OK, I’m in–and I’m terrified. I am wondering in the back of my mind whether I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. How was it for those who have already trodden this path?
I’m just a little worried. I have heard that summer school organic chem (20 hrs/week x 7 weeks) is not as intense as medical school, and I found that to be about as intense as I can imagine. I got sick for one day and it set me back significantly. That one or two lost days of studying were enough.
Maybe there’s a name for this: PMST (pre-med school terror). Anyway… I just keep thinking about that great Tex-Mex food we’re gonna have when we get to Arizona… and OMM… and gross anatomy which I’ve already studied twice… and then it seems like it won’t be so bad. But I’ve been wrong before 
I’ve read a lot of similar posts on SDN where people who were accepted became quite anxious about whether they would be able to make it. Unlike regular college, where they don’t really seem to care one way or another for the most part, from what I’ve gathered med schools try their very hardest to make sure you understand the material and pass the classes. You have to take into consideration that most of the people in your med school classes will pass the tests; so if the majority can, I’m sure you’ll be able to as well. Whatabout the minority who won’t pass the classes and will fail out of medical school? I’m willing to bet 99.9% of those people are the ones who never showed up to lecture, didn’t study, etc. and it’s their own damn fault.
By the way, the subject line of your post made me crack up, thanks for a good laugh. 
Congrats! you will be fine trust me.
congrats and stay BLESSED
From SDN post and an ADCOM Member:
Originally Posted by move2west View Post
I posted this question a few weeks ago, and it was skipped over like a few others. Hence the repost. In regards to other clinical opportunities, I work full-time so I am unable to do any of the foreign opportunities that someone posted (no summer or spring breaks).
Thanks in advanced adcoms for your advise.
ADCOM response:
You need some clinical experience. Find a free clinic or an organization that sponsors health fairs or the Red Cross or a hospice. Aim for a 1/2 day per week for the foreseeable future (you can list it on the AMCAS as 4/07-present and 4 hours/wk). If you have some skills, licensure etc might not be an issue at some of these venues (taking blood pressures, etc).
Thought it was interesting…
But hey some will argue to the end even if the ADCOMS tell you it’s BLUE they want to argue RED, LOL
Best advice I can give for clinical experience is take the EMT-B class since it’s only one semester long (many places offer accelerated courses) and either work or volunteer as an EMT as much as possible. I can’t think of any better clinical experience that a pre-med can get. Well, unless they’re a paramedic anyway.
When you talk about clinical experience, what especially would that cover? For example, I work as a cardiac monitoring tech on a telemetry floor…while I don’t directly care for the patient, my responsibilities do include answering call lights, alerting RNs when a patient’s cardiac rhythms have changed, etc.
Although I am not able to direct patient care, I do try to assist when it is in my scope of care.
shrugs That’s more clinical experience than you’ll get in any volunteer position so I would say that qualifies as clinical experience, yes. Especially if you’re in a position to talk to doctors about their job which I’m sure you are. I’d wait to see what other people think on here since I haven’t made it in myself but I would think that would be fine for clinical exp, yes.
My advisor often talks to groups of pre-med students, and he likes to hammer on the difference between “doing” clinical activities versus “watching” clinical activities. His point, and it makes perfect sense to me, is that any such activity in which you were a participant is likely to be more valued by adcoms than one which you simply observed. Observation has value. I think my advisor’s point is that active participation has more value than observation among all the factors which will distinguish you from other applicants. In the end, you should probably take whatever opportunity works best for you based on what is available. If I didn’t already have my EMT certification, I’d be out volunteering at a nursing home and shadowing wherever I could.
Tim F.
Boy, this thread really got hijacked!
But I agree with those who say do what interests you, don’t just do what “looks good” to adcoms.
Terry, I think what you’re feeling is very normal, almost another prerequisite of med school.
The difference between med school and summer o-chem is that, first of all, you’re not studying just one subject, so if you’re stuck on a concept in biochem, you can take a break by studying anatomy and come back to it later (fun, fun, fun!) Secondly, with o-chem you’re almost learning a new language–three-dimension al thinking of reaction mechanisms plus pounding reagents into your head plus synthesis plus new hairy concepts every day.
It’s different from med school, where concepts are usually simple and you’re mostly cramming facts. You can study in groups, quiz yourself on flash cards, study alone, pace around in circles chanting–lots of options for what you learn. It is overwhelming, but it’s a different kind of course.
You’ll be fine, and your fears are coming right on schedule. This clearly means you’re meant for med school.
I tutor o-chem now and my classmates all look at me with some kind of sick horror. I just asked my roommate a little while ago for a little of her chocolate stash for my student, who’s doing resonance and isomers right now, and she was all, “Here, take the whole jar!”
Thanks for the encouragement!
Tutoring sounds like an excellent way to build a bit of self-confidence and reinforce basic concepts.
I am getting pretty excited. I still have some trepidations about academic multitasking, and I seem to do better when I concentrate on one thing for several weeks, but on the other hand the variety can be stimulating. I guess medicine is just going to be like this.
Congrats!