Are these clinical experience-y enough?

[Wolvereenie]

Pretty new user here- sophomore at a big ten school looking to become a psychiatrist. I'm looking for some feedback about a few gigs I've got, and whether they would fit the description of "clinical experience" required for admission to med school.

Gig #1: Throughout high school, and through this summer, I've been a volunteer at my local hospital, with around 220 hours. This is something that I began doing out of interest (it's fun and I like hospitals), but is not something particularly clinical. I basically have worked at the front desk, shown people around the hospital, delivered flowers to patients, and transported new patients to their room in wheelchairs. So, the closest I ever got to to the medical process was bringing patients to their rooms and handing off their documents to the nurses. I feel like this probably isn't the kind of thing that adcoms are looking for?

Gig #2: I have just started as a research assistant with my university's psychiatry department working on a project looking at risk factors in suicidal patients coming into the hospital's emergency department. I'll be spending around 8 hours a week in my university hospital's ED collecting data. Is just being present in the emergency room enough to be counted as clinical experience?

Gig #3: I have gastrointestinal issues and 2 different gastroenterologists (who I've known for years) said that I could shadow them at any point if I really wanted to. I know that shadowing does count as clinical experience, but would to be weird to shadow outpatient gastro guys, seeing as my entire med school application will be tailored towards psych (I'm a biopsych/neuroscience major involved in psych-related EC's and am doing psych research)?

Any feedback would be great! I just discovered sdn for the first time last month and you guys are awesome!

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[Lamel]

1.) That sounds like a typical volunteering gig for premeds, so it is indeed clinical and you should regard it as such; that's about as much patient contact as you can get in such positions. Keep doing it in college.

2.) This would count as research, with some clinical elements (which is great.)

3.) No, you can shadow whoever you want, shadowing is a way to see what doctor's do. Try to shadow a primary care doctor too and aim for 40 hours total. I think the rest of your psych related ECs will convey your interest enough; ideally you would shadow a psychiatrist too, but is that even allowed?

 

[Catalystik]

Pretty new user here- sophomore at a big ten school looking to become a psychiatrist. I'm looking for some feedback about a few gigs I've got, and whether they would fit the description of "clinical experience" required for admission to med school.

Gig #1: Throughout high school, and through this summer, I've been a volunteer at my local hospital, with around 220 hours. This is something that I began doing out of interest (it's fun and I like hospitals), but is not something particularly clinical. I basically have worked at the front desk, shown people around the hospital, delivered flowers to patients, and transported new patients to their room in wheelchairs. So, the closest I ever got to to the medical process was bringing patients to their rooms and handing off their documents to the nurses. I feel like this probably isn't the kind of thing that adcoms are looking for?

Gig #2: I have just started as a research assistant with my university's psychiatry department working on a project looking at risk factors in suicidal patients coming into the hospital's emergency department. I'll be spending around 8 hours a week in my university hospital's ED collecting data. Is just being present in the emergency room enough to be counted as clinical experience?

Gig #3: I have gastrointestinal issues and 2 different gastroenterologists (who I've known for years) said that I could shadow them at any point if I really wanted to. I know that shadowing does count as clinical experience, but would to be weird to shadow outpatient gastro guys, seeing as my entire med school application will be tailored towards psych (I'm a biopsych/neuroscience major involved in psych-related EC's and am doing psych research)?

Any feedback would be great! I just discovered sdn for the first time last month and you guys are awesome!

1) Yes, this is considered active clinical experience since you interact with patients in a helpful way. You'll get more out of it if you initiate conversations with sick people and their families.

2) If you don't interact with patients and mainly collect data from patient records, it is not a clinical experience. Regardless, you would enter it as Research anyway and highlight your experience in a medical environment.

3) Shadowing, another expected component of a good application, is a passive observership and is listed separately on the application. It does not benefit the patient. It is not considered a volunteer or community service activity. You would be wise to shadow more specialties than psychiatry to get a broader experience of physical as well as mental illnesses, and to signal your open-mindedness toward experiencing all aspects of medicine (which is required of all med students). I suggest aiming for at least 50 total hours, with 40 being a minimum goal.

 

[Catalystik]

ideally you would shadow a psychiatrist too, but is that even allowed?

If a patient and the psychiatrist consent, it is "allowed," however practically speaking, group counseling visits are more likely to work out on a regular basis, from what I've noticed.

 

[Wolvereenie]

Hey, thanks for the responses, guys. It's a relief that gig #1 is considered somewhat acceptable- a lot of my pre med friends at school are getting their "clinical experiences" from hands-on stuff like working in clinics (which I know is a good idea to look into as well). To be honest, the whole pushing patients in wheelchairs thing is something that I only do like once or twice per 6 hour shift... is it okay to embellish this to an extent?

As for the shadowing, yeah, it's really hard to shadow a psychiatrist (you know, for confidentiality reasons). My dad's friend is a psychiatrist, and he told me that he's never heard of someone shadowing an outpatient psychiatrist. He did sit down with me, though, and try to give me a good idea of what he does all day (but I suppose that this doesn't count for anything...). I will definitely take up a gastro doc on his offer, then, and try to find another shadowing gig or two with other specialties. I could look into psych hospitals as well.

For somebody who has sought out shockingly little guidance on getting into med school, it's nice to know that I'm somewhat on track!

 

[deleted407021]

For somebody who has sought out shockingly little guidance on getting into med school, it's nice to know that I'm somewhat on track!

Well, you're not doing it on a whim, so that's an advantage. PM me if you have questions about working in free clinics.

 

[BillrothI]

As for the shadowing, yeah, it's really hard to shadow a psychiatrist (you know, for confidentiality reasons). My dad's best friend is a psychiatrist, and he told me that he's never heard of someone shadowing an outpatient psychiatrist. He did sit down with me, though, and try to give me a good idea of what he does all day (but I suppose that this doesn't count for anything...). I will definitely take up a gastro doc on his offer, then, and try to find another shadowing gig or two with other specialties. I could look into psych hospitals as well.

Shadowing a psychiatrist is difficult, but not impossible. It really depends on the nature of the practice. When I shadowed, a surprising number of patients allowed me to sit in on their sessions. However, I did not get to see any CBT, and I had to sit out for about a third of the time.

Nevertheless, you may be able to find a psychiatrist willing to work with you. I suggest you talk to your dad's friend and see if there's anyone he might know who would be willing to take you on for a day or so.

Good luck!

-Bill

 

[Wolvereenie]

When I shadowed, a surprising number of patients allowed me to sit in on their sessions. However, I did not get to see any CBT, and I had to sit out for about a third of the time.

Oh cool, it's really encouraging to hear about somebody actually shadowing a psychologist! I would love to sit in on a session like that. Heh, I feel like I would need to go to an area far enough from where I live that there would be no chance that I see someone I know. I'll definitely get in touch with my dad's friend, though.