Extracurricular Activities to Help You Get Into Medicine

Med school applications are often very competitive, attracting top candidates from all over the world. If you are an aspiring applicant to med school, you may be wondering how to enhance your application to ensure you stand out against the crowd. This guide is here to give you some examples of extracurricular activities you can do to improve your chances of getting into med school. 

Extracurricular Activities to Help You Get Into Medicine

• Community service: This helps admissions officers see that you are passionate about giving back to the community and helping people which is important in the medical industry, which is based on providing high-quality service to people to help them improve their quality of life or manage existing conditions. Community service does not necessarily have to be in the medical field - it can be something as simple as volunteering at a homeless shelter, old age home, or even an animal shelter. Admissions officers want to see that you are capable of committing to a role where you have to be of service to others. You should aim to have around 200 hours of community service to have a strong application.

   

• Research: Having your name on a published study (or multiple studies!) can be a great way to stand out from the crowd as publishing a research paper is often a complex process requiring great initiative and hard work. During your undergrad, you should try to get as much research experience as possible. Medicine is a highly-evolving field and requires constant research and development. If you possess strong research skills, it shows that you are up-to-date with the industry and its technology and that you have the subject-specific knowledge required to excel at med school. 

   

• Job shadowing: This is an important extracurricular to have as it shows that you have experience shadowing someone in the medical field while they do their job. This also shows admissions committees that you have taken the time to see what a day in a doctor's/nurse's life looks like and that you are passionate about entering the field after seeing what it entails. It also shows experience in dealing with patients as you develop critical thinking skills when shadowing how doctors and nurses react to unexpected requests or questions from patients. 

   

• Clubs: Participation in clubs related to healthcare can be a great asset to your application. Participation in any health-related clubs (eg: spreading awareness about diabetes, heart disease, etc.) can show your passion for the medical field and improving healthcare. It also shows admissions officers that you made significant contributions on campus outside of academics. 

   

• Tutoring: Helping your peers achieve academic success can be a good extracurricular to have on your resume. Many student-run clubs offer tutoring services where upper-year students can help their younger peers understand course concepts and provide tips on how to ace exams, etc. Such experience is valuable to admissions committees as it shows your patience and willingness to explain concepts to others, which could be important in healthcare when you may have to explain complex concepts or diagnoses to patients who may not understand everything. 

   

• Other hobbies: You should highlight your hobbies on your application as well. Even though these may not directly be related to medicine, you can use them to highlight your strengths as a person. For example, if you were a club president you could use that role to highlight your leadership skills, or if you were on a sports team you could use that role to highlight your collaboration and teamwork skills.