Need advice nailing down sufficient clinical experience

[nontradalex]

I am applying for medical school in 2017.

I have hundreds of hours of experience doing medical related chemistry research as an undergraduate.
I plan to work as a medical scribe full time (40hours a week) while I study for the MCAT, at least four months.
I plan to shadow a GP and a Pediatrician; 5 hours a week for a total of at least 80 hours.

Do you feel like what I mentioned above is enough clinical and research experience, couple with a high GPA and MCAT? If not, continue below... tell me what you would do for more clinical experience.

EMT-Basic would take a semester to compete. Are there alot of jobs for an EMT basic?
EMT-Intermediate would take two semesters to complete. Lot of jobs for this as well?
Surgical Tech would take at least a year and I already missed deadline to start this August...
Nursing? What is fast and can get me working with patients soon?
Any other avenues?

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[nontradalex]

Also, what additional clinical experience like EMT, Surg Tech, Nursing, etc would look good if I pursued a PA or PT track in the event I don't get into med school?

 

[Hospitalized]

You will have enough clinical experience, provided you go through with all of those things. Honestly PA/PT shouldn't be on your radar as a backup. If you have truly decided to go MD, go all in. If that doesn't work, go DO. A physician is must different than a PA/PT in terms of responsibilities.

With the clinical experience you mentioned, I would also add in some non-clinical things. Local boys & girls club, habitat, soup kitchen, something where you can get out in your community and help out a bit.

Nothing wrong with getting an EMT cert if you have the time. Personally, I prefer scribing over EMT because you get to actually see what physicians do. It's less patient contact, but more knowledge about being a physician.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I am applying for medical school in 2017.

I have hundreds of hours of experience doing medical related chemistry research as an undergraduate.
I plan to work as a medical scribe full time (40hours a week) while I study for the MCAT, at least four months.
I plan to shadow a GP and a Pediatrician; 5 hours a week for a total of at least 80 hours.

Do you feel like what I mentioned above is enough clinical and research experience, couple with a high GPA and MCAT? If not, continue below... tell me what you would do for more clinical experience.

EMT-Basic would take a semester to compete. Are there alot of jobs for an EMT basic?
EMT-Intermediate would take two semesters to complete. Lot of jobs for this as well?
Surgical Tech would take at least a year and I already missed deadline to start this August...
Nursing? What is fast and can get me working with patients soon?
Any other avenues?

I'm sure these count as clinical, with the exception of the chemistry research, which I'm not sure about.

With certifications, you need to weigh what's going to be enjoyable and worth your time, since they take a lot of time and money. Surg tech is very lengthy, so if you'll only have about a year to use it, it's probably not worth it, unless you REALLY are itching to get into the OR. CNA is the fastest of these, but it didn't appeal to me personally; maybe it will to you though. Don't do nursing just because you think it'll get you into medicine - nursing is a career all its own and it's generally not a "stepping stone" based on the amount of effort required to get yourself into the profession in the first place. If you know you want to be a doctor, don't take a roundabout way to get there.

I'm getting my EMT-I because I like prehospital medicine a lot and it helps me think on my feet, plus I'm going to use it to work on an ambulance during my gap year, so all in all the cert will earn back the cost required to gain it and will help get me clinical experience for my application. In my experience job prospects are better for EMT-I than for EMT-B, but it depends on your state. Where I am, EMT-B is pretty much only good to get you into a basic hospital job somewhere - you usually can't do actual first responder with it. This aspect is definitely variable depending on where you are, however, as there are many states in which EMTs run on ambulances. You need to do some local searching for this particular question.

All in all, find what you like and are interested in. Don't just get a random certification because you think it'll help get into medical school. That should be an ancillary benefit to the main one of getting the opportunity to be involved in healthcare in a capacity you feel a connection to.

Sorry if this is a bit rambly. It's late.