Clinical experience question

[ral22]

I am a non-traditional student and I am looking to bulk up my resume to apply in a couple of cycles. I have a medically needy son and was just given the opportunity to work on the family advisory council at the children's hospital he is treated at. It would involve reviewing documents before they are put out for a family perspective on them and, more importantly, I will be giving lectures about my story and the family perspective. These talks will be for med students, residents, nurses, doctors, etc. My question is whether an ADCOM would consider this clinical experience or not.

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[Catman21]

an adcom that frequents these forums generally tells people "if you can smell it, its a clinical experience" or soemthing along those lines. By that statement, i would say no.

 

[gyngyn]

The physical presence of humans, being seen for medical care, is required to be classified as clinical experience.

The delivery of care by video interaction (tele-medicine) is the only exception I can think of for the "smelling patients" rule.

Neither your own care nor the care of loved ones is clinical experience even though they may play an important role in your narrative.

 

[Noctámbulo]

Yes, I'm afraid clinical experience is, by definition, limited to face-to-face interactions with patients.

 

[Goro]

No. You have to show us that you know what you're getting into and that you really want to be around sick and injured people. Counting having a ill child as a clinical experience is like counting breathing as a clinical experience.

I am a non-traditional student and I am looking to bulk up my resume to apply in a couple of cycles. I have a medically needy son and was just given the opportunity to work on the family advisory council at the children's hospital he is treated at. It would involve reviewing documents before they are put out for a family perspective on them and, more importantly, I will be giving lectures about my story and the family perspective. These talks will be for med students, residents, nurses, doctors, etc. My question is whether an ADCOM would consider this clinical experience or not.

 

[FutureOncologist]

Talk to these doctors that you'll be meeting and get some shadowing. Or go to volunteer services at the hospitals you will visit and talk to a coordinator.

 

[ral22]

Thank you everyone for responding.

Even though it will not be considered clinical experience do you think it is a worthwhile opportunity to pursue that would still look good on an application?

 

[NothingWasTheSame]

Do you think it's worthwhile? It is always best to do something like this because you are passionate about it. Not because it will look good on your application. Just saying.

 

[ral22]

Of course I am passionate about it but I am just looking for how to best divide my time between work, family obligations, other volunteer opportunities and this takes up a good chunk of that time

 

[LizzyM]

Helping others through volunteer services in non-clinical settings is common enough, and /or valued enough, that it has its own category in the medical school application. Some schools will put a higher value on helping those who are not like yourself by age, ethnicity, etc, giving you a different point of view, or who are at the very bottom rung of society and therefore in greatest need of help (and giving a different point of view to most applicants).

That said, you have a life experience that is relatively rare and which is of value to a children's hospital. You can use this to help others. You feel drawn to helping others. The downside to the opportunity you've been offered is that you won't actually interact directly with patients and families.

How many hours per year will this require of you? Would it be feasible to do this in addition to some weekly or episodic face-to-face service to the poor or uneducated? In addition, you will need some employment or volunteer service as well as shadowing in a clinical setting. You can't lean on the clinical services you've seen delivered from a patient/family perspective as it is only one fraction of what goes on during a physician's day.

 

[ral22]

The hours per year can vary greatly but on general I will need to put in about 20 hours a month if I am doing the lectures. I also do monthly dinners at the local Ronald McDonald House and volunteer at a soup kitchen.

My problem with finding clinical experience is that I am not a current college student and every physician I have contacted has said no. I have a very close relationship with my son's doctors but I'm not sure if I want to use them to get a shadowing position. I am starting a new job next month at a translational research lab and maybe my boss will be able to connect me to some resources

 

[LizzyM]

Without clinical experience, you have no chance of getting a medical school interview and you would be foolish to attend medical school without a clear idea of what is involved in medical practice.

Here's hoping that your boss will be able to connect you with someone who will let you shadow in a clinical setting.

 

[ral22]

There is a local VA hospital that I would be really interested in getting clinical volunteer experience at and hopefully shadowing there too. Would that be considered serving someone unlike my like you had mentioned before?

 

[LizzyM]

While a VA medical center experience could be classified as a non-clinical volunteer experience, more typically it is classified as clinical. What I said about helping those different from yourself referred to non-clinical volunteering (literacy programs, food pantries & soup kitchens, homeless shelters, other social service groups).

 

[Goro]

Not all clinical experiences have to be done at a hospital. Think clinics, nursing homes, hospice, WEEKLY at Ronald McDonald House, Planned Parenthood, or crisis/suicide hotlines. You are allowed to ask your child's clinicians for advice on how to go about doing all this, if you're uncomfortable in hitting them up for access to volunteer services. The VA will be an excellent venue too; I would count it as clinical experience.

The hours per year can vary greatly but on general I will need to put in about 20 hours a month if I am doing the lectures. I also do monthly dinners at the local Ronald McDonald House and volunteer at a soup kitchen.

My problem with finding clinical experience is that I am not a current college student and every physician I have contacted has said no. I have a very close relationship with my son's doctors but I'm not sure if I want to use them to get a shadowing position. I am starting a new job next month at a translational research lab and maybe my boss will be able to connect me to some resources