If your student is interested in medical school (this could change), my advice is to find an affordable school that they like, where they feel comfortable, and where there are active clubs and opportunities that are easily accessible.
IMO a college does not need to find shadowing opportunities. Yes it might be easier, but it isn’t necessary. Your student can call their pediatrician and take it from there (the pediatrician might help find others). If you live near a teaching hospital they are often happy to accept students who want to shadow.
Your student will need to volunteer with patients. It was written that your student already volunteers in hospitals. Can they continue during summers? What about EMT? Many schools provide training which opens doors to volunteering or working in the community.
Your student will need to work in underserved communities/underrepresented populations. This should be long term, not a month here and there. Working with the homeless, children in Title 1 schools, disabilities, food pantries etc. This is often available through school clubs and local communities. TFA works as a gap year idea (2 years). Working long term in these environments, trying to make a difference, staying the long haul and not quitting…says a lot about the student. It is important to work with diverse communities and backgrounds.
Your student will need to maintain good grades, and will need to step up and ask for help if necessary.
I actually think that if a student really wants to apply to medical school they step up to the plate and do it (I recognize that mental health or other issues, finances, other problems, etc may come into play- I am not talking about that). I am also not talking about those who change their mind due to grades or other interests that are discovered.
I agree with what was written above. I do not think it is too much to ask premeds to find their own shadowing and clinical opportunities, given the expectations of the field. If your student decides to pursue a different/new interest, the expectations will be the same.
Many doctor aspirants apply to a mix of MD and DO schools. Many DO schools ask for shadowing or LOR from a DO. In 2013 when my kid started this process, there was a way to search for DOs in the area. My kid had no difficulty finding a wonderful DO who the kid shadowed once a week for two years. Kid also shadowed other doctors, but this DO wrote a great LOR for the DO schools.
Just an FYI, Wyoming is one of the absolute best states to be a resident of when it comes to med school admissions. Wyoming funds higher education well in general, and as they don’t have an instate medical school have agreements with neighboring states that make admission significantly easier than many states. I would not project their success to anyone in evaluating an undergraduate school’s help or not in med school admission. Now as an anecdote on how one’s state residency can have a dramatic impact on one’s admission chances is a whole different subject.
Another avenue to medical school can be through early assurance programs. Williams describes its relationship with the University of Rochester’s medical school here, for example:
Note however that the med schools involved do NOT provide internships or otherwise assist the student in getting clinical exposure, shadowing or internships. The student must already have all of those done before applying to an EAP.
Also, the number of students accepted via EAP is quite limited. Rochester, for example, accepts 5 or fewer EAP students/year
No amount of hand holding, easy access to internships etc are going to help the OP’s kid get into med school. Doing a deep dive into what school can do these things is a waste of time. The OP should focus on an UG that their kid will thrive at, not one that will do the work for them. JMO.
This student appears to be a HS junior. Hopefully the OP will come back and comment.
I think it is too early to have these discussions about medical school, gap years, shadowing opportunities etc. IMO the focus should be on finding an affordable school that is a good fit for the student- academically and socially.
Let this 16 or 17 year old enjoy their last two years of high school.
Look for a variety of colleges where this student will be happy and successful.
And put medical school things on the back burner for now. Revisit when the time comes….which isn’t now if this student is a junior in high school.
My opinion.
And I’ll reiterate, and ask again…what sort of “internship” does this parent want colleges to find for their kid that are more valuable than working EMS, CNA, MA or the like.
As a HS student, volunteer in a soup kitchen once a week. Become a lifeguard and work as one. There are always shortages of certified lifeguards. Get a job working in a skilled care place perhaps delivering meals or working in the kitchen.
This is news to me that college will do the work for the students. Some colleges do have such support, and it seems to be one of the packages we are paying for. Students still need to do the actual work, studying, volunteering, shadowing, etc.
Thanks for this.
Thanks to all for the input and information shared. I have made it very clear that this thread is about clinical experience (shadowing, patient contact, internships etc). I’m not sure why this needs to be repeated or confirmed.
My student is a junior and decided to go for the med track after 9th grade vs finance/business and he is taking many of his own initiatives for this. There are about 30% of medical students without gap years, which means this can be done. Not sure why this may be viewed as a way of shortcut. My way of thinking is if a college can help with clinical experience (not easy on our end), that will be beneficial.
Thanks to many posters, we found Rhodes college, Alabama, Colgate, VT, Wofford, Willams, Davidson (a poster dropped off a bunch to tops LACs, and I did not bother to check them out. Another poster mentioned Wofford, and I went back to check the list and found Williams and Davidson).
So, the answer is yes, many colleges do have such support we are interested in.
Any contributions for such list would be appreciated as they are useful for other parents/students. We will also ask our pediatrician/some specialists about shadowing, but we are not sure of the response.
Any other discussion about high school and undergraduate student life, or medical path or other volunteer work/job are useful but may be worth a different thread.
I’m guessing OP simply wants a path to med school - so they’re not thinking of specific desire other than schools that place them solidly on the path, whatever that means.