What form of clinical or non-clinical experience is this?

[OneCutAtATime]

A friend of mine has an uncle who runs a business where he teaches mentally disabled children how to read, write, social behaviors, and so forth and so on. Is this any form of experience if I were to volunteer here? In another sense, if I were to be paid here, what would it then be considered?

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[Catalystik]

A friend of mine has an uncle who runs a business where he teaches mentally disabled children how to read, write, social behaviors, and so forth and so on. Is this any form of experience if I were to volunteer here? In another sense, if I were to be paid here, what would it then be considered?

I assume your uncle has no medical credentials.

If paid, Employment - not Medical/Clinical.

Whether volunteer, or not, if you get to interact with the kids, it sounds like a good experience.

 

[PreMedTex]

Of course this is definitely good volunteer work. As far as clinical experience goes I would say it is not. This does not sound medically related as it is more social work than anything.

 

[LizzyM]

Being a "volunteer" in a for-profit business is a bit odd. Some people will "volunteer" in a doctors' office because they don't have any skills the doctors would pay someone for and the volunteer just wants to get a foot in the door for exposure to a health care setting. Volunteering in a for-profit business that is not medical (e.g. a tutoring center that parents pay for) doesn't really help the needy which is the point of volunteering. If the uncle is directing a not-for-profit program or agency then that's a different situation and volunteering for the agency might make more sense. This is just my opinion, not a universal among adcoms.

Employment is classified on your med school application as "clinical" or "non-clinical". It is fine to have one or the other or both. Being employed working with kids who are in a setting where they are not patients would be "non-clinical".

 

[LizzyM]

Sorry to piggy back on here.. @LizzyM Just curious, if I volunteered for a for-profit business where I coached kids sports, would this be odd enough that I should leave it off of my application? Unfortunately this is my only non-clinical volunteering and I got involved through connections as well so I wasn't considering the exact nature of the volunteering when I started.

You might as well list it to account for your time and interest but don't expect brownie points for service to the needy.

 

[protego]

You might as well list it to account for your time and interest but don't expect brownie points for service to the needy.

Got it, thanks! Hopefully my clinical volunteering helps with that.