focus on paid clinical experience or research for gap year job?

[tameimpaler]

I currently have 1200 hours of research from undergrad, with a second author manuscript in review. For clinical experience, I only have volunteering — about 300 hours. This is split between hospital volunteering, health screenings where I administer blood pressure / blood glucose tests, and a volunteer role where I screen patients in the ED for SDOH as part of a hospital initiative.

I’m looking for gap year jobs now as i’m about to graduate, and I’m conflicted about which jobs to pursue— I'm currently applying to both clinical research (RA / CRC) roles and medical assistant/scribe roles, but mostly only hearing back from research roles. These pay more ($26-30/hr) as compared to the pay I see posted for scribes/MAs ($16-18/hr). Though I want to use my gap year to gain more experience for my apps, I also have to take the pay into consideration, which makes research more compelling. I wanted to use the money I earned from work to pay off my undergrad student loans and save for future expenses.

My main questions are:
1. Are my current clinical hours "enough" to not raise eyebrows if I choose to not pursue a paid clinical job during my gap year? Or, should put my gap year hours toward this?

2. Is it a red flag if I seem to be prioritizing clinical research but i’m not pursuing MD/PhD? Working clinical research during my gap year would put me at about 3k+ hours total, which really overshadows the 300 hours I have of clinical experience. I'm worried about this raising questions about why I'm not applying MD/PhD or why I'm not working in a more patient-facing role.

As always, advice is appreciated thank you!

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[Mr.Smile12]

I currently have 1200 hours of research from undergrad, with a second author manuscript in review. For clinical experience, I only have volunteering — about 300 hours. This is split between hospital volunteering, health screenings where I administer blood pressure / blood glucose tests, and a volunteer role where I screen patients in the ED for SDOH as part of a hospital initiative.

I’m looking for gap year jobs now as i’m about to graduate, and I’m conflicted about which jobs to pursue— I'm currently applying to both clinical research (RA / CRC) roles and medical assistant/scribe roles, but mostly only hearing back from research roles. These pay more ($26-30/hr) as compared to the pay I see posted for scribes/MAs ($16-18/hr). Though I want to use my gap year to gain more experience for my apps, I also have to take the pay into consideration, which makes research more compelling. I wanted to use the money I earned from work to pay off my undergrad student loans and save for future expenses.

My main questions are:
1. Are my current clinical hours "enough" to not raise eyebrows if I choose to not pursue a paid clinical job during my gap year? Or, should put my gap year hours toward this?

2. Is it a red flag if I seem to be prioritizing clinical research but i’m not pursuing MD/PhD? Working clinical research during my gap year would put me at about 3k+ hours total, which really overshadows the 300 hours I have of clinical experience. I'm worried about this raising questions about why I'm not applying MD/PhD or why I'm not working in a more patient-facing role.

As always, advice is appreciated thank you!

Some of your health screening work could be considered non-clinical experience (BP/administer glucose tests for wellness checks), even if it is health-adjacent. How many hours did you do here?

Premed applicants should not be expected to adhere to a vow of poverty. If you need the money, take the higher-paying job. (Considering fast food workers in California now can earn $20 per hour, they better start thinking about the pay rates of MA's.) That said, you should consider what you gain with each option. Scribing/medical assisting gives you a better insight into what doctors do through patient-centered experiences. Not all clinical research positions are, but check the job description and ask questions on whether you can do a little shadowing with the doctors working in the study.

Clinical research is not a signal that screams "MD/PhD applicant" as much as strong mentors and an effort towards presenting and publishing relevant research.

 

[tameimpaler]

Some of your health screening work could be considered non-clinical experience (BP/administer glucose tests for wellness checks), even if it is health-adjacent. How many hours did you do here?

Premed applicants should not be expected to adhere to a vow of poverty. If you need the money, take the higher-paying job. (Considering fast food workers in California now can earn $20 per hour, they better start thinking about the pay rates of MA's.) That said, you should consider what you gain with each option. Scribing/medical assisting gives you a better insight into what doctors do through patient-centered experiences. Not all clinical research positions are, but check the job description and ask questions on whether you can do a little shadowing with the doctors working in the study.

Clinical research is not a signal that screams "MD/PhD applicant" as much as strong mentors and an effort towards presenting and publishing relevant research.

I did 100 hrs of typical hospital volunteering, 100 hrs of the BP/glucose screenings, and 100 hrs ED SDOH screenings (in the ED, I do interact with doctors but most of my work is on my own.) I also have 70 hours of shadowing various specialties as well as primary care, however those are of course less hands-on.

 

[quintapov]

Focus on clinical. My research is better than probably everyone here because of my job (postdoc at a big school in CA). I thought my research could compensate for my lack of clinical experience. I got two acceptances but only two public schools interviewed me and the rest were expensive ivies. I'm certain with better clinical hours, I would have had more interviews.

Also, your research experience is pretty good. Most undergrads in my lab have less and they are applying.

 

[Hollow Knight]

1. what is your app deficient in?
2. If 1 doesn't help, do clinical experience

Edit: absolutely do clinical, you already have a publication

 

[LindaAccepted]

I currently have 1200 hours of research from undergrad, with a second author manuscript in review. For clinical experience, I only have volunteering — about 300 hours. This is split between hospital volunteering, health screenings where I administer blood pressure / blood glucose tests, and a volunteer role where I screen patients in the ED for SDOH as part of a hospital initiative.

I’m looking for gap year jobs now as i’m about to graduate, and I’m conflicted about which jobs to pursue— I'm currently applying to both clinical research (RA / CRC) roles and medical assistant/scribe roles, but mostly only hearing back from research roles. These pay more ($26-30/hr) as compared to the pay I see posted for scribes/MAs ($16-18/hr). Though I want to use my gap year to gain more experience for my apps, I also have to take the pay into consideration, which makes research more compelling. I wanted to use the money I earned from work to pay off my undergrad student loans and save for future expenses.

My main questions are:
1. Are my current clinical hours "enough" to not raise eyebrows if I choose to not pursue a paid clinical job during my gap year? Or, should put my gap year hours toward this?

2. Is it a red flag if I seem to be prioritizing clinical research but i’m not pursuing MD/PhD? Working clinical research during my gap year would put me at about 3k+ hours total, which really overshadows the 300 hours I have of clinical experience. I'm worried about this raising questions about why I'm not applying MD/PhD or why I'm not working in a more patient-facing role.

As always, advice is appreciated thank you!

There is no question that you have more than enough research. The question is whether your clinical is "enough." That would imply you need more clinical.

At the same time, the pay issue is compelling. So a couple of questions come to mind:

1. Could a clinical research job give you good, valuable clinical exposure so that you could get both the higher pay and the clinical exposure?
2. If that's not possible, could you take the FT research job that pays well and volunteer 4-8 hours a week for the next year in a clinical setting (hospice, clinic, ER, etc) , which would give you another 200-400 hours in the next year?

 

[tameimpaler]

There is no question that you have more than enough research. The question is whether your clinical is "enough." That would imply you need more clinical.

At the same time, the pay issue is compelling. So a couple of questions come to mind:

1. Could a clinical research job give you good, valuable clinical exposure so that you could get both the higher pay and the clinical exposure?
2. If that's not possible, could you take the FT research job that pays well and volunteer 4-8 hours a week for the next year in a clinical setting (hospice, clinic, ER, etc) , which would give you another 200-400 hours in the next year?

I definitely considered volunteering for clinical hours, but I was unsure if it would have the same impact as a paid clinical job, since it seems like a much more passive role. Right now, I'm considering a part-time clinical research position (20 hr/wk) and working a couple shifts as a scribe the rest of the week, since scribing seems to be more flexible. Would this be realistic?

 

[LindaAccepted]

I definitely considered volunteering for clinical hours, but I was unsure if it would have the same impact as a paid clinical job, since it seems like a much more passive role. Right now, I'm considering a part-time clinical research position (20 hr/wk) and working a couple shifts as a scribe the rest of the week, since scribing seems to be more flexible. Would this be realistic?

in terms of the value of a paid position vs volunteer one, it is true that usually a paid position implies somewhat more responsibility and training. However, as @Mr.Smile12 wisely said, pre-meds are not expected to take a "vow of poverty." And it really depends on what you do in that volunteer role and how long you do it. Usually the longer you do something, the more responsibility you will get.

However, if you can take a part-time clinical research position and then scribe another 16+ hours per week, that would give you more valuable clinical exposure. It may not get you as much money, however, as a full-time job with more limited volunteering.

 

[Med Ed]

1. Are my current clinical hours "enough" to not raise eyebrows if I choose to not pursue a paid clinical job during my gap year? Or, should put my gap year hours toward this?

From reading this forum one could get the impression that you have to spend gap year(s) working as a scribe or MA in order to get into medical school. This is not true.

Clinical exposure is needed so that you can make an informed decision about pursuing the profession. If you get some shadowing and keep going with the hospital volunteering, I think you are in reasonable shape.