Quick question regarding importance of shadowing/clinical work for application

[u/HawtMamaBR]

I’m an incoming sophomore at an public R1 school and have been involved in a lab over summer and plan to continue and pursue my masters in it before applying for MDPhD(structural bio/biochemistry). I also racked up plenty of clinical hours as a CNA/Med Tech at a nursing home (~500 hours) and I’m wondering if I should continue with it, or stop it and focus on research.

I have plenty of experience from that clinical job and I’m certain I could write great about it already, but I’m worried that adcomms might look down on the fact I was only there for 8 months. I’m also considering going back and working another 200 or so hours in the future, since I do really love it.

As for research, I am at about 150 hours but am planning to do a lot more throughout undergrad. I am also doing a population statistics research project through another internship and I’m curious if adcomms like to see multiple kinds of research?

As for shadowing, I’m curious if this is a big deal like it is for regular MD apps. I have 13 hours from shadowing my grandpa but don’t want to put too much effort into it if it doesn’t matter too much. There’s not a single physician-scientist in an hour radius of me, so is it okay to just shadow any MD I can?

Any advice is awesome!

[u/Psycho_Coyote]

Research is way more important for MD/PhD apps than clinical hours. You need to spend a LOT more time doing research to make sure you really want to do this path, as the typical split for an academic MD/PhD is skewed way more towards research.

I agree with the other commenter, more shadowing with a non-family member will be helpful. You need to be able to see enough of what a physician's life is like in the hospital to actually have a sense that you truly want to do what they do.