are my clinical experiences lacking/good enough/better than average????????

[QuantumMechanic]

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As I fill out the AMCAS, the only part of my application that I think might be cause for alarm is my amount of clinical experiences. Compared to other premeds at my school I've done about the same amount of experiences, but the SDN crowd of course makes me cower in fear and insecurity as it seems that everyone here has a 4.0 with 40 hours a week of service. (EEEK! )

So here it goes for my clinical experiences:

a summer (after frosh year of college) volunteering in a nursing home for about 6 hours a week (lots of patient contact! I highly recommend this, if you can stand the smell)

about 2 weeks of shadowing 2 docotrs (after sophomore year) I saw alot including a surgery, a Csection, regular office visits, and hospital rounds in an ICU

a school years worth of volunteering in a children's hospital (3 hours a week). lots of patient contact, but probably not the best type of patient contact considering this was my most sizeable experience.


So am I doing alright? Will I be penalized by not having spent more time getting patient contact? I really didn't have time to get much more of these experiences in, and I've always felt guilty about not getting involved in more, but grades, mcat, and other things matter in this process. 😱

 

[jackieMD2007]

I'm not really sure what is common for most undergrads applying (I have been out of college for three years now), but my best advice to you would be to emphasize what the experiences have taught you, what they mean to you, etc.

If these were quality experiences for you, that is what counts. Can you speak intelligently and clearly about each of them in an interview, using specific examples?

Not everyone can volunteer 40 hours a week!
😎

 

[QuantumMechanic]

If these were quality experiences for you, that is what counts. Can you speak intelligently and clearly about each of them in an interview, using specific examples?

Yes...but so many times people emphasize on SDN that its continuity and longterm dedication to such experiences which is what med schools really want. They've been great experiences, but disjointed and the longest one only lasted 8 months!

 

[nekrogg]

seems like a good amount of clincal experience to me! as long as you can prove that you obtained a clear view of medicine. if your that worried you can start something now and stick it in your interview

 

[HemaOncoDoc]

As I fill out the AMCAS, the only part of my application that I think might be cause for alarm is my amount of clinical experiences. Compared to other premeds at my school I've done about the same amount of experiences, but the SDN crowd of course makes me cower in fear and insecurity as it seems that everyone here has a 4.0 with 40 hours a week of service. (EEEK! )

So here it goes for my clinical experiences:

a summer (after frosh year of college) volunteering in a nursing home for about 6 hours a week (lots of patient contact! I highly recommend this, if you can stand the smell)

about 2 weeks of shadowing 2 docotrs (after sophomore year) I saw alot including a surgery, a Csection, regular office visits, and hospital rounds in an ICU

a school years worth of volunteering in a children's hospital (3 hours a week). lots of patient contact, but probably not the best type of patient contact considering this was my most sizeable experience.


So am I doing alright? Will I be penalized by not having spent more time getting patient contact? I really didn't have time to get much more of these experiences in, and I've always felt guilty about not getting involved in more, but grades, mcat, and other things matter in this process. 😱

That's a good list of clinical experiences. You need to take it to the next step by either continuing to do clinical work or incorporate your experiences into your personal statement or interviews. Show how your experiences have molded you or gave you an unique perspective.

 

[hangten]

I think what you listed is more than enough. Like what they said, quality not quantity. Don't get intimidated by what you see out here, there's never a guarantee that what are posted are correct. Similar to what you encounter in college, there are some people who likes to flatter themselves. Be careful processing what you read.

 

[LabMonster]

Yes...but so many times people emphasize on SDN that its continuity and longterm dedication to such experiences which is what med schools really want. They've been great experiences, but disjointed and the longest one only lasted 8 months!

You're fine. This place brings out the neuroses in all of us.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

You're fine. This place brings out the neuroses in all of us.

Perfectly put. If you need evidence of the neurosis and overachievment of SDN cruise over to the USMLE forums. Seems like everyone there got a 250+ which is the equivalent of about a 35 on the MCAT. Also recall the myriad threads of "please help this poor pre-med decide between Harvard or a full ride to Michigan."

Much love.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

You're fine. This place brings out the neuroses in all of us.

Thanks, I'm still nervous about this, though. I guess the best I can do now is to be honest about how important my experiences were to me on my application and during interviews.

 

[CostalShowers]

Thanks, I'm still nervous about this, though. I guess the best I can do now is to be honest about how important my experiences were to me on my application and during interviews.

My favorite question in interviews was: "Was there a particular moment or patient during any of your experiences shadowing or working at place x that stands out to you that you'd like to share?"

If you can answer this with something specific, or better yet answer a completely unrelated question by incorporating your volunteer/shadowing experience, then you'll be golden. You defintely have enough on paper to show you've had contact with the medical profession.

 

[Hard24Get]

Thanks, I'm still nervous about this, though. I guess the best I can do now is to be honest about how important my experiences were to me on my application and during interviews.

Well, let me just put my $0.02 in and say that I sat on my school's adcom for 2 years, and I my "sticking point" (everyone has one) was clinical experience - how do you know you want it if you haven't experienced it? I definitely creamed people who only shadowed the summer before applying 🙄
But I think that you have managed quasi-long term experiences in two very different aspects of medicine and I would be pleased with that if I was on your committee. Perhaps you might even draw a brief comparison between caring for the elderly and children in your essay musings - that would make me smile.

 

[OSUdoc08]

As I fill out the AMCAS, the only part of my application that I think might be cause for alarm is my amount of clinical experiences. Compared to other premeds at my school I've done about the same amount of experiences, but the SDN crowd of course makes me cower in fear and insecurity as it seems that everyone here has a 4.0 with 40 hours a week of service. (EEEK! )

So here it goes for my clinical experiences:

a summer (after frosh year of college) volunteering in a nursing home for about 6 hours a week (lots of patient contact! I highly recommend this, if you can stand the smell)

about 2 weeks of shadowing 2 docotrs (after sophomore year) I saw alot including a surgery, a Csection, regular office visits, and hospital rounds in an ICU

a school years worth of volunteering in a children's hospital (3 hours a week). lots of patient contact, but probably not the best type of patient contact considering this was my most sizeable experience.


So am I doing alright? Will I be penalized by not having spent more time getting patient contact? I really didn't have time to get much more of these experiences in, and I've always felt guilty about not getting involved in more, but grades, mcat, and other things matter in this process. 😱

You have plenty of clinical experience and are fine.

The people that have a 4.0 and work 40 hours a week fall into the following categories:

1. Losers with no personality or friends

2. Tools who wish they were (1.) above

3. Liars who will never actually be admitted to medical school

 

[CostalShowers]

Well, let me just put my $0.02 in and say that I sat on my school's adcom for 2 years, and I my "sticking point" (everyone has one) was clinical experience - how do you know you want it if you haven't experienced it? I definitely creamed people who only shadowed the summer before applying 🙄
But I think that you have managed quasi-long term experiences in two very different aspects of medicine and I would be pleased with that if I was on your committee. Perhaps you might even draw a brief comparison between caring for the elderly and children in your essay musings - that would make me smile.

The funny thing here is that in my experience it was usually the students on the Adcoms in the interview situation that really tried to cream me/others I know about things like this more so than any of the actual physicians.

I wonder if anyone else had this experience?

 

[Hard24Get]

I know. For my part, I just felt that it was more fair to use that as a jumping point to question someone's desire for the field than to ask them to explain a bad grade or give their plan for universal health care. 🙄
If admissions are a crapshoot, then I would rather people who really want to go and KNOW they want to go get in. Besides personality, what else is there one you'vemadethe interview? However, I don't think any student would actually recommend against you if you had to work, for example.

The funny thing here is that in my experience it was usually the students on the Adcoms in the interview situation that really tried to cream me/others I know about things like this more so than any of the actual physicians.

I wonder if anyone else had this experience?

 

[Jacks Mannequin]

Well, yours are better than mine. I seriously need to get on that whole hospital volunteering thing...
I've been spending too much time tutoring and doing various other forms of service.


How would researching in a hospital be looked upon? Does it count as clinical experience or would it just go under research (or both)?

 

[Monette]

Well, yours are better than mine. I seriously need to get on that whole hospital volunteering thing...
I've been spending too much time tutoring and doing various other forms of service.


How would researching in a hospital be looked upon? Does it count as clinical experience or would it just go under research (or both)?

Good question - I would also like to know the answer to this.

Monette

 

[OSUdoc08]

Well, yours are better than mine. I seriously need to get on that whole hospital volunteering thing...
I've been spending too much time tutoring and doing various other forms of service.


How would researching in a hospital be looked upon? Does it count as clinical experience or would it just go under research (or both)?

If the research was done on patients in a clinical setting, it can count as clinical experience. If not, just being in a hospital and not interacting with patients is obviously not clinical experience. You can't just go eat in the hospital cafeteria everyday and put down that you have clinical experience.

 

[Slide]

Yo Quantum, I'm in your situation, and I was seriously stressing out about it. Now, I think your situation is fine, because what matters more is what you gain from it. I think that some of the people with tons of volunteer time are just number ******. As long as you enjoy what you do and can talk about it meaningfully, that's fine. I honestly believe that some of the people with 150+ hours wouldn't have done a single hour if some sort of volunteering wasn't required.

 

[Jacks Mannequin]

If the research was done on patients in a clinical setting, it can count as clinical experience. If not, just being in a hospital and not interacting with patients is obviously not clinical experience. You can't just go eat in the hospital cafeteria everyday and put down that you have clinical experience.

It has a lot of interaction with patients. So then, would it go under both?

 

[OSUdoc08]

It has a lot of interaction with patients. So then, would it go under both?

I would!

 

[Dmizrahi]

Yo Quantum, I'm in your situation, and I was seriously stressing out about it. Now, I think your situation is fine, because what matters more is what you gain from it. I think that some of the people with tons of volunteer time are just number ******. As long as you enjoy what you do and can talk about it meaningfully, that's fine. I honestly believe that some of the people with 150+ hours wouldn't have done a single hour if some sort of volunteering wasn't required.

I absolutely agree, i think some people on SDN go a little bit crazy and think that more is better in most situations. But in reality it isn't, i've got one month of volunteer experience at one clinic that i've recently joined...thats it, and i'm not stressed about it, because i've made a lot of friends at that clinic as well as learned alot about medicine as well as the health care industry...and thats all that really matters to me, i'm not to concerned with having 10 hours a week at 5 different places, besides i just don't have time for something like that and i don't understand how other students can juggle that much either. So keep your heads up, you've done what you could, enjoy what you do, learn from it...and as far as applying goes, you've done what you could...they'll either like it or they won't. and if they don't like it...well then thats the adcoms problem...i'm still going to volunteer where i do regardless and continue living my life the way i do, i'm not going to conform for them. (and to be honest, i think they'll respect that more than anything)

 

[haleyrockx]

I absolutely agree, i think some people on SDN go a little bit crazy and think that more is better in most situations. But in reality it isn't, i've got one month of volunteer experience at one clinic that i've recently joined...thats it, and i'm not stressed about it, because i've made a lot of friends at that clinic as well as learned alot about medicine as well as the health care industry...and thats all that really matters to me, i'm not to concerned with having 10 hours a week at 5 different places, besides i just don't have time for something like that and i don't understand how other students can juggle that much either. So keep your heads up, you've done what you could, enjoy what you do, learn from it...and as far as applying goes, you've done what you could...they'll either like it or they won't. and if they don't like it...well then thats the adcoms problem...i'm still going to volunteer where i do regardless and continue living my life the way i do, i'm not going to conform for them. (and to be honest, i think they'll respect that more than anything)

I'm so glad to hear all of you say that. I'm in your same situation- I just started volunteering recently. I also just started working in a hospital so I'll get patient contact while making a mediocre income. 🙂 I've been worried about lacking hours of volunteering. I hope that being older, almost 30, will negate some of my worries. Besides, I've seen several people on here with tons of volunteer efforts and great GPA's and MCAT scores that are waitlisted. It's definately quality over quantity.

 

[biggoron42]

i posted this same question in a thread a few weeks back and i think the consensus that emerged was that as long as you can talk intelligently about what you are getting yourself into (pros AND cons backed up with evidence) it is absolutely fine to have a lower number of volunteer hours.

also lets cut some of the high hour people a little slack. sure some of them do it just for the resume, but i know lots of them racked up the hours because they really enjoy what they do volunteering.

 

[biggoron42]

How would researching in a hospital be looked upon? Does it count as clinical experience or would it just go under research (or both)?

I have two summers of clinical research experience. I wasn't doing blood draws or anything, but I had the opportunity to interact with patients whenever i wanted to. its going down as research in AMCAS because thats what the majority of my work entailed, but in the description i will definitely talk about the clinical aspects in depth.