Extracurricular Activities and Volunteering are extremely important. After grades and MCATs, admissions committees are looking at an applicant's extracurricular activities and volunteering experiences to decide who will get an acceptance letter. Some admissions officers view grades and MCATs as a quick means of assessing applicants' abilities, but after the cut-off, higher grades and higher MCATs do not necessarily correlate to a better candidate for admissions. In fact, some admissions committees feel that a 4.0 GPA is not better than a 3.8 and that a 15 on the biological sciences on the MCAT is not better than a 12. The most successful applicants are the ones who are involved. They are the ones holding positions in their student government, organizing blood drives, and planning distribution of food to homeless shelters. Focus on the activities that you can utilize and demonstrate your leadership skills. Furthermore, how much time you put into an activity is important. Two years experience with organizing blood drives, for instance, would be viewed with higher regard than a one week involvement with organizing the annual softball tournament. Organizing a softball tournament is not bad, and if you enjoy doing it, then go for it; however, this shouldn't be the main focus of your extracurricular activities. Additionally, this is an area where more is NOT better. Focus on a few activities you enjoy and put in the time. Nothing looks worse than an applicant who tries to impress the admissions committee with 10 different activities where minimal time was contributed. It is better to get involved and have leadership roles in a few choice activities than to be involved in everything in sight but not have done much for any of the organizations you belonged to.

One of the best things you can do to enrich yourself is to perform volunteer work. Helping other human beings is part of what medicine is about. You can also combine volunteerism with the chance to get exposed to your future profession by volunteering in a hospital or other health care environment. Part of what will set you apart as an applicant are those things that show traits such as compassion and caring in your record. Volunteering to help others will add positively to your perspective on life and that is the major reason to volunteer. One of the things people look for in a doctor is a sense that he/she cares about them as people. There is no way to learn this, but volunteering to help others can certainly help. Some of the best candidates I have seen have been those people who took some time off after college to serve in the Peace Corps or to volunteer in community projects as a part-time job while doing something else. Whatever you decide to do just make sure you remain committed to it for at least a reasonable amount of time. This shows you are serious about what you are doing.

Volunteering, by some, is considered to be different than extracurricular activities. This should not be the case. If you enjoy what you are doing, then it will seem more as a fun extracurricular activity than work. For instance, if you enjoy the outdoors, then organize a group to clean up public beaches or local parks. For those who enjoy children, volunteer for Muscular Dystrophy Summer Camp or be a Big Bro / Big Sis for your local neighbourhood. There are numerous opportunities to volunteer. Just pick one or two you enjoy and spend time doing it. It's not a bad idea, however, to volunteer for a local hospital or physician's office. It will help you know what you are getting yourself into. You will also be more prepared to answer the question, "why do you want to become a physician".

So select activities you have an interest in and stick to them throughout your time in college. Athletics and artistic talents are particularly impressive, but you don't need any special talents to participate in service organizations, religious clubs or any of the other hundreds of clubs available at the typical college.

Employment while in school can also count for a lot. Paying for your own education through work shows responsibility and maturity. These are traits in high demand by med schools.

Just remember to put your academics over all other activities in college; it won't help you get into medical school by failing classes by spending too much time in club activities while you should have been studying. The key here is time management, and it is something you need to learn if you are to get through med school. Make sure you allot enough time to class work and studying, balance counts for a lot in life - try to learn this early rather than late.

Volunteer Positions:

Hours and quality of your premed exposure varies with each hospital around town. It's recommended you call to see what is right for you. Perhaps a location close to school or home is better.

Each program requires different items Most require an Application, Medical screening, a hospital Nursing orientation and departmental position orientation. Medical - Physical & shots screen PPD(TB Test), and MMR(Measles, Mumps & Rubella) Test. Some of the hospitals offer this - FREE to the Volunteers through their employee Health Department.

PreMed Recommendation Letters:

Although you are a volunteer at a given hospital and registered with the Volunteer office, it is far better to ask the department in which you volunteer to develop a quality evaluative report - The volunteer offices usually only submit hour tracking reports.

The number of applicants for medical schools has increased while the number of openings has stayed relatively static. This means the competition is increasing each year. One out of four applicants will be accepted. Most will have strong academic records, but the successful applicants will be the ones with strong personalities and a genuine desire to help people. Just remember that grades and MCATs cannot convey much information about your personality, it's the community service and extracurricular activities that will exemplify what kind of person you are.