Army Officer to Physician, Questions About Volunteering

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

Hello fellow premeds, my name is Matt.





I am a 24 year old Lieutenant in the Army serving as a Platoon Leader for a combat engineer platoon hoping to apply during the 2019 cycle. I have 28 months left in the Army and hope to transition directly into medical school. Here’s what my application is looking like right now:


  • Degree in biology with a cGPA and sGPA of 3.6, graduated 2015 from a top 5 public university.
  • 250 hours of volunteering in a free clinic from 2012-2013
  • 250 hours of research experience done in 2013, no publication
  • 100 hours of shadowing experience split between a broad array of specialties that I did in 2014
  • Worked part time jobs throughout college as well as did ROTC
  • Military experience includes Company Intelligence Officer, Platoon Leader, and will likely serve as a Company Executive Officer before applying.



    I am currently stationed in Texas and will be changing my residency to Texas as I would like to stay here for medical school. I believe TMDSAS does not count A- or B+, instead counting them as As and Bs, which would increase my cGPA and sGPA to a 3.7.

    I will be taking statistics and two upper level bio classes in fall 2018 in order to fulfill Texas medical school requirements and get LoRs.

    I will be taking the MCAT June 2018.

    Currently I am looking for volunteer opportunities to gain more clinical experience.





    I have volunteered with a hospital in the past where volunteers were strictly relegated to housekeeping and administrative roles, and often treated more as a barrier to efficiency than a contributing member of the team. I found the experience to be profoundly meaningless in terms of clinical experience and patient care. I really cannot afford to dedicate time to experiences like that.



    I’ve recently begun looking for volunteer opportunities and would very much like to experience how an emergency room operates. I am worried I will end up simply restocking bedding and copying paperwork again. Is this just the experience I should expect from volunteering? How does one gain meaningful clinical experience from stocking shelves or manning an information desk? I understand that sharing my curiosity about the medical professions with those around me will allow more insight into the minutiae of working in healthcare, but that still seems far removed from the clinical experience that is so necessary to really understanding what being a physician is about.



    So my questions are…

    What should I be looking for when trying to find volunteer opportunities that allow me that clinical experience?

    Are shadowing hours considered different than clinical hours?

    Is my lack of volunteering in non-healthcare related settings a major flaw in my application?





    I am thankful for anyone taking the time to read this and greatly appreciate any input.
2

I think at this point your best bet for getting clinical experience is to talk to your brigade surgeon and see if he/she has any connections. My flight surgeon actually did moonlighting in the community, and I was able to shadow him for 40-50 hours. Volunteering can only get you so much clinical time because of all of the reasons you already stated. As far as I know, clinical hours are clinical hours, regardless of how you come by them. All of mine were via shadowing.



Volunteering in any setting is a plus (coming from a guy who had 0 volunteering after high school). If you enjoy what you’re doing, you’re more liable to work harder and get more out of it. You don’t have to be in healthcare to get into medical school.



For comparison, I was active AF officer for 11 years, no volunteer hours, no research since college with no publications. My application focused mainly on my military experiences/schools/positions and less on the standard applicant check boxes. All of my LORs came from supervisors in my chain of command and the doc I shadowed. Caveat: I didn’t apply via TMDAS so I don’t know everything they care about. Currently an MS3.

3

Hey,



Current active duty USN Surface Warfare Officer (Nuclear) here. On both of my sea tours, I’ve been able to volunteer as an EMT when not underway. I was certified in college but didn’t consider applying to medical school as my GPA wasn’t competitive. I hope to repair my GPA while stationed ashore.



While a lot of the EMT work isn’t technically difficult, there is a bunch of interaction with nurses and physicians (particularly in one of the systems where I volunteer). A busy 911 system, such as the one that I am in now, provides many opportunities for patient contact and interaction.



Peter

4

Hi everyone

Army men are always helping . They help all in every condition .