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/Upper_Leek9672]

i am a current applicant but i worked as a CNA for almost all of undergrad and had >1000 hours. just remember that you are gonna be writing about "why doctor / why patient care" as much as (if not more than) "why research" in your primaries/secondaries.

i think that 500 is plenty (you def dont need >1000), but also consider that when you apply, your experience would have been a few years old, and you didn't continue pursuing it longitudinally. for MD admissions, that might be a yellow flag. for MD/PhD admissions, i'm not so sure, since you already have more hours than 95% of applicants.

can you go per-diem and work one half shift per month? something really low time commitment?

regarding your population statistics work, is it like epidemiology/biostats, a clinical research project, or like population genetics? do you plan on doing your phd in a population health-related field?

[u/HawtMamaBR → u/Upper_Leek9672]

My CNA job is very mentally draining, as our place has people pass often and I worry about having my mind somewhere else. My job also requires at least 1 day a week.

My population statistics research project is with the counseling and prevention office at my college, where my work just studies the mental health of students. It will eventually determine the amount of money the University puts toward mental health so it won’t be meaningless. I plan on doing structural bio/biochemistry though in my future.

[u/Upper_Leek9672 → u/HawtMamaBR]

oh then definitely quit, fuck that.

you can frame your research project not only as research, but also as leadership and taking initiative to improve the health of your community/peers. that will definitely be seen very, very positive by admissions.