Clinical Experience - Is This Acceptable?

[dinomite00]

Hello all,

I just completed my primary application and am all ready to submit but in the process of completing it, I realized a gaping hole in my application. I was always under the impression that shadowing constitutes clinical experience, but they are two separate categories on the application and I have since done research on these forums which confirms that. I have learned a great deal from my experiences shadowing and I have been able to interact very closely with patients while doing so, yet it is listed as "shadowing" so I don't know how much that will matter.

Apart from that, I have over 100 hours volunteering as part of a non-profit at my school which advocates for healthcare equality, I work two jobs throughout the school year which I spend a significant portion of my time on (one of them is a teaching job, where I hold study groups and teach in recitations for undergraduate courses), and conduct research year round (multiple presentations and received a fellowship as well). Stats wise, I have a 3.98 GPA and 519 MCAT score but I am still highly worried regarding my clinical experiences. By the time I interview, I will have around 400 hours under my belt shadowing (I am participating in a clinical internship program that a local medical school offers) and truly feel that I know what I am getting myself into, but I have no idea what adcoms will think.

Any thoughts/advice on the matter?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Orthosurg1]

Shadowing is still clinical experience, even though they are two separate entries on AMCAS. You will be just fine!

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

400 shadowing hours is a bit silly honestly. Why do you say that a clinical "internship" is all shadowing hours? Seems like it wouldn't be an internship if it was just observation?

 

[kamakazi5]

It would count as clinical experience but what do you mean when you say you "interact" with patients? Do you only have shadowing and no volunteering? I can't remember who said it recently but a big reason volunteering is wanted is because you are doing something for people versus shadowing which is mainly for you.

 

[dinomite00]

So the program itself it called a clinical internship, that is said it myself it is by no means a phrase I coined myself. It involves shadowing physicians, attending seminars every day, and also a brief research presentation at the end and it is through a medical school.

By interact, I mean like pushing around patients in wheelchairs and having personal conversations with all the patients. In terms of clinical experience, it seems as though all I have is shadowing unfortunately which I am just now realizing is mistake. If I had known this earlier I would have gone down a completely different route this summer.

I have done things for other people through other experiences, namely through teaching for 2 years and a non-profit that I am part of, but i know it is still a hole in my application at this point and I don't know what to do about it this late.

 

[IlDestriero]

400 hours of shadowing is ridiculous. 100 hours is probably way more than enough. You need to spin your internship differently.
Are you following doctors around watching what they do, and doing little else? That's shadowing.
Are you interacting with patients, taking them down to radiology, talking to them, making their bed, getting them water, actually doing something? That's not shadowing.
Figure out what you're doing and describe it correctly. If it's primarily 400 hours of shadowing with a few lectures, find something better to do with your time.
BTW, 100 hours of volunteer work is nothing. Nothing. You could get that in 2 weeks over a break without even working very hard.


--
Il Destriero

 

[candbgirl]

It seems, from YOUR descriptions, you have plenty of clinical experience and not much shadowing. Could you include your activities under both categories? Especially with the upcoming summer activities. That doesn't sound clinical at all really.


Sent from my iPad using SDN mobile app

 

[kamakazi5]

That sounds way better when you explain it like that. Just estimate the number of hours you were actually interacting with patients and put that as clinical hours and then estimate the number of hours actually shadowing and put it as shadowing hours. There is no reason you can't break it up like that.

 

[Catalystik]

I have been able to interact very closely with patients while doing so,

By interact, I mean like pushing around patients in wheelchairs and having personal conversations with all the patients.

That sounds way better when you explain it like that. Just estimate the number of hours you were actually interacting with patients and put that as clinical hours and then estimate the number of hours actually shadowing and put it as shadowing hours. There is no reason you can't break it up like that.

I agree. Just don't double count the hours you apportion to each.

 

[dinomite00]

That is an excellent idea, actually! I didn't even think of that. It was over a duration of a summer a few times a week so hopefully it will help to split up the hours. And with so much shadowing I am currently doing (which I believe will give me a very good basis to speak from in interviews), I won't be missing the hours I take away from the "shadowing" category by doing so.

 

[Jersanta]

If you believe your clinical internship exposes you to the hospital setting from the perspective of a physician AND patient, then I would not see a problem for it. However, you should contact your premed advisor or the school(s) to double check.

If your program required you to participate on clinical service prior to your shadowing, then I could see that as a signinificant clinical experience (400 hours of pure shadowing would be kinda ridiculous). If it's a paid internship, then it might be a different story though.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

 

[dinomite00]

Hey there, so it is not a paid internship by any means (it is a program designed for the experience not a salary) it is something that I had to apply to in order to get in and provide letters of recommendation and the sort. It is also a program designed and run by a medical school and during the orientation, they said that they consider it to be a significant clinical experience for their school and so I don't see why it wouldn't be considered as such at other schools as well.