April 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Oops, my mistake. Got 10PS, 9BS, 8VR and Q on WS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted April 3, 2008 Report Share Posted April 3, 2008 i agree with skvangs, with a gpa of ~3.6 no matter how impressive your ec are, you're going to have a very hard time getting an interview. maybe mac... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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