While some universities have pre-health advising offices or partnerships with nearby hospitals, those opportunities are usually limited and competitive. In reality, students should focus first on keeping a strong GPA and MCAT score, since those are the biggest factors for getting through initial application screens. Research can often be done during undergrad, since it’s easier to connect with professors and join their labs while still on campus.
Some meaningful non-clinical activities, like volunteering (campus food pantry, food recovery, or tutoring) can be done during college. Leadership roles can come from student clubs or service organizations, and shadowing doctors is often possible during winter or summer breaks by reaching out directly to local doctor offices or using pre-health advising listings.
However, clinical experience or sometimes non-clinical volunteers, takes longer to build. That’s why many students take a gap year or more after graduation to gain meaningful patient contact and community service hours. Four years sometimes just isn’t enough to develop the level of clinical and non-clinical depth that med schools expect.
My daughter is currently reapplying to medical schools. The first time, she had a perfect GPA and strong MCAT but didn’t get any acceptances because her extracurriculars weren’t deep enough. The process has become even more competitive, with many nontraditional applicants bringing thousands of hours of experience.
When we looked at colleges for her, we considered Ursinus, Pitt, and a few BS/MD programs on the East Coast, but she chose our in-state, because it was affordable and close to home, which made it easier to support her.
@WayOutWestMom always gives excellent advices (honestly better than many advisors I know), along with others here who share great insights to help you navigate the process of finding schools that fit your child best. Every student’s path is different, but your kid will find their own way through this long journey. Good luck!