Clinical Experience

[avinash]

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What exactly is clinical experince?

IV found a hosptial near my college that offers volunteer services, but im not sure where i should try and get volunteer opputunities ( like which department should i go to and what type of work should i do) to gain clinical experince, il post the link below

http://www.samhealth.org/shs_facilities/gsrmc/hospital_services/volunteer_opportunities/index.html

Thanks for your help!

 

[prettyslick]

What exactly is clinical experince?

IV found a hosptial near my college that offers volunteer services, but im not sure where i should try and get volunteer opputunities ( like which department should i go to and what type of work should i do) to gain clinical experince, il post the link below

http://www.samhealth.org/shs_facilities/gsrmc/hospital_services/volunteer_opportunities/index.html

Thanks for your help!

The hospital, where I volunteer, has a volunteer department. I just told them that I am pre-med and they placed me in the emergency department. Call the Hospital, and just ask who should you talk to about volunteering. Most hospitals have a separate department for volunteering.

 

[avinash]

anyone else have any advice?

 

[liverotcod]

Do whatever sounds interesting to you, but make sure that it includes patient contact.

 

[Mumpu]

The idea of clinical experience is to have some understanding and first-hand experience with healthcare when you apply to med school (as opposed to the "my daddy is a doctor, I've always wanted to be one too, I love people and puppies and daisies" crowd). You want to find out early (i.e. before third year of med school) if you can't deal with sick people and everything that comes with that -- emotional crises for you, the patient, and the family, the smells, the body fluids, etc. You also want to find out early if you can give something back to your patients -- care, comfort, reassurance, or even a cup of ice chips. A day around sick folks can take a very hard toll on a person -- make sure you want to do it every day for the rest of your life. You want to be able to sit down with an interviewer and say "I've seen the pus and vomit and jaundice and blood on my gloves and people at the end of their lives, and I've gone home at the end of the day and cried because I felt helpless and emotionally drained, and I thought long and hard about what I've seen, and I still want to be a doctor."

Depending on your interest ICU/stepdown might be the most intense experience. Med/surg may be pretty good as well. I think ER would be boring -- 99% of what comes through the doors is far from interesting and chances are that you will not be allowed anywhere near any serious traumas or resuscitations.

 

[prettyslick]

The idea of clinical experience is to have some understanding and first-hand experience with healthcare when you apply to med school (as opposed to the "my daddy is a doctor, I've always wanted to be one too, I love people and puppies and daisies" crowd). You want to find out early (i.e. before third year of med school) if you can't deal with sick people and everything that comes with that -- emotional crises for you, the patient, and the family, the smells, the body fluids, etc. You also want to find out early if you can give something back to your patients -- care, comfort, reassurance, or even a cup of ice chips. A day around sick folks can take a very hard toll on a person -- make sure you want to do it every day for the rest of your life. You want to be able to sit down with an interviewer and say "I've seen the pus and vomit and jaundice and blood on my gloves and people at the end of their lives, and I've gone home at the end of the day and cried because I felt helpless and emotionally drained, and I thought long and hard about what I've seen, and I still want to be a doctor."

Depending on your interest ICU/stepdown might be the most intense experience. Med/surg may be pretty good as well. I think ER would be boring -- 99% of what comes through the doors is far from interesting and chances are that you will not be allowed anywhere near any serious traumas or resuscitations.

I volunteer in the ER department, and at times it does get boring because there is very little patient contact. How should one get more patient contact then?

 

[Mumpu]

Go to the floors -- ICU/stepdown/medical/surgical. I don't know what volunteers do there (ask around!) but you should have more freedom of movement and seeing patients. Heck, you can even tag along on rounds and learn something (nurses do it all the time... just be sure to introduce yourself to the roundng team first 😛).

 

[medicomel]

Yeah, ER is pretty hit or miss. I'm able to look in on traumas, watch blood draws, fetch blankets, get water, sometimes patient transport, but a lot of the time I'm following nurses/residents around looking for something to do.

I know it gets slow, but is anybody else in the ER getting ignored? There's a fine line between showing interest and just plain getting in the way. 😴

 

[avinash]

The idea of clinical experience is to have some understanding and first-hand experience with healthcare when you apply to med school (as opposed to the "my daddy is a doctor, I've always wanted to be one too, I love people and puppies and daisies" crowd). You want to find out early (i.e. before third year of med school) if you can't deal with sick people and everything that comes with that -- emotional crises for you, the patient, and the family, the smells, the body fluids, etc. You also want to find out early if you can give something back to your patients -- care, comfort, reassurance, or even a cup of ice chips. A day around sick folks can take a very hard toll on a person -- make sure you want to do it every day for the rest of your life. You want to be able to sit down with an interviewer and say "I've seen the pus and vomit and jaundice and blood on my gloves and people at the end of their lives, and I've gone home at the end of the day and cried because I felt helpless and emotionally drained, and I thought long and hard about what I've seen, and I still want to be a doctor."

Depending on your interest ICU/stepdown might be the most intense experience. Med/surg may be pretty good as well. I think ER would be boring -- 99% of what comes through the doors is far from interesting and chances are that you will not be allowed anywhere near any serious traumas or resuscitations.

so out of the posistions avialabe on the site which are:

Cardiac rehabilitation
Cardiopulmonary Department
Central service
Children's tours
Coffee cart
Dietary services
Emergency department
Emergency/outpatient greeter
Escort/admitting
Family assistance/information
Flower delivery
Gift shop
Home health
Intensive care/step down units
Laboratory
Library
Lifeline
Mail delivery
Material management
Medical records
Medical/surgical units
Night shift, patient care areas
Office/department support
Patient accounts
Patient shampoos
Pharmacy
Pet therapy
Puppet show
Radiology
Samaritan Family Medicine
Samaritan Regional Cancer Center
Sleep disorders lab
Short Stay Center
Social Services Department
Therapeutic gardening


should i try and go for

Cardiac rehabilitation
Cardiopulmonary Department
Emergency department
Medical/surgical units

 

[VFrank]

Yeah, ER is pretty hit or miss. I'm able to look in on traumas, watch blood draws, fetch blankets, get water, sometimes patient transport, but a lot of the time I'm following nurses/residents around looking for something to do.

I know it gets slow, but is anybody else in the ER getting ignored? There's a fine line between showing interest and just plain getting in the way. 😴

Yeah, I do a lot of the same things at my ER (although I haven't been in while because I'm out of town due to family issues). I'm allowed to see all the traumas and deliver patients and everything, but it's hard because it seems like nothing interesting ever happens anyway -- it's mostly all people with dizziness, broken toes, and spotting during pregnancy. Not to much life-or-death stuff.

 

[liverotcod]

Yeah, I do a lot of the same things at my ER (although I haven't been in while because I'm out of town due to family issues). I'm allowed to see all the traumas and deliver patients and everything, but it's hard because it seems like nothing interesting ever happens anyway -- it's mostly all people with dizziness, broken toes, and spotting during pregnancy. Not to much life-or-death stuff.

But that's what a lot of medicine is like. I actually think this is part of the appeal of emergency medicine. Every once in a while, you get something really heart-pounding. But a lot of the time, you're working in what is essentially a free clinic. You even get some longitudinal relationships with the "regulars". This appeals to me, because I suspect that day after day, trauma would get exhausting. At the same time, family practice would have little or no excitement. So, ER is the best of both worlds. And as a volunteer in the ER, you're getting a realistic picture of what life as an ER doc is like.

All careers are, in a sense, just jobs. I believe (at least I hope) that understanding the day-to-day, humdrum working situation in a realistic way will help me in interviews. Assuming I get some.

 

[medicomel]

I agree with liverotcod. I also find the variability of the e.r. attractive, and it has actually been beneficial to see firsthand that an emergency room isn't as glamourous as television programs have portrayed them to be. A lot of times the attendings are sitting in front of a computer filling out paperwork and listening to residents present their cases.

 

[Mumpu]

ER depends on where you work too. I recently rotated through a private hospital and it seemed like ER was the worst job in the world there -- every moderately challenging patient went to the level 1 and 2 trauma centers (and rightfully so). But if you ever want a medical job rather than a way of life, ER/derm/rays/path is the way to go (psych and anesthesia tend to take a lot of call).

To the OP, go for ICU/stepdown or med/surg.

 

[LDutch]

I did a clinical shift in an ER for my EMT class, it was very cool...if you just loomed about, the MDs would pull you in to observe procedures, help out, etc (I got to observe the trauma assessment of a abdominal GSW, as well as start EKGs, splint things, etc)

Be prepared for lots of scut work though (however, it's probably good practice...)

 

[avinash]

oh yea

What exactly do you do when you shadow a physician?

Do you just ask them if you can shadow them, or is there some speical chance/opputunity that is given to you.

 

[Budder]

You have to volunteer at a larger ER to see the guts of the field (no pun intended). When I volunteered at the ER, it was large, and I met a surgical resident who was really cool and let me shadow him the entire time. Between stocking towels etc, I helped him with his procedures and learned why he chose this or that suture. The next time, I followed the resident radiologist in the ER, and he taught me what he was looking for.

If you volunteer at a smaller ER, you will probably be bored to death or at least close to death.

 

[medicomel]

Hey Budder,

Your experience sounds awesome! Can you give us an idea of how you approached these doctors? I definitely introduce myself as a premed with an interest in said specialty, but I'm greeted with a cordial hello and a couple of questions in regard to where I'm applying.