Clinical Experience

[MountainTops]

Hi, I'm a rising Junior and I have realized I have NO clinical experience whatsoever. While yes COVID affected me from Spring of Freshman year to this date and medical schools might be understanding, I believe I owe it to myself to be hands-on in a clinical environment which shows me what I love and know I enjoy from having shadowed doctors.

What I would say is I'm not sure what clinical experience opportunities there are. I know a typical one is a scribe, but as a student who is full time, out-of-state being that my transport at college is limited as well as does anywhere from 15-20 credits per semester, 10hrs of research a week and other extra curricular activities, and knowing that scribes work anywhere from 20-30hrs a week I'm not sure if I could practically do that during the academic year. Does anyone know of any other clinical experience opportunities and how I may come across them or get involved in them?

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[ihoop24]

It looks like clinical volunteering is what's going to be best for you. Reach out to local hospitals, clinics, hospices, etc, and see if you are able to volunteer 4 hours per week. Just make sure the position is working with patients, which could be playing with kids at a children's hospital, talking with hospice patients, or coordinating care at a free clinic.

 

[Bavestry]

Hi, I'm a rising Junior and I have realized I have NO clinical experience whatsoever. While yes COVID affected me from Spring of Freshman year to this date and medical schools might be understanding, I believe I owe it to myself to be hands-on in a clinical environment which shows me what I love and know I enjoy from having shadowed doctors.

What I would say is I'm not sure what clinical experience opportunities there are. I know a typical one is a scribe, but as a student who is full time, out-of-state being that my transport at college is limited as well as does anywhere from 15-20 credits per semester, 10hrs of research a week and other extra curricular activities, and knowing that scribes work anywhere from 20-30hrs a week I'm not sure if I could practically do that during the academic year. Does anyone know of any other clinical experience opportunities and how I may come across them or get involved in them?

Something to think about is becoming a CNA for a staffing agency. You'll have to put in some time and money to get your certification, but if you can get a job with a staffing agency, a lot of them will let you work as little or as much as you want. The company I work for let me sign up for 2 shifts a month until I graduated, and now I work full-time. I got to decide when and where I worked, so if you can find something like that it could work well for you!

In my area I have also volunteered with a free clinic that offers sign-ups for volunteers to come for four-hour shifts, so you could look for something like that. Basically, something that would allow you to sign up for whenever you have time, and not be held to a strict timeline if you're really busy one week and don't have the time. I found this clinic through a service center at my university, but you could just google for volunteer opportunities in your area. Anyway, good luck!

 

[NickNaylor]

The old school options are to simply talk with other students at your institution and see what they did (and might be able to connect you with opportunities), or reach out to local physician offices to see if they might allow a student to shadow with them every once and a while.

Getting a paid gig is nice since you can make some money while also getting clinical experience. Scribing seems to the the most popular, but working as an EMT or CNA are other options as well. As you mention, this can be a bit more difficult since an employer will likely have minimum time expectations that you work each week which may be infeasible.

I would advise getting in touch with your pre-health/pre-med department (assuming you have one) and talking with current senior students to see how they've gotten that experience. That's likely to connect you with real, useful opportunities rather than the generic advice of "be an EMT" or "volunteer at a hospital."