Feeling lost? Start doing!
As all pre-meds know, making sure that you build a good foundation of shadowing/extracurriculars throughout the summer is essential to building a competitive med school application. When summer started I was not sure where to start and struggled to find a job that would give me clinical exposure without requiring expensive certifications. I was very caught up in the technicalities and planning a master plan. However after two weeks I realized I had made no real progress. What did I do? I started looking and applying to any and everything that could potentially provide me with the clinical exposure that I was looking for. I found many volunteer positions at various hospitals as well as a job as an OR assistant that only required a BLS certification. Something else that I was worried about was not having enough shadowing hours. What did I do? Called all the privately owned clinics that I could find and asked if they provided shadowing for undergraduate students and found that most of them loved to work with students and did provide shadowing. One last thing that I learned throughout the summer was that some times opportunities will present themselves through connections that you gain from the positions you have currently earned. Giving your best effort and asserting yourself doesn't go without being noticed.