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With a Bachelor's you can get a job as a tech or a CNA (though the latter would likely require additional certification).
 
If you have your certification, most EMS companies will be interested, especially if you're only looking for part-time. As a general interviewing rule, you shouldn't divulge your future plans unless specifically asked (eg: "Where do you see yourself in five years?"). Even then, give a general answer. I interviewed with one EMS company and was rejected - but I think this was due to poor interview preparation - and was offered a job on-the-spot for another. In fact, the interviewer even said: "We know most people getting hired as EMT-Bs are doing it for med school experience or to take advantage of our free paramedic classes." Private EMS companies don't generally pay EMT-Bs very well and I assume suffer from high turnover. So you have a good chance of getting a job.
 
PM me if you want one person's perspective on clinical research OP.

Been at it since June as my gap year job and so far I've loved it. Get to see patients nearly every day, do things like blood draws, EKGs, vitals, med history, lab work, interact with a variety of physicians, etc. It has vastly increased my understanding of how the various elements/institutions in healthcare interact and work together and I have had some fantastic conversations and experiences with patients too. I'm not saying there aren't downsides and negative spins that can be applied to clinical research, but my experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Happy to go into more detail if anyone else is interested.
 
I've scribed for the last 2 years if you want to talk about that
 
AirplaneFruit said:
Hmm but when you're scribing are you actually interacting with the patients or just writing down everything the doctor and the patients say and remaining quiet to not bother them?
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Generally as a scribe, you're interacting with the physician--he/she may dictate charts to you and you'll typically be in the room observing the history, exam, and any procedures so you can document the chart. Generally, there's little patient interaction--the value of this experience is observing and getting to understand what doctors do all day.

I've been working in clinical research for 3 years. Happy to talk to you about that, if you'd like! I've gotten a good amount of patient contact, built a close relationship with my PI, and also co-authored several publications. All in all, it's been pretty great! Scribing was good, too, but in a different way.
 
NotaCop said:
PM me if you want one person's perspective on clinical research OP.

Been at it since June as my gap year job and so far I've loved it. Get to see patients nearly every day, do things like blood draws, EKGs, vitals, med history, lab work, interact with a variety of physicians, etc. It has vastly increased my understanding of how the various elements/institutions in healthcare interact and work together and I have had some fantastic conversations and experiences with patients too. I'm not saying there aren't downsides and negative spins that can be applied to clinical research, but my experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

Happy to go into more detail if anyone else is interested.
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thatwouldbeanarchy said:
Generally as a scribe, you're interacting with the physician--he/she may dictate charts to you and you'll typically be in the room observing the history, exam, and any procedures so you can document the chart. Generally, there's little patient interaction--the value of this experience is observing and getting to understand what doctors do all day.

I've been working in clinical research for 3 years. Happy to talk to you about that, if you'd like! I've gotten a good amount of patient contact, built a close relationship with my PI, and also co-authored several publications. All in all, it's been pretty great! Scribing was good, too, but in a different way.
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I'd love to hear more from both of you! Like OP, I'm trying to figure out my gap year (except I'll be taking 2). However, my main goal is research/publishing. I'm currently deciding between a Bioengineering Masters, being a research tech, and being a clinical research coordinator/associate. Clinical research honestly sounds like the best to me (because of all the things you've said above) IF I can publish during that time. What have your experiences been in general with clinical research and specifically with publishing? Also how are things like hours worked/week, on-the-job travel, etc. Thank you!
 
bootsandspooky said:
I'd love to hear more from both of you! Like OP, I'm trying to figure out my gap year (except I'll be taking 2). However, my main goal is research/publishing. I'm currently deciding between a Bioengineering Masters, being a research tech, and being a clinical research coordinator/associate. Clinical research honestly sounds like the best to me (because of all the things you've said above) IF I can publish during that time. What have your experiences been in general with clinical research and specifically with publishing? Also how are things like hours worked/week, on-the-job travel, etc. Thank you!
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For me, working in research has been a great experience either way. But whether you'll be able to publish is soooo variable. I would ask yourself if you'd be satisfied working in clinical research and NOT getting your name on any papers because there's really no guarantee. I work in a large academic department with many research assistants. Some faculty members just don't publish very often (many of them work clinically more than they do research) and, for whatever reason, some just don't list their research assistants as co-authors. I think I'm lucky to have a PI who is really invested in helping me gain experience and get my name out there.

It also depends on what type of work you're doing. If your responsibilities are mainly limited to drawing blood and doing data entry (not that these experiences aren't valuable because they are!), there's probably less of a chance of getting published. But keep in mind that in terms of applying to med school, having research experience is more important than having publications. Pubs are nice but hard to get and most applicants won't have them. I'm not sure I would pass up a research opportunity just because it's unlikely to result in publications.

As an RA, I've perhaps taken on an unusual amount of responsibility and basically function more as a project coordinator. I manage all of our data, handle IRB submissions, supervise interns, and run our intervention with study participants. (Feel free to PM me, if you're interested in what the research is about.) Again, it depends on the project/PI but I currently work 40 hrs/week, super flexible hours (typically 9-5 M-F but I set my own hours), no travel, salaried employee.
 
AirplaneFruit said:
As full-time jobs for one year? Would they accept you?
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Some EMT jobs have a super high turnover rate, so working full-time for a year probably won't be a huge problem. If you go that way, I'd start by looking into medical transport companies in your area. They can be a good intro to patient care, and if you want you can try to move from it to 911 or working in an ER later on. I also got some really good patient care stories from EMS that I've told in interviews.
 
I've done volunteer EMT work, scribing in orthopedics, scribing in oncology, and scribing in hematology.

I found scribing to be far and away the best combination of patient interactions, relationship/LOR building with physicians, and quality learning experience. It also generates a pay check.
 
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