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Skarl

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First, welcome to SDN!

Don't feel too discouraged at this early stage of your career. Seriously, plenty of frosh students all over the USA are feeling the same way. In time, things will be okay. Have you reviewed your cv (resume) ... just in case something is amiss or needs to be changed/revised?

Suggestion: have you looked at Flying Samaritans at UCLA?
 
I remember seriously stressing out the third week of college about whether med schools would look down on me for not having gotten a volunteering spot at the hospital that semester.

Getting involved in EC's at big schools is always a challenge at first. You've gotta grind it out, don't get discouraged. The cold call/emails, trying out different volunteer gigs etc - we've all been there. I didn't find something I truly loved until the end of sophomore year. You'll find something as long as you keep at it. And don't be afraid to stray off the beaten path, hospital volunteering really kinda sucks. From my experience, the meaningful ECs are found outside the typical big premed club.
 
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First, welcome to SDN!

Don't feel too discouraged at this early stage of your career. Seriously, plenty of frosh students all over the USA are feeling the same way. In time, things will be okay. Have you reviewed your cv (resume) ... just in case something is amiss or needs to be changed/revised?

Suggestion: have you looked at Flying Samaritans at UCLA?
I did review my CV and it looks fine? Would it be too much to ask if you'd mind taking a look at it?

I did look at Flying Samaritans but unfortunately I didn't take Spanish in high school and it seems like they focus on a Spanish-speaking area predominantly so I don't feel like it'd be a good fit for me.

I remember seriously stressing out the third week of college about whether med schools would look down on me for not having gotten a volunteering spot at the hospital that semester.

Getting involved in EC's at big schools is always a challenge at first. You've gotta grind it out, don't get discouraged. The cold call/emails, trying out different volunteer gigs etc - we've all been there. I didn't find something I truly loved until the end of sophomore year. You'll find something as long as you keep at it. And don't be afraid to stray off the beaten path, hospital volunteering really kinda sucks. From my experience, the meaningful ECs are found outside the typical big premed club.
That is encouraging and how I feel right now, thank you! I do intend to keep looking until I find something.
 
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You don't need to join a club to get involved on campus! Just find something that you enjoy doing (maybe volunteer at nursing home, working with children, homeless shelter, etc) and start doing that! It's a long road and picking 1 or 2 activities freshman year that you enjoy and can start getting involved in is a great step (as well as maintaining a decent GPA ;) ) good luck!
 
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I did review my CV and it looks fine? Would it be too much to ask if you'd mind taking a look at it?

I did look at Flying Samaritans but unfortunately I didn't take Spanish in high school (I took French) and it seems like they focus on a Spanish-speaking area predominantly so I don't feel like it'd be a good fit for me.
Check your PM.
 
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Pick a few clubs that interests you and stick with it. Get some leadership positions while you're at it. You don't need to be involved with a pre-med society or something like that. Just make sure you have volunteering and clinical experience by the time you apply.
I personally have avoided all the clubs where the pre-med concentration was high and stayed in two clubs I actually had fun with for 4 years.
 
You don't need to join a club to get involved on campus! Just find something that you enjoy doing (maybe volunteer at nursing home, working with children, homeless shelter, etc) and start doing that! It's a long road and picking 1 or 2 activities freshman year that you enjoy and can start getting involved in is a great step (as well as maintaining a decent GPA ;) ) good luck!
Pick a few clubs that interests you and stick with it. Get some leadership positions while you're at it. You don't need to be involved with a pre-med society or something like that. Just make sure you have volunteering and clinical experience by the time you apply.
I personally have avoided all the clubs where the pre-med concentration was high and stayed in two clubs I actually had fun with for 4 years.
Thank you guys that makes a lot of sense. I think a lot of clubs have finished recruiting or are already underway but I'll look into non-medical volunteer clubs next quarter!
 
As a freshman, spend time getting real world experience. I'm assuming you probably studied all during high school/are nerdy (sorry :( ). Learn how to socialize with your peers. Keep up with the grades, but those don't mean anything if you can't be good in social situations. Join social clubs, go out drinking, learn how to talk to people in non medical situations, get a job at Safeway. This will go a lot further than you realize your first 2 years of college.
 
Welcome to UCLA. You've been here for less than five weeks, you need to relax. Most researchers do not take on first quarter freshmen because you have yet to take any real college courses and they prefer older more experienced upper classman. For this quarter you should focus on grades, you say you're not worried about them but you sure as hell should because this is a dog eat dog environment and your gpa could take a tumble at any moment. once you got that down, apply to prestigious health programs like stroke force or stroke team. Even care extenders is good and they take a good amount of people. Then you can retry searching for research by going to the David Geffen School of Medicine page and looking for Principal Investigators who are currently working on projects. The key here is to not over work yourself and just allow everything to fall into place. Don't worry about things like this your first five weeks in college, you got another three years to build up your application assuming you don't take a gap year.
 
As a freshman, spend time getting real world experience. I'm assuming you probably studied all during high school/are nerdy (sorry :( ). Learn how to socialize with your peers. Keep up with the grades, but those don't mean anything if you can't be good in social situations. Join social clubs, go out drinking*, learn how to talk to people in non medical situations, get a job at Safeway. This will go a lot further than you realize your first 2 years of college.

Please don't get caught drinking alcohol when you are underage.
Please don't get sloppy drunk and draw the attention of police.
Please don't drink & drive.

But the rest holds true. Find some things to do that are fun and enjoy this first year of college. There will be plenty of time next year to begin research and volunteerism can wait until summer. (try to figure out over winter break where you'll be for the summer and start setting things up -- it can take time for background checks, immunizations, TB test, etc).
 
Please don't get caught drinking alcohol when you are underage.
Please don't get sloppy drunk and draw the attention of police.
Please don't drink & drive.

But the rest holds true. Find some things to do that are fun and enjoy this first year of college. There will be plenty of time next year to begin research and volunteerism can wait until summer. (try to figure out over winter break where you'll be for the summer and start setting things up -- it can take time for background checks, immunizations, TB test, etc).

Ooooh, yeah. I'm so used to people being my age. Definitely follow the law while you are underage. Hold off on the beer until you turn 21. Sorry about that, I definitely don't condone illegal or unsafe behavior.
 
Ooooh, yeah. I'm so used to people being my age. Definitely follow the law while you are underage. Hold off on the beer until you turn 21. Sorry about that, I definitely don't condone illegal or unsafe behavior.

Also there are no safeways out in LA haha
 
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Also there are no safeways out in LA haha

Just don't be the person who skips their friends birthday party to spend another 4 hours studying to get two more points on your o Chem test. Nerds rarely get into medical school.
 
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As a freshman, spend time getting real world experience. I'm assuming you probably studied all during high school/are nerdy (sorry :( ). Learn how to socialize with your peers. Keep up with the grades, but those don't mean anything if you can't be good in social situations. Join social clubs, go out drinking, learn how to talk to people in non medical situations, get a job at Safeway. This will go a lot further than you realize your first 2 years of college.
I think you're jumping a bit quickly to conclusions about me! I simply value my career and academics a lot and actually enjoy the process of learning and challenging myself, and my concerns are not out of neuroticism but a desire to grow. I am actually currently in a social club and try to enjoy college life. But when it comes down to it I came to college to learn and get involved not just have fun.

Welcome to UCLA. You've been here for less than five weeks, you need to relax. Most researchers do not take on first quarter freshmen because you have yet to take any real college courses and they prefer older more experienced upper classman. For this quarter you should focus on grades, you say you're not worried about them but you sure as hell should because this is a dog eat dog environment and your gpa could take a tumble at any moment. once you got that down, apply to prestigious health programs like stroke force or stroke team. Even care extenders is good and they take a good amount of people. Then you can retry searching for research by going to the David Geffen School of Medicine page and looking for Principal Investigators who are currently working on projects. The key here is to not over work yourself and just allow everything to fall into place. Don't worry about things like this your first five weeks in college, you got another three years to build up your application assuming you don't take a gap year.
That makes sense. Do you have any advice for applying to these programs (stroke team, stroke force, EMRA)? I've heard of them but they seem even tougher to get into than typical volunteering, and I have no idea how I'd get into them if I'm being rejected for "lower-prestige" programs. Would having a high GPA help?
 
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That makes sense. Do you have any advice for applying to these programs (stroke team, stroke force, EMRA)? I've heard of them but they seem even tougher to get into than typical volunteering, and I have no idea how I'd get into them if I'm being rejected for "lower-prestige" programs. Would having a high GPA help?

Nothing is low prestige, stroke team/force are just very high up. They don't even take freshmen in the fall because you need to meet their minimum gpa and you don't have a gpa yet. For these ones you need to stand out in a way that's not academic. The short answer questions on their apps are the most important thing. You need to be like a stand out socially and academically, they don't like people who do strictly academics. Then you got to follow that up in your interview. If you get into one of these "high prestige" programs you won't even need to do much else besides the mandatory research. I've known people in these programs who haven't done much else and have had interviews at top 15 med schools just cause they were in these unique programs. So ucla has a lot to offer, it's just about scoring one of these things. The people in the actual programs can be very elitest though at times but once you're in, you're on the right track. I also recommend mobile clinic who only does recruitment in the spring.
 
Rule #1 of a freshmen - Don't be neurotic. Don't go around saying "blah blah premed orthosurgical neuropediatric oncologist." Professors and non-medicine students hate it. Pre-meds that have a good footing hate it too. You are not a medical student yet and you shouldn't be super focused on that identity yet. Do what you love to do or find out non-medical passions because this will (a) make you more well rounded (b) make you more interesting (c) help you keep your sanity.
Rule #2 of a freshmen - Learn how to learn. Nail this down before you move on. Don't freak out about a B, just learn what you screwed up and fix it.
Rule #3 of a freshmen - Learn time management. College is not high school. Be sure you are doing very well in your classes before you join 500 clubs, gain employment, and good ole dirty fun. This will lay a good foundation for your academics moving forward. You're about 2-3 months in right now so you may not have a good grasp yet with how things are going. I think you're probably a smart cookie but I figured I would give some advice I wish I got/listened to.
Rule #4 of a freshmen - Have fun, go be social, whether that's parties or league of legends with your new friends.
 
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Also, buy this book. Changed my life. Definitely worth the 15 dollars. It'll give you more guidance than SDN ever could. "www.amazon.com/Top-Tier-Premed-Awesome-Applicants/dp/1475007191/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478251096&sr=8-1&keywords=top+tier+premed"

I really don't think you need to be this intense as a freshmen pre-med...

(1) And a note on GPA. I don't think a 3.8 vs a 4.0 is a huge difference. Don't go overboard trying to get that 4.0, at least starting out.
(2) It's okay to do research for 6 - 12 months for exploratory reasons, but don't do it throughout college just to pad your resume. It's a waste of your time and the lab's time.
(3) Aim for longitudinal volunteering experiences: one clinical and one non-clinical.
(4) Join a club you're interested in; I would recommend a non-academic or non-pre-med club.
(5) Get to know your professors early! I went to another UC, but I still had many awesome professors to talk to about career goals, among other things.
 
Yeah, I was pretty intense my first year. I definitely mellowed down a lot but the book was certainly helpful. 6-12 months of research isn't sufficient for many research heavy medical schools (i.e. UCLA) . You definitely shouldn't do it to pad your resume. I personally love research but anybody considering medical school should do some form of research for at least 2 years.

2 years of research in a basic science lab at 12 - 15 hours/week (minimum) sucks up a lot of time. Clinical research does take substantially less time to be productive/significant.

I'm sure many people on these forums will tell you 2 years of research is absolutely not necessary for medical school. Is exposure to scientific methodology and thinking necessary? Sure, I believe that. 2 years is much past the level of simply exposure though, imo. 6 - 12 months of research is enough for a good taste of it. If you agree that you shouldn't do it to pad your resume, then you should agree that not everybody wants to go to a research heavy medical school. Different schools obviously emphasize different training and career development opportunities and to varying degrees, I might add. Ultimately, a student will want to go to the school that offers the best resources for their own career goals. So, again, no, every pre-med does not need to do 2+ years of research because not every pre-med wants to do significant research throughout their career. We can agree to disagree.
 
The following is my advice.

1. Get a 4.0 your first year..

Have you ever considered travelling school to school telling pre-meds to get 4.0s? You could single-handedly bring acceptance rates to 100%
 
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/comparison-between-ucla-usc-cal-for-pre-med.1217265/
I'm pretty sure you are familiar with this as there are brochures and cheap copies of 'guide for pre-med' around the campus (lol).

I'll try to say few things that you should consider.
I'd consider doing any of Biological Science major, as you'll take less chemistry courses (14 series) and makes you eligible to take Life Science Calculus(3A-C) and Life Science Physics (6 series; only 3 courses yee). You'll compete with Biological Science majors in the 14 series instead of 20. Not sure about the difficulty between the two. But it's better to take less anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ other than that, going with 20 series will be a lot difficult and you'll have to sacrifice mighty gummy bears and conjure enough souls to earn that A.

Let's not even talk about how you'll enjoy your time; doing all theses activities :D Because you'll have fun!!
Other than that, try to have a strong footing at any LA hospital (volunteering). I'm pretty sure you'll have a chance to volunteer at Ronald Reagan hospital! Just once a week volunteer should be enough for Freshman. Crank that number up when you gradually increase focus and able to manage time. Do more next Q/ or next year. The volunteerism changes your perspective really quickly.
I'm planning to volunteer three days a week ^-^v
 
Thanks to all who helped!
 
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Yeah my major has me taking the life science versions of math and chem so it's going pretty well!
Where do you recommend I look into volunteering? I got a position volunteering at the Venice Clinic but they say that you have to do administrative volunteering for 6 months before you have an opportunity to be a clinical assistant, and even then it's obviously not guaranteed. This doesn't sound very attractive to me mostly because of transportation (I don't have a car as of right now).
What compels you from volunteering at Ronald Raegan Hospital?
https://www.uclahealth.org/volunteer/
https://www.uclahealth.org/volunteer/volunteer-at-westwood

Definitely choose one that is close to you. I chose one that's one bus away or within walking proximity.
 
Thank you!
 
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I suppose I get the impression that it is a large, impersonal hospital therefore the opportunities I'd have volunteering there would be fairly limited as so many students want to volunteer there, but that's UCLA in general too I think! Also many of the roles are not as interactive as I'd like (Wayfinding, patient escort) and things I've already done for years throughout high school. I was hoping to dedicate my time to something with more responsibilities than what I've already been doing.
Yeah, that is the exact reason why I want to spend time at a small clinic.
But who knows? I will get a chance like that in a big hospital. It is near this CC that I attend.
 
@Skarl do you have access to a car? Have you heard back from CARE Extenders yet? Clubs only provide opportunities, but you can find them on your own. CARE, LAC+USC DEM Program, Venice Family Clinic, Cedars Student Programs, Scribing, Habitat, etc. For now, get through your first semester.
 
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@Skarl do you have access to a car? Have you heard back from CARE Extenders yet? Clubs only provide opportunities, but you can find them on your own. CARE, LAC+USC DEM Program, Venice Family Clinic, Cedars Student Programs, Scribing, Habitat, etc. For now, get through your first semester.
I do not have access to a car, I'm thinking about getting one next year along with a parking permit so that I can volunteer at these organizations. I haven't heard back from Care Extenders because I have not attended their information session yet, upcoming this winter. I'm probably going to check it out but from what I've heard it's not the most worthwhile program.
 
I do not have access to a car, I'm thinking about getting one next year along with a parking permit so that I can volunteer at these organizations. I haven't heard back from Care Extenders because I have not attended their information session yet, upcoming this winter. I'm probably going to check it out but from what I've heard it's not the most worthwhile program.
What's not worthwhile about it? What are you expectations? You want clinical experience. This is clinical experience.
 
What's not worthwhile about it? What are you expectations? You want clinical experience. This is clinical experience.
From what I've heard it is very bureaucratic with little patient interaction. Most of the work is door-greeting, or wheelchair duty. While I do think this has value it's something I've done for years throughout high school and can be very mundane and unfulfilling at times.
 
From what I've heard it is very bureaucratic with little patient interaction. Most of the work is door-greeting, or wheelchair duty. While I do think this has value it's something I've done for years throughout high school and can be very mundane and unfulfilling at times.

It's a one year commitment. The first couple rotations may not be great if you are already used to the basics, but the options become much more expanded later, especially if you apply for leadership roles.

Overall, it's about where your motivation and sincerity of success are at, not what will be handed to you. There are somewhere around 800 volunteers and you won't get something handed to you. However, from my experience, it has shaped my premed direction through the networking I've done and experiences I've initiated on my own. I've also seen plenty of entitled people have a sour taste after a rotation or two.

Sure it's not the best option, but it is a good experience on average and great for the most motivated to learn and see new things. If you are shy it will probably suck or force you to stop being shy.




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It's a one year commitment. The first couple rotations may not be great if you are already used to the basics, but the options become much more expanded later, especially if you apply for leadership roles.

Overall, it's about where your motivation and sincerity of success are at, not what will be handed to you. There are somewhere around 800 volunteers and you won't get something handed to you. However, from my experience, it has shaped my premed direction through the networking I've done and experiences I've initiated on my own. I've also seen plenty of entitled people have a sour taste after a rotation or two.

Sure it's not the best option, but it is a good experience on average and great for the most motivated to learn and see new things. If you are shy it will probably suck or force you to stop being shy.




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I didn't know there were opportunities for leadership roles or expansion of responsibility. Can you elaborate a little bit more on that? I still signed up for an information despite my early reservations and knowing that there are further opportunities if I commit is definitely an incentive to stick with it.
 
From what I've heard it is very bureaucratic with little patient interaction. Most of the work is door-greeting, or wheelchair duty. While I do think this has value it's something I've done for years throughout high school and can be very mundane and unfulfilling at times.
Who are you doing it for? Are you doing it for the patient (like me -- a few times) who can't get to the front door on their own and who needs someone on wheelchair duty? Or are you doing it for some kind of thrill or excitement that you can write about on an application? Figure out why you want to volunteer before you make yourself miserable and fail to serve with a smile those who need someone.
 
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From what I've heard it is very bureaucratic with little patient interaction. Most of the work is door-greeting, or wheelchair duty. While I do think this has value it's something I've done for years throughout high school and can be very mundane and unfulfilling at times.
Everything from now until you retire in medicine will be bureaucratic.

Yes, part of your 1st rotation involves doing a 2 hour greeters shift per week. You are an ambassador for the hospital. I was 28 when I did CARE. I greeted from 7-9am. Is it glamorous? No, but you do it because it's something the hospital feels is important and more so, it familiarizes you with the layout of the hospital. I later worked in the NICU where I got to handle the preemies and observe both vaginal and cesarian births. I worked in the MICU, where I held the hands of family members who mother, brother, etc had just died. I also rotated in the ER where I learned basic suturing, aspirated wounds and performed CPR on coding patients.

It sounds to me like the info you got were from people who either did it just to check a box off or felt entitled to take part in things they didn't earn. That's what pisses me off about this generation (sorry to go on this rant), but you have to earn the respect and opportunities you are given. For every procedure I saw, I had to change 30 beds or restock a dozen carts. Be humble and proactive and it will bare fruit. Right now, you are a freshman premed. You are low on the totem. Sorry to say that, but it's true. UCLA is one of the best hospitals not only in LA, CA or the west coast, but the US. Remember that. Two of the attendings I got to know through CARE became mentors of mine and in 4 years I'll be their colleague. At this point, nothing should boring or below you despite how mundane it may seem.
 
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Glad I checked in. I thought small clinic experience was more 'involving' than big hospitals. I was wrong.
Thank you LizzyM and CyrilF.
I learned a lot about what is Clinical Experience.
 
I'll definitely apply to those programs and focus on writing a more unique and thoughtful application. I think a lot of my earlier applications came off as bragging and thus I didn't have a lot of success despite relevant experiences. They're highly competitive but I think it's worth a shot! I also plan on applying to Mobile Clinic as well, it sounds like a very worthwhile organization and I like that it recruits in the Spring!

Hey Skarl; hang in there! I was once a pre-med at UCLA and it used to seem like getting into the "hard get to get into" volunteer groups was what determined your strength as a potential medical school applicant. While some of those groups do great work (I was in a handful of them), this thinking is simply not true. Being in med school now, many of my classmates that went to UCLA did NOT participate in these so called "prestigious" volunteer orgs.

It can feel hard to find your traction at a big school like UCLA but you should know that the transition into college and learning to balance your time and priorities is difficult for everyone.
 
I said some form of research. By research universities, I'm talking about Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc. They expect medical students to contribute to academia in some way. That's why I said that SOME form of research is important if you want to go to these types of institutions. This is also why MD/PhD students match better into competitive residencies because they are going to contribute to academia in the future. Also, 6-12 months of research will definitely look like you were trying to pad your resume. You will hardly make an impact within this short period of time.

"If you agree that you shouldn't do it to pad your resume, then you should agree that not everybody wants to go to a research heavy medical school."

I also don't see how these two statements are linked in any way.

6-12 months of research is trying to pad your resume? I don't think you understand anything. If in six months you manage to get onto a paper and a couple of abstracts you're already well ahead of someone who has been at a lab for over a year but getting nothing out of it. Believe me I have had friends sit in labs for over a year and not get anything out of it not even a letter of rec. Also you keep adding to your misunderstanding by calling care extenders a waste of time and saying screw stroke team/force. Involvement is involvement and presentation is what mostly matters anyway.
 
@aet818 don't worry about @BatmanMSTP . If his name didn't give it away, he's an Md/PhD applicant that's why he's hot and heavy on research and pumping the success of MD/PhD residence.

But that's his prerogative. I have classmates currently and ones I went to undergrad and post-bacc who have zero research. It all comes down to the type of program and school you want to attend. I had an Admissions Director tell me straight to my face that she and her committee cared less about the 2 years of research and 3 papers to my name than my clinical exposure and community service.

Also FWIW, I did CARE Extenders, and while it does have its flaws just like every other clinical experience, it is a real experience. I'm not sure what Batman is talking about unless performing compressions as part of the code team, observing cardiac catheterizations, or watching c-sections and vaginal births aren't real medical experiences. Not sure what more a random 20 year old with no medical training is expected to do.
 
Clinical experience, in the context of the AMCAS, involves patient interaction. From my knowledge, care extenders involves very little patient interaction and hence, one should ideally spend time elsewhere. Most people that I have I interacted with that are part of Care Extenders do not seem to be getting the type of experience that you obtained. Again, I could be wrong about this program but I know many people who can attest to what I am saying

That you for explaining that to me. I honestly had no idea what "clinical experience" meant. Again, it sounds like all your experience with CARE extenders is anecdotal from other people. While that's important (and basically the basis of all SDN comments) I don't think you should be the one to comment on it here if you weren't involved. I'm in no way saying that CARE is an ideal organization, but it is clinical experience.

You seem to have some passionate resentment for it and I'm not sure where that's coming from. It still sounds, like i said earlier, that you or those who provide your opinions of CARE came in with the wrong attitude or expectations. I say this because I saw it. Volunteers checking in for shifts and then hunkering away doing homework or dicking around on the internet. Yes, a hospital can be slow, esp in ICU or other wards, but if you make yourself useful to the residents and nurses, you will get an honest clinical experience. Maybe I'm the albatross in the room because I actually went the extra mile, but that still doesn't mean the program as a whole doesn't offer rewarding clinical experience.
 
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