"Clinical" experience- Please help!

[Sunoknow]

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Alright so I'm sort of confused on this:

I plan on gaining clinical experience in a hospital by volunteering, but how exactly does it work out on the application? Many have stated not to just pad your resume by volunteering for a few hours at hundreds of different places, and I don't plan on doing that either.

I will be volunteering at New York Presbyterian Hospital (close to where I take classes), but over the summer next year I will most likely volunteer at a different hospital more closer to home since I am moving. That is 2 different hospitals, and I might even go onto a 3rd one later on because one of them requires you to attend an orientation session, and even be interviewed! Is this all that necessary for volunteering?


I just don't want to pad my resume or give off that impression, I am not trying to do that at all. I have many hospitals around me but this entire moving situation and taking classes in a place that is near yet another different hospital really makes things hard to work with. I can try and stick with just one, but then it's an hour or 2 commute just going there, so 2-3 hours in all just commuting in one day.


*Other clinical experience will be gained through working through my EMT cert.*

Please offer any advice/comments, anything! Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[han14tra]

I think it's best to stick with 2 or 3 hospitals for your 4 years of undergrad.

I would do 1 summer at each hospital. Length/Quality > quantity of hospitals. You want meaningful experiences, but also a range of experiences.

 

[Sunoknow]

Has anyone encountered going through orientation, then an interview, and then a call up session just to be able to volunteer? Seems really weird to me...

 

[katinthehat]

Why don't you try to diversify your clinical exposure instead of doing the same thing (just at three different places)?

What I'm getting at is, everyone volunteers at a hospital and shadows a doctor. In the capacity as a volunteer or a physician shadow, you don't do anything radically different from one hospital to another. So, I'm not sure what you'd gain from volunteering at three different placed.

I'd strongly suggest that you look for some kind of position such as an EMT, nurse's aid (some hospitals don't require certifications.. I did this in undergrad and only had training that was provided my the hospital nursing staff), etc. It's more unique and IMO it will offer you a more quality clinical exposure experience. Not only that, there are a lot more responsibilities that are associated with having such a position versus volunteering and your interaction with patients will also be drastically different.

Phew.. that's a long post -- Sorry about that. 😳

 

[Sunoknow]

I'll respond to your longgggggg post (kidding 😛) in a bit

I thought volunteering through a hospital with patient contact/interaction is clinical experience?

I just read this:

"
Will I be able to shadow a Doctor and or have a clinical experience?

No. We do not offer shadowing or clinical experiences through the volunteer office."

It doesn't make sense to me, can anyone offer their advice?

 

[circulus vitios]

Has anyone encountered going through orientation, then an interview, and then a call up session just to be able to volunteer? Seems really weird to me...

I'm starting volunteering right now. I have to go through a drug test, a tuberculosis test, and an employee orientation that I'm guessing covers HIPAA confidentiality. On the upside, shadowing a physician shouldn't be too hard now that I have all that done.

 

[causalinference]

I'll respond to your longgggggg post (kidding 😛) in a bit

I thought volunteering through a hospital with patient contact/interaction is clinical experience?

I just read this:

"
Will I be able to shadow a Doctor and or have a clinical experience?

No. We do not offer shadowing or clinical experiences through the volunteer office."

It doesn't make sense to me, can anyone offer their advice?

It sounds like the volunteer department there hates dealing with students. But here's the deal: any volunteering that you do at a hospital can be considered a "clinical experience." Even if you don't come into contact with many patients, you can exaggerate during the application process. The point is to sell yourself.

I also find that comment about shadowing funny. They say that you won't be able to shadow a doctor, but in reality, you can shadow whoever you want in your spare time. Sure, you won't be able to shadow a doctor when you're supposed to be working, but who says that you can't introduce yourself to doctors and make arrangements to shadow at other times? Part of the value in volunteering at a hospital is coming into contact with a variety of people.