Clinical Experience

[Engg to Doc]

Hi,
I am planning to apply to med school in 2003. I have NO clinical experience whatsoever till now. (My background is in engineering). So if I start getting some experience this summer, I hope to have a year's worth of clinical experience by the time I apply. Given my 'non-trad' background, will this suffice? Looks like a lot of people on this forum have considerable clinical expereince, so I was just wondering.

Thanks!

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[Doctora Foxy]

It should be ok They just wanna see some clinical experience to ensure that you know what you're getting yourself into.

Best of luck!

 

[UCLA2000]

1 year is not bad. It may also help for you to look into getting your EMT certification.

 

[Sweet Tea]

i think 1 year is fine... you just need some experience (especially coming from a non-medicine background) to show that you have an idea of what you're getting yourself into. best of luck!!

 

[jot]

i was reading somewher (i'll find the link) that medschools don't really appreciate the emt certification. its awesome for those who have it, and quite useful, but i'm not sure if that is something one would want to do for medschool persay. anyone else comment to that? i'm sure you emt's know better about the subject.
-jot

 

[MUN2005]

Why not? Having such certification has given me the best clinical experience I could ever dream of. From the field to the ambulance to the emergency department. You communicate with patients no differently than if you were a physician. You get to see the ups and downs of patient care, and with advanced training, you get introduced to many medical terms and techniquies that will make an emergency rotation a breeze (so I have heard).

 

[MUN2005]

A couple of more things I just thought of. With EMT cert. you can work in emerg as an ER tech (usually) where you are part of the team and working along side of doctors, nurses, etc - first hand exposure. Also, with the cert. it will be to your advantage if you are trying to get into an EM residency.

 

[Engg to Doc]

Thanks people,
You are the best. How would I go about getting an EMT certification? Where do I look for such programs?

 

[pocwana]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Engg to Doc:
•Thanks people,
You are the best. How would I go about getting an EMT certification? Where do I look for such programs?•••••I notice you're in CA.
Check out the <a href="http://www.emsa.cahwnet.gov/" target="_blank">Emergency Medical Services Authority</a> website.

 

[Sweet Tea]

I'm an EMT, and I thought it would help tremendously until I sat down with and ADCOM member (who is one of my old profs) and had a conversation with him. He said that EMT experience can work for or against you... it all depends on what you got from the experience and how you portray the experience in your interview. For instance, being all excited about lights and sirens and the adrenaline rush is one thing, being excited about doing patient care out in someone's home/field/ interstate is another. Granted, while this guy was a great prof he's a bit crotchety and thinks that anyone not interested in academic medicine is a waste of his time, but he is a voting ADCOM member.

I love being an EMT-- it's made me interested in primary care b/c I see so many health problems that could have been dealt with without getting an ambulance involved, and I love knowing that I have really helped someone. I don't know anything about how you become certified in CA, but I had to take a CC class for a semester and then ride as a probationary member (3rd person) for awhile with my squad.

PM me with any EMS questions.