Clinical exp

[shameless]

Hey guys
I'm trying to figure out if getting certified as an EMT-B is right for me. I feel like everyone in my premed club is an EMT so I don't know if this would make me blend in rather than boost my app. I don't know of any other ways to get real clinical experience without a license (and I don't have a grand lying around for the course).
I know scribing can be a meaningful experience but I can't work full time to get a job as a scribe.

Any advice would be so helpful! I feel kinda lost and behind on volunteering and clinical exp.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

Step 1: Leave your premed club so you can stop worrying about what others are doing.

Volunteer at a local clinic or hospital for easily attainable clinical experience without needing to be certified.

EMT work is great for someone taking a gap year who lacks sufficient clinical experience. It is not required and I wouldn't recommend it for during undergrad years for other reasons.

 

[Spectar]

Volunteering as an EMT is great work for someone during undergrad, not just a gap year, so long as you can handle it (in terms of commitment) during the semesters and you are consistent. Volunteering is extremely rewarding and you can get certified for next to nothing if you join your local corps and have them sponsor you.

Just make sure you are doing it because you want to and not because everyone else is doing it.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Volunteering in a hospital once a week will set you apart more since you'll probably end up with better grades and MCAT than people that work too many EMT shifts, or like you said, scribe "full-time." You'll have additional time to add in non-clinical volunteering as well.

Plus think about it. If everyone and their mother is doing it, it won't set you apart.

 

[21Rush12]

I had a blast doing EMT work all through undergrad (not campus EMS) and if you're into it it's definitely possible. Not necessary though, and I agree with the 'stop giving a crap about what everyone else is doing' plan. Volunteering racks up a lot of hours and you get great patient contact if you can get off campus somewhere.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[LizzyM]

Hey guys
I'm trying to figure out if getting certified as an EMT-B is right for me. I feel like everyone in my premed club is an EMT so I don't know if this would make me blend in rather than boost my app. I don't know of any other ways to get real clinical experience without a license (and I don't have a grand lying around for the course).
I know scribing can be a meaningful experience but I can't work full time to get a job as a scribe.

Any advice would be so helpful! I feel kinda lost and behind on volunteering and clinical exp.

You don't need "real clinical experience" to get into medical school and as noted above, having a strong GPA, MCAT and non-clinical volunteering are important and going to do more to set you apart than doing the EMT thing that everyone else is doing.
That said, you do need some clinical experience and that means being around patients but not necessarily doing procedures on them.

A hospital volunteer office may have opportunities in the emergency department, neonatal intensive care, newborn nursery, pediatrics and in patient transportation. Outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers, physical therapy facilities, skilled nursing facilities, are other options as is a hospice or home hospice.

EMT and scribbing are fine but they aren't the only way to get what is sufficient clinical experience for med admission.