screening for clinical hours?
applied this cycle but am worried about if there a true screen for clinical hours. have about 130 shadowing hours across some focused specialties, but pretty much no direct patient care. 100 of those shadowing hours were in a shadowing program where we were able to take patient histories, physicals, and case presentations under attending supervision but unsure if that counts because that was just for practice. was caregiving for my grandma (500 hours) with most of the traditional hospice volunteer experiences like companionship, walking aid, but then also helped her primary caregiver with wound care, medication administration, and giving insulin. would that cover (even just barely) for the clinical experience cutoff? since it was caregiving for a family member i don’t know if that makes it less considered as true clinical experience.
for other context, i am a childhood cancer survivor so i am familiar with the patient experience and have been exposed to the medical world for a while because of that. my whole app’s narrative is built around that experience and what ive learned, how i give back, etc etc
i have 1000+ hours of research across 3 labs (2 co-author manuscripts published, 7 posters), 700 hours of focused community service to underserved and also pediatric cancer communities (especially in Make-A-Wish), and 500 hours of leadership through extracurriculars (started a pediatric cancer patient initiative in partnership with two major children’s hospitals) and national organizations (AMSA). i was hoping that my hours and work in the other areas would cover the lack of clinical hours, but i know that won’t always be the case.
no-gap year applicant, 510 MCAT and 3.99 GPA. 4th quartile casper and 9 on PREview. applied to 41 schools with a fair mix of reach and safeties due to my MCAT and clinical hours. applied first day and have prewritten secondaries to have a turnaround of 24-48 hours for each one, as i feel like my best shot will be earlier in the cycle. i know my MCAT is a barrier for some of the top tier programs and clinical hours are probably my weakest point, so if i had to reapply id focus mostly on fixing that and retaking my MCAT. wondering if i still have a shot for an A this cycle even with my clinical hours? i don’t have crazy preference for tier or prestige, as long as i get into one i’d be happy.