IMO, pretty important, for 2 reasons:
1) it's important to have an outlet, both in school and after. medicine is great, but well-rounded doctors are happy, competent doctors.

2) as most of us found, having interesting stuff on your resume stands out and makes you different. everyone has grades, step, etc. most have pubs. but if you were a triathlete, or mentored kids, or traveled, or whatever, you make an impression.

as a 1st yr student, though, the biggest advice i would give--despite the bashing i may incur-- is rock step 1. in my (extensive, personal) experience, that is the hardest black mark to recover from.

cheers.
firegirl

I agree with the above. Step I is a lot more important than extracurriculars because the former will land you interviews; rarely will the latter do the same. But during interviews, no is going to ask about your study habits, what made you have a good score, etc., but they will want to talk about stuff outside of medicine (i.e., extracurriculars, research). You really have to have both to have a solid application.

As for when to schedule in all the "other" stuff, I imagine it depends on your school and your school's curriculum. At my school, third year is a grind, so I got all of my volunteering, research, etc. out of my system throughout first and second year. And then I only focused on my clinical grades in my third year.