Extracurricular Activities

When you apply to medical school, you will need to write about the extracurricular activities you participated in during college. Be prepared to have about 10-15 activities outside of school that you can talk about on your application or during interviews. You should be committed to each activity for more than one year and you should strive to have a leadership position in some of these activities if possible. The extracurricular activities you should participate in are listed below in order of importance:

• Research Experience: Medical science is furthered by the progress made through research, so it is important to understand the research process by participating in it. There are two types of medical research: basic science and clinical. A basic science research opportunity will allow you to learn about different laboratory techniques used to study biochemical, molecular, and cellular level changes. This is in contrast to clinical research which involves more patient interaction. In our opinion, basic science research is preferred to clinical research as an undergraduate because it is the foundation of scientific research. 
• Clinical Experience: Volunteering at a clinic or hospital will give you the opportunity to understand how healthcare is delivered. You should also shadow a few physicians outside of volunteering so that you can gain a deeper understanding of what a physician's job entails. 
• Leadership Experience: As a physician, you will be required to lead a healthcare team while caring for patients. For this reason, it is helpful if you cultivate your leadership skills early on in your undergraduate career. You can do this by assuming leadership roles within student groups or coordinating events within your community. 
• Volunteer Experience/Community Service: A career in medicine is a career centered around serving others. To better understand whether or not you enjoy service to others, you should get involved with volunteer opportunities outside of the medical field. 

In general, fraternities (premedical or otherwise) will not bolster your application to medical school. Ultimately, you should strive to have 2-3 activities from each category listed above that you have participated in for at least one year. You can write about these experiences on your application to medical school or talk about them during your interviews. Medical schools appreciate when you have been a part of a meaningful experience or activity for a substantial amount of time. A good strategy would be to check out multiple organizations and opportunities your freshman year and then just stick with the ones that you liked for the remaining years. If you have a hobby that you already love (playing an instrument, sports, or writing, etc.), you can also add this to the mix of activities by continuing this activity or similar activities during college.

Although extracurricular activities are important to admissions committees, your GPA is the most important factor in determining admission to medical school.  So if at any time your grades are suffering as a result of your extracurricular involvement, you should re-focus your energy on your academics.

As you participate in extracurricular activities, we recommend that you make a log of these activities. In this log you should document your hours and what you have done. You should also include anecdotes of events that moved you. For example, if you had a unique patient encounter at the hospital, you should write about it in the log. Later, when you are sitting down to write your personal statement, you can draw from these experiences. Additionally, when you need to calculate how many hours you worked on each activity, this information will be readily available.

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