Clinical Experience Issue

[pkmzeta]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I know this situation is not ideal, but I just wanted to get your feedback:
I'm a senior planning to submit my AAMC application in June. I'm a relatively competitive applicant, save for one big caveat: that I lack a good amount of clinical experience. I've volunteered at a blood donation clinic, and done some doctor shadowing, but that's really about it. I have an intensive clinical internship that I will be doing from June through September, and was wondering if the timing of that would allow it to be taking into consideration on my applications? I know it's probably easier to just take another year, but I'd prefer not to.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Catalystik]

I'm a senior planning to submit my AAMC application in June. I'm a relatively competitive applicant, save for one big caveat: that I lack a good amount of clinical experience. I've volunteered at a blood donation clinic, and done some doctor shadowing, but that's really about it. I have an intensive clinical internship that I will be doing from June through September, and was wondering if the timing of that would allow it to be taking into consideration on my applications? I know it's probably easier to just take another year, but I'd prefer not to.
Thanks for the advice!

How long have you been at the blood donation clinic, total hours, and what is your role?

How many shadowing hours and what type of doc?

If you wait until you have started the clinical internship before you submit, at least it will be on the application, but it won't carry much weight. It would help to also mention it on Secondaries, during interview conversations, and in update letters (where they are accepted). If it turns out you need to reapply, you'll be in a stronger position a year from now.

 

[pkmzeta]

How long have you been at the blood donation clinic, total hours, and what is your role?

How many shadowing hours and what type of doc?

If you wait until you have started the clinical internship before you submit, at least it will be on the application, but it won't carry much weight. It would help to also mention it on Secondaries, during interview conversations, and in update letters (where they are accepted). If it turns out you need to reapply, you'll be in a stronger position a year from now.

I was just a canteen host at the blood donation center, pretty much gave out cookies and made sure no one passed out. I volunteered there weekly for two summers, not that significant. I've so far shadowed a neurologist for 40 hrs, and am hoping to add on to that amount before AAMC submission in June.
I have very strong research experience and will be a co author on two papers (but I don't think they will be published for at least a year). Unfortunately that is what has taken up much of my time. I guess what I was thinking I would be able to mention the summer internship in Secondaries, and then by interviews really try to emphasize it.
I had been hoping to do a significant amount of clinical work during my senior year (Sep thru June), and had things lined up. Unfortunately I had some health issues that derailed much of my plans--although it did give me plenty of insight into what the clinic is like from a patient's perspective.

 

[music2doc]

I was just a canteen host at the blood donation center, pretty much gave out cookies and made sure no one passed out. I volunteered there weekly for two summers, not that significant. I've so far shadowed a neurologist for 40 hrs, and am hoping to add on to that amount before AAMC submission in June.
I have very strong research experience and will be a co author on two papers (but I don't think they will be published for at least a year). Unfortunately that is what has taken up much of my time. I guess what I was thinking I would be able to mention the summer internship in Secondaries, and then by interviews really try to emphasize it.
I had been hoping to do a significant amount of clinical work during my senior year (Sep thru June), and had things lined up. Unfortunately I had some health issues that derailed much of my plans--although it did give me plenty of insight into what the clinic is like from a patient's perspective.

Honestly, if this is the entirety of your clinical experience, I'd wait a year, barring incredible stats and extracurriculars. Your clinical experience isn't really with patients and your shadowing lacks breadth. Spend a year in a free clinic or your clinical internship or both. Build up some shadowing experience with other specialties, including primary care and family medicine. Make sure you really know what a doctor does as I don't think I'd be convinced you do from those activities.

I would also suggest keeping in mind that you want to avoid having to reapply as that usually makes the second time around tougher since schools "know" you're not the cream of the crop now (I.e. nobody wanted you last year).

As for research, while it's good, it doesn't negate the importance of clinical experience. I had a couple first author papers and presentations and it was definitely my clinical experience that got the most time at interviews. Unless you're interviewing at a research powerhouse they're nor going to be that interested in your research and even then they expect both your clinical and research background to be solid.

 

[tfc]

Honestly, if this is the entirety of your clinical experience, I'd wait a year, barring incredible stats and extracurriculars. Your clinical experience isn't really with patients and your shadowing lacks breadth. Spend a year in a free clinic or your clinical internship or both. Build up some shadowing experience with other specialties, including primary care and family medicine. Make sure you really know what a doctor does as I don't think I'd be convinced you do from those activities.

Disagree. Apply now. What's important is not how many hours or how many different clinical activities you had. What actually matters is if you can speak about them and make it sound like the most epic experience ever. Milk the living crap out of your 40 hours of neuro shadowing if asked about it in interviews. Milk your blood donation work too. Milk your experience as a patient. And milk the fact that you will be doing this intensive clinical thing during the app cycle, which sounds pretty awesome by the way.

When I was a pre-med I remember how sexy it sounded to take vitals and triage patients. Truth is it gets old and it gets old fast. A whole year doing just that or shadowing doctors is a waste of a year in my opinion. If the only reason to wait a year is to "get more clinical exp points" then I say forget that and go for it now.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

To be honest it's not like anyone is really going to have awesome clinical experience as an undergraduate. Hospital volunteering rarely ever involves any meaningful patient interactions and taking vitals really doesn't matter because it's not that difficult to take blood pressure or heart rate - heck they have machines that do that.

Just apply anyways, schools just want to see that you have an interest in medicine that's all, there's a variety of ways to show it.

 

[music2doc]

To be honest it's not like anyone is really going to have awesome clinical experience as an undergraduate. Hospital volunteering rarely ever involves any meaningful patient interactions and taking vitals really doesn't matter because it's not that difficult to take blood pressure or heart rate - heck they have machines that do that.

Just apply anyways, schools just want to see that you have an interest in medicine that's all, there's a variety of ways to show it.

This is largely true. Without a license of some sort, your experience will be limited. That said, some schools will absolutely deny the OP given the limited experience. OP I would select schools carefully. Some (CU comes to mind) simply will not consider an application from a candidate with fewer than a few hundred hours of direct care with actual responsibility for patients. The standard set varies by school. The students I work with are most commonly looking at CU and other highly clinically oriented schools and for them weak clinical experience is often a kiss of death.

As mentioned by a precious poster it also matters how well you can express what you got from each experience. My interviews were almost always full of stories and anecdotes. I rarely answered a question without referring to something I did or a funny mistake I made or observed and what it taught me. From my results this cycle, that approach seems to have been effective.

 

[Catalystik]

I was just a canteen host at the blood donation center, pretty much gave out cookies and made sure no one passed out. I volunteered there weekly for two summers, not that significant. I've so far shadowed a neurologist for 40 hrs, and am hoping to add on to that amount before AAMC submission in June.
I have very strong research experience and will be a co author on two papers (but I don't think they will be published for at least a year). Unfortunately that is what has taken up much of my time. I guess what I was thinking I would be able to mention the summer internship in Secondaries, and then by interviews really try to emphasize it.
I had been hoping to do a significant amount of clinical work during my senior year (Sep thru June), and had things lined up. Unfortunately I had some health issues that derailed much of my plans--although it did give me plenty of insight into what the clinic is like from a patient's perspective.

Honestly, if this is the entirety of your clinical experience, I'd wait a year, barring incredible stats and extracurriculars. Your clinical experience isn't really with patients and your shadowing lacks breadth. Spend a year in a free clinic or your clinical internship or both. Build up some shadowing experience with other specialties, including primary care and family medicine. Make sure you really know what a doctor does as I don't think I'd be convinced you do from those activities.

I would also suggest keeping in mind that you want to avoid having to reapply as that usually makes the second time around tougher since schools "know" you're not the cream of the crop now (I.e. nobody wanted you last year).

I agree with music2doc that you should wait. And besides the summer internship, I suggest 3-4 hours/week in a clinical environment over the academic year as well. Could you get in if you don't do this: yes. Is it likely: no, not unless you are special in some other way.

Your shadowing is coming along nicely. About 50 hours is the average listed. Some variety of specialty would be nice, like the aforementioned primary care.

 

[music2doc]

I would just apply and pretend that you're fine. Seriously.

btw...who has said that clinical experience is important? Schools or other applicants?

Schools. Is that a serious question?

 

[music2doc]

Serious

Have you applied yet? While it varies by school, most schools want some significant amount of clinical experience. Most of the students I met on the interview trail had a TON of clinical experience; many of them were EMTs, CNAs, Scribes, etc. Sure, they usually had high grades and MCAT scores, but there was always more to it than that. My hosts at these schools also had a lot of clinical experience. Schools' presentations consistently indicate a desire for clinical experience and many state they care more about than than a high MCAT (although that's really assuming your MCAT is 30+ to begin with).

 

[kasho11]

On a similar note -- I am applying next cycle and my clinical experience is very limited right now. I spent last summer ~20 hrs a week doing an observer-ship at a medical school, helped with research, scrubbed in on surgeries, etc. Besides that, nothing clinical. I was going to start volunteering this summer but as most people have stated I won't really get much patient interaction there.

Given my limited amount of time, what should I try to do? Getting certified and working as an EMT or anything like that is pretty much out of the question given the course load I need to take.

 

[ShockDoctrine]

I would just apply. Don't lie, just make yourself look good.