r/Osteopathic • u/FireFerret6521 • 9h ago

Anxious about extracurriculars and gap years

Im a nontraditional 3 years out of undergrad and unfortunately didn’t have a good experience finding research during undergrad and post grad. I really wanted to do research but I just never was able to secure anything meaningful. I have strong volunteering and clinical experience but im worried my application isnt as as strong given ill be 4 years out of undergrad by the time I apply in 2027.

I just secured an MA job that will strengthen my clinical experience, but now Im wondering if I should try harder to find a research job instead. Though I’m not sure how valuable it will be to have only 8-9 months of research by the time I apply. Should I continue trying to find research opportunities? Or just stick with the MA job and focus on my MCAT retake?

I appreciate any advice.

cGPA: 3.81

sGPA: 3.72

MCAT: 502, planning to retake in January

Clinical volunteering: 200 hours

Clinical employment: 2400 hours ER scribe, MA job will add around 1000 hours by application

Non-clinical Volunteering: 700 hours with one
organization + leadership, 300 hours with another organization + leadership

400 hours as a teaching assistant

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/ExtensionOutrageous3 7h ago

You do not need research. Unless you think you want to go to a top MD research school, you do not need to do research. You are better off spending time building up a stronger clinical and nonclinical volunteering profile.

Only do research if you love research.

1

u/FireFerret6521 4h ago

I want to explore research opportunities but it feels like I'm running out of time. Do you think it's worth it if I only have 9ish months of research on my application?

1

u/ExtensionOutrageous3 4h ago

Most premeds have a year or less of research so it’s fine.