Pre-med ideas for meaningful extracurriculars and involvement

Answered

Well in normal circumstances, I'd say start volunteering at your local hospital to gain exposure to the field. You can even volunteer at a nursing home to get patient exposure. That's what I did at the beginning of high school and the opportunities I got through volunteering at my local hospital really opened my eyes to the medical field and really fostered my love for it.

However, COVID-19 does cause this to not be possible. If your state has started to open up again (as mine has), start researching some doctors in your community that is in a field that you are interested in. If you don't know what you want to do yet, then just your pediatrician or general physician should be fine. Find their email (often found in their CV) and express how you want to pursue a career in medicine and how you would be interested in shadowing/volunteering for them virtually. Also anticipate if that if they are unavailable to host you at this time, ask if there is anyone they can direct you to.

I did this (on my first try) and I actually got an invitation to shadow in person. So this actually does work. Another option may be to start something of your own. For example, you may want to create a podcast on a medical phenomenon that you are fascinated with, you can create and donate masks for frontline workers, or you can make a blog discussing the medical field. The list of possibilities is endless!

Don't let the fact that you're only a sophomore stop you. If you're passionate enough about it, you can do it! Good luck and I hope this helps! :)