as if getting good grades and doing well
on the MCAT wasn't hard enough you also
need to make sure you have your
extracurriculars on lockdown stay tuned
to find out how you should spend your
free time in college
what's going on guys this is Jay from
med school insider.com
I remember figuring out which
extracurriculars to pursue was a very
daunting task I made a few mistakes
along the way that you can all learn
from but first before we get into the
nitty-gritty realize that there is no
magic bullet each person is gonna pursue
different extracurriculars based on
their own interests strengths and
weaknesses that being said I'm gonna go
over a few things that you should keep
in mind and try to incorporate into your
free time a common mistake that many
pre-meds make is spreading themselves
too thin it's much better to focus your
energy on only a few extracurriculars
rather than joining several clubs or
organizations as a member I made that
mistake and I joined multiple pre-med or
health focused student groups
I was simply a member and I never
pursued any leadership positions while I
am NOT on an admissions committee for
medical schools I have spoken with
people who are and they told me that
being a member of multiple pre-med
organizations is essentially useless
rather pick one pre-med organization
that you find is a good fit for you
something that you either enjoy or
aligns well with your goals and values
and put in the time and effort to be
intimately involved with the various
aspects of it you should be able to
obtain a leadership position bring about
some positive change and overall
experience personal growth and
satisfaction rather than being a
nuisance it should be a worthwhile
experience now extracurriculars can be
divided into three main categories
clinical research and personal clinical
exposure demonstrates that you
understand what it means to be a
physician this includes volunteering at
the hospital going on an international
medical trip shadowing positions etc and
one of my prior videos I'm gonna put a
link up in the top right I talked about
the importance of shadowing to determine
if a career in medicine is a good fit
for you my own clinical exposure
included volunteering in the emergency
department and volunteering on an
international medical trip I did not get
that much shadowing done other than the
emergency department
I really wish I did in hindsight the
first time that I actually stepped into
the operating room was as a third-year
medical student and I think that is way
too late
research is foundational to the field of
medicine it's what allows us to
continuously improve patient care and it
is the basis for determining what
diagnostic or therapeutic interventions
to use although not every physician will
necessarily also be a researcher I urge
you to get some exposure and see if it
is something that interests you research
can be broadly categorized into basic
and clinical I only did basic science
research when I was in college which
included a lot of pipetting pcr Western
blots and other microbiology techniques
while the work is very important and
impactful I didn't really find it
particularly stimulating and I thought I
would never want to do research again in
medical school I fortunately got
involved with clinical research which is
a much better fit for me and I actually
grew to enjoy it as I got better at it
clinical research is not done at a bench
in the lab but rather involves patients
either direct interaction database
analysis chart review etc clinical
research is also better suited for those
who are impatient because it has a
faster turnaround time but it is also
generally considered to have less weight
than basic science research personal
extracurriculars should be just that
personal do what makes you happy if you
love running train and participate in a
marathon or start a running club
one of my friends loves longboarding so
we started a club for it it took off
grew rapidly everyone had a blast and
they all made many lasting friendships
it also demonstrated his leadership
skills and his ability to take
initiative back when I was in college I
participated and competed on a dance
team I got involved with digital art and
graphic design and I loved lifting heavy
things and putting them back down be
sure to make time for your personal
extracurriculars don't focus on just
doing research and just getting clinical
experience your hobbies are going to
help you
deal with stress allow you to create
lasting friendships and they will
ultimately keep you sane in medical
school I became a little bit less
hardcore about powerlifting and got more
into cycling and cars I'm training a
cycle 600 miles in June and I raced my
car at the track in a safe and
completely legal environment whenever I
get the chance
while surgery and medicine appealed to
me in a certain way cycling and racing
excite me in a completely different way
I urge you all to make time for your
hobbies and passions life is too short
to not have fun I would love to hear
what your extracurriculars are not only
clinical and research but also what you
do for fun in your free time as well
leave a comment below thank you all so
much for watching that is it for this
video if you liked the video make sure
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not already and I will see you guys in
that next one
you