Can I explain lack of Clinical in my PS

[unleash500]

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Much like one can explain poor grades?

 

[BlueElmo]

Much like one can explain poor grades?

No, not advisable. Wait until secondaries.

 

[mfrizzo3]

Much like one can explain poor grades?

Sure. Just tell them you were to busy to get any clinical experience.

 

[LizzyM]

It would be better to wait and apply when you have clinical experience.

 

[acridknight]

It would be better to wait and apply when you have clinical experience.

👍

lack of clinical experience is tough to try to exempt. some schools even have hard requirements that you have had a decent amount of clinical exp.

 

[movax]

It would be better to wait and apply when you have clinical experience.

What about explaining a lack of "later-in-college clinical?" My school either has me on campus, taking classes, or off-campus, working full-time (i.e. now, as a senior in college, I also have four years as professional engineer). I volunteered from HS on through the middle of my freshmen year before I lost all free time, so its not like I have 0.0 clinical experience.

 

[DocDrakeRamoray]

No, not advisable. Wait until secondaries.

👍

wait for the secondaries, but if you have time and patience wait to apply when you have clinical experience

 

[mfrizzo3]

What about explaining a lack of "later-in-college clinical?" My school either has me on campus, taking classes, or off-campus, working full-time (i.e. now, as a senior in college, I also have four years as professional engineer). I volunteered from HS on through the middle of my freshmen year before I lost all free time, so its not like I have 0.0 clinical experience.

The point is to try and convince them you want to be a physician not an engineer.

 

[movax]

The point is to try and convince them you want to be a physician not an engineer.

That's my goal/topic for my PS, and it's a tough one. I'm struggling at the brain-> paper stage at the moment.

 

[searun]

Much like one can explain poor grades?

I did not have any clinical experience when I graduated from college because I was a two sport athlete and simply did not have any free time. But rather than apply to med school and suffer rejection, I defered my application and spent the year after I graduated from college obtaining the necessary clinical and volunteer experience. This strategy paid off with multiple acceptances.

Med schools do not want excuses - you better jump through this hoop or you are likely to be very disappointed with your results.

 

[RaginRajon]

I second LizzyM and Searun's vote that you hold off applying until you have more clinical experience. I applied last year with very little clinical experience (but fairly strong grades and extracurriculars) and got rejected across the board. Now that I have about 6 additional months of clinical volunteer work under my belt, I'm trying again and hopefully will have better results.
Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to ya.

 

[usermike8500]

Simply explain it just like Sarah Palin explained her lack of foreign policy experience:

"By golly, I live in a community with a hospital close by. And when disease rears its head, where does it go? In an ambulance right by my street! Yeah, I can hear the sirens. Well this certainly does mean I have clinical experience."

If an explanation like this is good enough for a potential leader of the Free World, surely it's good enough for a medical school application.

 

[Ilovewater]

I kind of explained my lack of clinical exp. in the PS, but I ended it on a positive note. I had a hard time fitting clinical experiences in my schedule because I have been working 30+ hours at job 1, working 25+ hours at job 2 (research), and taking 16-18 credit hours every semester...but I still managed to fit in two or three activities here and there. Just don't make up excuses for your lacking in this area. If you want to mention this, make sure you say how you are trying to improve in this category or at least what you have managed to do!

 

[LizzyM]

I kind of explained my lack of clinical exp. in the PS, but I ended it on a positive note. I had a hard time fitting clinical experiences in my schedule because I have been working 30+ hours at job 1, working 25+ hours at job 2 (research), and taking 16-18 credit hours every semester...but I still managed to fit in two or three activities here and there. Just don't make up excuses for your lacking in this area. If you want to mention this, make sure you say how you are trying to improve in this category or at least what you have managed to do!

What do you mean? 😕 You were involved for all of 2007according to your md profile. You do not have a lack of clinical experience.

 

[trueBelief]

I am not sure how much clinical experience is necessary before we get into medical school. I have been involved in projects related to medicine in some way or the other during my undergraduate because of my major. Even though the projects I did as an engineer were based on technical stuff they taught me a lot about different aspects of the healthcare field.

I did not do anything but a shadowing experience (20hrs/week for a month) and couple hrs/week at a clinic (still going on). Due to my other activities and work, I did not have more time to do anything else clinical. I just felt like all those other things were helping me in some way to develop as a person and become well-rounded. I also did not officially decide to go into medicine until my 3rd year because I was trying to assess if this was the right field for me.

I already applied so waiting another year is not an option for me. Would I be called out for having too little clinical exposure?

 

[erdavis]

I am not sure how much clinical experience is necessary before we get into medical school. I have been involved in projects related to medicine in some way or the other during my undergraduate because of my major. Even though the projects I did as an engineer were based on technical stuff they taught me a lot about different aspects of the healthcare field.

I did not do anything but a shadowing experience (20hrs/week for a month) and couple hrs/week at a clinic (still going on). Due to my other activities and work, I did not have more time to do anything else clinical. I just felt like all those other things were helping me in some way to develop as a person and become well-rounded. I also did not officially decide to go into medicine until my 3rd year because I was trying to assess if this was the right field for me.

I already applied so waiting another year is not an option for me. Would I be called out for having too little clinical exposure?

I think you will be ok with clinical experience.With the 80hr you got in one month and your going shadowing, you should have at least 100hrs of shadowing which I think is enough.

But what about volunteering and other EC? What type of engineering projects have you been doing and how long?

 

[trueBelief]

I have ok volunteering and good leadership: organized a campus wide fundraiser, coordinated events for undergrads on campus, directed a tournament for high schoolers from 5 states. The projects I have done include patient tracking system for the ED and something on surgical robotics. And then got lots of teaching experience and other small things which I didnt mention on my primary but will on secondaries that require 'lists' of stuff you did in college.

 

[MossPoh]

I don't see the personal statement as a time to explain stuff. I see it as a chance to make you look good. There are plenty of areas that they will notice insufficiencies without you making excuses for it. Highlight the good things. Explain your motivations. Tell a compelling story. Don't give them a reason to doubt you right off the bat.

 

[Ilovewater]

What do you mean? 😕 You were involved for all of 2007according to your md profile. You do not have a lack of clinical experience.

A lot of the experiences were cut short (due to circumstances) so I wasn't able to do much at all =[.

 

[strummin]

Simply explain it just like Sarah Palin explained her lack of foreign policy experience:

"By golly, I live in a community with a hospital close by. And when disease rears its head, where does it go? In an ambulance right by my street! Yeah, I can hear the sirens. Well this certainly does mean I have clinical experience."

If an explanation like this is good enough for a potential leader of the Free World, surely it's good enough for a medical school application.

lmao.. haha brilliant! aren't we all glad she's gone? let's just hope she isn't ACTUALLY planning for a 2012 presidential run.. that would be too embarrassing for the country

 

[Excelsius]

Much like one can explain poor grades?

LizzyM is right - you must have clinical experience. Ok, here is something I realized about a year ago: I am pretty busy with work and research (+school) so I wanted to "explain" why I don't have time for clinical experience (even though I have volunteered at the hospital a LOT in high school and a little more in college). But then I realized why they want you to have clinical experience. The point is so that you, the applicant, knows (more or less) that you want to be in the medical field. If you don't have any clinical experience, how the hell do you know if you want to be a doctor or what a doctor is? This is why there isn't any excuse you can come up with that will negate this fact. It's like trying to join a highly selective club but not knowing a single thing about that club. Do you think you'll get in? No. So make time and make sure you volunteer. You don't have to do crazy 200+ hours, just at least enough to get a whiff about what you are trying to get yourself into. You can spend the rest of your time with community service (non-medical), but especially research (if you like it).

It is unlikely you will get into without any clinical experience, but if you have to apply and don't care about money, I would think you should mention it in your primary. That way at least the schools who will not like your explanation will reject you pre-secondary and you'll save yourself some money. On the other hand, those few schools who might be prepared to overlook your lack based on a good explanation might send you a secondary whereas otherwise they might have rejected you. In either case, you should get clinical experience. If you do get in without one, I'd be interested in this. You could send me a PM.

 

[Ilovewater]

Plus...how much are you really lacking? A volunteer position at the hospital won't be hard to get. You must have at least enough clinical experience to know why you want to be in the field. Otherwise, how do you know you want to be a doctor?