Ask a Medical Student Anything: What should I do over the summer?
Hi there! I’m Madison, a medical student in the Northeast in their fourth year of medical school. Today, I’m going to discuss how you should approach your summer! The medical school application process can be stressful – between undergraduate classes, extracurriculars, research, shadowing, and studying for the MCAT, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed. When summer finally rolls around, many students feel torn between taking time off and using their free weeks to beef up their medical school application.
First and foremost, take care of yourself. Medical school and the MCAT will always be there for you, and you are more important. If you feel tired, burnt out, or just want a break – a totally reasonable request, I might add – there’s nothing wrong with taking your summer to rest and recoup!
If you decide to spend that summer working on your application, there are countless options. Each student is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. If your application doesn’t have any research, now would be a good time to get involved with a project. If you don’t have a lot of shadowing hours, take these few weeks to reach out to physicians and set up some time with them! You can also volunteer, pick up a new hobby, work a summer job, or travel. The sky is the limit.
Remember that you can write about anything in your application! Going abroad, whether it’s a study abroad experience or travel for fun, is a worthwhile experience to mention. The same goes for hobbies! I mentioned my travels and my work in my application, and when I interviewed applicants, I would ask about what they did outside of medical school. Those conversations frequently landed on where they’d been and what they did for fun. Medical schools like to get to know you as a person, so don’t feel like spending time on yourself is less worthwhile than research or shadowing.
In short, summer is a great time to beef up your application if you need more research, shadowing, or volunteering – or even MCAT study time. However, it is okay to take a break, and you can always write about what you did over the summer in your application. Never be afraid to take some time off to recharge: “physician, heal thyself.”
Comments
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Hi Madison!
That is great advise! As an incoming junior on the pre-med track it is so easy to feel like you are not doing enough and it's challenging to get everything done when you just want to do it all.
I have found that keeping a balance, like blocking off time to get school work done, blocking off "spare/free" time is also so helpful since you already have it on schedule. Totally agree about doing things you are passionate about, not just checklist items.
I also would love to get to talk to you more about your pre-med/medschool experience if you are willing.
Best of luck!
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@Sheila_hndz, I definitely agree - that question of "how do I feel like I'm doing too much and also not enough?" was pretty pervasive through my undergraduate career! Making a schedule can absolutely be helpful, both to maintain accountability and to give yourself a visible goal to work towards. When schedules start to fill up, having it written down somewhere is vital.
I'm also more than happy to chat about my experience! What questions do you have? c:
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