Clinical experience/volunteering timelines

[LM75]

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Greetings friends,

Regarding clinical experience and volunteering hours, is there a specific timeline that matters or is it just the experience itself that matters regardless of the time frame?

For example, if you are a non-trad student and you had most of your clinical experience when you were younger and then you took time off to go work or go back to school, do you really need to "continue" the timeline of clinical exposure?

I'm in my late 20's and most of my clinical experience is from my early 20's. I've seen all I need to see so if I go back and volunteer, it would only be for getting hours and not necessarily any experience that I probably haven't already had some exposure to.

So in a case like this, do gaps matter or is it what you learned from your experience, irrespective of the time frame?

 

[pms_testosterone]

Yes, you should have recent experience.No need to overdo it, one volunteer job and a couple shadowing days to show you're still involved is probably OK.
If possible it might be good to try out clinical settings you haven't worked in before, so you'll have something meaningful to write about them on your app.

 

[Medic741]

Don’t you go to SGU??

 

[el_duderino]

Don’t you go to SGU??

He says he was accepted to start in January. Curious about this as well.

Anyway, for the situation you describe I don't think you would need to augment your clinical experience (assuming it's sufficient on its own). For non-trad students, you really want to show that you used that "extra" time to excel in your chosen field and contribute significantly to your community.

 

[LM75]

Don’t you go to SGU??

I have an SGU acceptance. The question was about clinical experience, not SGU.

****This post was modified and is not my original post.****

 

[el_duderino]

I have an SGU acceptance. The question was about clinical experience, not SGU.

The question was a premed asking what "matters" with regards to you getting accepted to medical school. So what's the deal? Are you asking in reference to getting accepted to a US school, or to a Caribbean school, or what? What's the context here?

 

[Medic741]

Come here to give advice and help out, knowing where you stood academic wise is an important part of that story!

 

[LM75]

Come here to give advice and help out, knowing where you stood academic wise is an important part of that story!

I wouldn't bring up SGU or any specific school unless you really know what you're talking about and I don't think you do.

 

[el_duderino]

I wouldn't bring up SGU or any specific school unless you really know what you're talking about and I don't think you do.

You're asking about getting more clinical experience, but you also say you've been accepted to SGU to start next month.

So the question is... when you ask "do gaps matter or is it what you learned from your experience, irrespective of the time frame?" what exactly are you asking about? Do gaps matter in terms of what? Getting a US acceptance, getting a Caribbean acceptance, or what?

You also say "if I go back and volunteer, it would only be for getting hours." What would you be "getting hours" for? Declining your SGU acceptance and giving the US another shot? Something else entirely?

 

[pms_testosterone]

@LM75 will you be taking your acceptance to SGU, yes or no? If yes, the question in your OP is a bit confusing,don't you think?

 

[LM75]

@LM75 will you be taking your acceptance to SGU, yes or no? If yes, the question in your OP is a bit confusing,don't you think?

Does that matter? You guys are, in typical SDN fashion, making these posts personal.

Lets try to keep the discussion on topic here.

 

[el_duderino]

Does that matter? You guys are, in typical SDN fashion, making these posts personal.

Lets try to keep the discussion on topic here.

You're asking us to give you advice on whether or not to get more clinical hours.

So, yeah, it does matter. It's necessary information in order to answer your question. No, there's no need to get more clinical hours if you're starting med school in two weeks. Yes, there might be a need to get more clinical hours if you're going to decline your SGU acceptance and reapply to the US.

 

[LM75]

You're asking us to give you advice on whether or not to get more clinical hours.

So, yeah, it does matter. It's necessary information in order to answer your question. No, there's no need to get more clinical hours if you're starting med school in two weeks. Yes, there might be a need to get more clinical hours if you're going to decline your SGU acceptance and reapply to the US.

I could decline my SGU acceptance or even defer it till August but that was not the point. Many people read these threads so it's probably in your best interest to answer without making the responses personal.

 

[el_duderino]

I could decline my SGU acceptance or even defer it till August but that was not the point. Many people read these threads so it's probably in your best interest to answer without making the responses personal.

You're asking for advice for your specific situation:

"I'm in my late 20's and most of my clinical experience is from my early 20's. I've seen all I need to see so if I go back and volunteer, it would only be for getting hours and not necessarily any experience that I probably haven't already had some exposure to. So in a case like this, do gaps matter or is it what you learned from your experience, irrespective of the time frame?"

The general answer is "it depends." We need more information to answer the question of whether or not it matters in your case. When did you finish undergrad? What was your GPA? When did you take the MCAT and what did you get? What did you do with the time you weren't in school? What does the clinical experience you talk about consist of? How much shadowing time do you have? What volunteer experience do you have?

It's impossible to answer the question of whether it would be beneficial to get more clinical experience "in a case like this" because we know virtually nothing about the case.

 

[LM75]

You're asking for advice for your specific situation:

"I'm in my late 20's and most of my clinical experience is from my early 20's. I've seen all I need to see so if I go back and volunteer, it would only be for getting hours and not necessarily any experience that I probably haven't already had some exposure to. So in a case like this, do gaps matter or is it what you learned from your experience, irrespective of the time frame?"

The general answer is "it depends." We need more information to answer the question of whether or not it matters in your case. When did you finish undergrad? What was your GPA? When did you take the MCAT and what did you get? What did you do with the time you weren't in school? What does the clinical experience you talk about consist of? How much shadowing time do you have? What volunteer experience do you have?

It's impossible to answer the question of whether it would be beneficial to get more clinical experience "in a case like this" because we know virtually nothing about the case.

Dude, you are taking something rather simple and making it more complicated than it needs to be. You don't need any of that extra information to answer the question.

 

[el_duderino]

Dude, you are taking something rather simple and making it more complicated than it needs to be. You don't need any of that extra information to answer the question.

Then yes, the timeline matters.

 

[LM75]

Then yes, the timeline matters.

Why

 

[el_duderino]

Why

Because ultimately everything matters. Where you are today and how you got to that point matter. What your clinical experience was matters, how much of it you have matters, what the context of it was matters. It's impossible to say, given the information you've provided to us, whether any additional clinical experience may benefit you should you decide to decline the SGU acceptance and reapply to US schools.

I would recommend you start a thread in the What Are My Chances? forum with a detailed look at your stats and experiences for a realistic appraisal of what your chances currently are and what you can do moving forward to maximize your chances of ultimately making it in.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Greetings friends,

Regarding clinical experience and volunteering hours, is there a specific timeline that matters or is it just the experience itself that matters regardless of the time frame?

For example, if you are a non-trad student and you had most of your clinical experience when you were younger and then you took time off to go work or go back to school, do you really need to "continue" the timeline of clinical exposure?

I'm in my late 20's and most of my clinical experience is from my early 20's. I've seen all I need to see so if I go back and volunteer, it would only be for getting hours and not necessarily any experience that I probably haven't already had some exposure to.

So in a case like this, do gaps matter or is it what you learned from your experience, irrespective of the time frame?

I think clinical v nonclinical volunteering matters.

Nonclinical is to show you enjoy service, ie helping people. I think it hurts not to do any for a period of several years unless your job has a large service element built into it (eg military, nursing, soldier, priest, policeman).

Clinical is meant to show that you understand what the medical profession entails and that you can handle and like patient interactions. If your experience here is truly extensive and broad (eg >1000 hours) and you can explain why medicine, then you may not need a lot more here.

But note that I’m not an Adcom.

 

[Osteosaur]

As someone who applied and got accepted in my late 20's, I was seldom asked about stuff from college or my early 20's in interviews (i have been to 12) that did not continue.

Maybe some people will say "oh he knows what clinical experience is like", others might say "if you like medicine so much why aren't you still doing healthcare volunteering", others might say "this guy was great 5 years ago not so much now."

You never know how people will look at this information. If you want to get into something that is not SGU you need to go that extra mile and not give someone an excuse to say no.

 

[LM75]

I think clinical v nonclinical volunteering matters.

Nonclinical is to show you enjoy service, ie helping people. I think it hurts not to do any for a period of several years unless your job has a large service element built into it (eg military, nursing, soldier, priest, policeman).

Clinical is meant to show that you understand what the medical profession entails and that you can handle and like patient interactions. If your experience here is truly extensive and broad (eg >1000 hours) and you can explain why medicine, then you may not need a lot more here.

But note that I’m not an Adcom.

Good answer. That makes sense. I have much more than that so that's why I was unsure if I had to keep a timeline or if the experience itself was what matters.