Extracurriculars

RESEARCH

Conduct research in a dry or wet lab

Clinical Experience

Find an environment where you can directly interact with patients

Shadowing

Observe doctors in hospitals and clinics

Community service

Volunteer in the community in clinical and non-clinical settings

Research:

The large majority of medical schools only accept students who have had research experience.

98% of Stanford Medical School admittees, 97% of UCLA Medical School admittees, 87% of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - School of Medicine admittees, & 85% of University of Washington Medical school admittees had research experience before they applied to medical school. This information came from the Medical School Admissions Requirement (MSAR) database and is from the year 2018.

Schools typically like to see that their applicants have had at least a year (about three quarters) of research experience at the same lab. It does not matter what type of lab you choose; you could work with cells, rats, people, chemicals, etc, and it's all the same to medical schools. The most important thing to medical schools is that you learn how a research lab works and begin to understand how research can benefit society.

NOW, the good news is that UCI has TONS of research labs. We are a research institution, which means that there are countless opportunities for students to get involved at UCI. This link will lead you to a website that lists all of the UCI Biology Research Labs that are looking for undergraduate research assistants. Keep in mind, however, that many of the biology labs require certain pre-requisites, a minimum GPA, and/or will sometimes require that their applicants have Junior or Senior standing. Because of these factors, most students begin research in their second or third year at UCI.

However, just because you are a pre-med student does not mean that you have to find research in a Biology Lab. Becoming a research assistant in a psychology, chemistry, or social ecology labs are other possible options that might not require as many pre-requisites or as high of a GPA. Although this is an acceptable alternative, please keep in mind that these other labs typically like accept students from their own major before biology students. Here is a list of Psychology Labs at UCI & here is a list of the Cognitive Science Labs at UCI.

There are many more labs than the ones listed here, so just use these links as a starting point. If you have a class with a professor who you really enjoy, you could always ask him/her about their research and if they have any research positions available.

Clinical Experience:

A clinical experience is an opportunity where you have the chance to directly interact with patients (aka patient exposure). Some students find these opportunities through networking while others apply to programs in the Irvine area. This link is a great place to start; although some of these places might not be accepting applications at this time, it's great information to have for the future.

Most websites recommend that applicants obtain around 50-100 hours of patient exposure in order to be a competitive applicant, but everyone has a slightly different opinion on this. Technically, you don't need any clinical experience hours to apply to medical school, but the vast majority of accepted students have some.

Shadowing:

Shadowing is similar to clinical experience except the goal of shadowing is to allow students to learn more about the lives and responsibilities of specific doctors rather than gain experience with patients (although, these two categories - shadowing and clinical experience - often overlap).

Most websites recommend that applicants obtain around 30-50 hours of shadowing in order to be a competitive applicant, but everyone has a slightly different opinion on this. Technically, you don't need any shadowing experience to apply to medical school, but the vast majority of accepted students have some.

Again, there are many different ways to gain shadowing experience. There are programs that you could apply to or you could simply email and/or call doctors to see if they would be willing to let someone shadow them for a day, a week, a quarter, etc. If you know any family friends who are doctors, that could be a great place to start.

Community Service:

Community Service is probably the most self-explanatory category so far. Community service is defined as helping others without receiving a reward of any sort in return. Keep in mind that these community service activities should be separate from the research hours described above. Although you might not get paid or compensated for your research, when you apply to medical school, you have to categorize all of your activities as only one "type"of activity. For example, you would categorize your research experience as "Research/Lab", your shadowing experience as "Physician Shadowing/Clinical Observation", and your patient exposure hours would likely be categorized "Community Service/Volunteer - Medical/Clinical". You are NOT ABLE TO categorize an experience with more than one of these categories; this is why it is important to have multiple volunteer experiences.

The majority of admitted students have community service experience that is "Medical/Clinical" AND experience that is "Not Medical/Clinical".

Most websites recommend that applicants obtain around 100-150 hours of community service hours in order to be a competitive applicant, but everyone has a slightly different opinion on this. Technically, you don't need any community service experience to apply to medical school, but the vast majority of accepted students have some.

Luckily, there are LOTS of different volunteer opportunities out there! Organizations are always looking for volunteers, especially for their biggest events of the year. Just be mindful of what organization you volunteer with; you want to chose something that interests you so that you can talk passionately about it during your medical school interviews.

Leadership:

Leadership is defined as holding a position that requires you to manage or guide others. There are MANY different types of leadership positions. For example, you could be a tutor, apply for a Board position for a club, be elected into a position as an officer in your sorority/fraternity, etc. It is possible to gain leadership positions through many different organizations on campus.

Most websites recommend that applicants obtain at least three different leadership positions, each lasting at least three months, within your undergraduate career in order to be a competitive applicant. Technically, you don't need any leadership positions to apply to medical school, but the vast majority of accepted students have some.

Merely holding a leadership position is not what the admissions committees are interested in; they are interested in what you accomplish in that leadership position. How many students did you tutor, and did they end up passing the class? When you held a Board position on your club, did you help increase (and retain) the amount of members? They want to know how you were able to make an impact; and, again, this will be much easier to do if you are passionate about your leadership position.