clinical experience?

[Renkat2sj]

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I posted this in the postbacc forum as well, but i thought i would post it here too . . . since a lot of you have probably been through similar stuff?

anyway . . .

i am attempting to get my **** together to apply to a few postbac programs. i really want to try to get into goucher but if it doesnt work i will aim for something a little closer to home, like loyola. anyway, my grades are decent (3.46) and my GRE is average-ish (1290/5 but i am taking it again this monday and expect to improve that, at least a little bit.) what i am sorely lacking in is clinical experience and i am trying to figure out a way to get some under my belt with enough time to still apply to schools reasonably early (late jan, early feb.) i've signed up for volunteering at my local hospital and been assigned to ER, but i havent actually started yet, the person in charge of the program is impossible to get ahold of. even when i do start, (which i hope is soon) they only want me twice a month. pretty minimal.

i thought about shadowing, but i just moved to my current town from a couple hundred miles away, so i dont have a family physician or anything. i have seen a couple docs since coming here and like one of them, but i still have only met her once. is it way out of line to ask to shadow? i also like my new orthodontist, if i shadow him is that a relevant enough experience? is lack of said clinical experience enough to screw my app even if i have good test scores, essay, and letters?

what sort of prior experience did you have, and what sort of difference did it make? this is quite a tough problem especially since i work a full time job. surely that comes into consideration by admissions people?

thanks, everyone!!!

 

[Trail Boss]

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[Renkat2sj]

Hey, that's great. Imagine trying to ask a question of people who might actually know the answer. I posted the same thing in two different forums, yes, but two distinctly dissimilar ones so that i might get different perspectives from people with different backgrounds. I'm sure those who are too stressed about finals to care about my stupid questions will find them easy to ignore.

 

[Trail Boss]

Okay I will be nice. Unless you are some kind of bench science wizard and are going for a md/phd clinical experience is not an option. It is a necessity. Me, and most of my classmates have extensive experience, I shadowed three doctors off
and on for four years. I also worked on some policy stuff in an area I was interested in that stemmed from my clinical time. One of these docs was arranged through my undergrad advisor, I am sure that if you get into a post bac they will have programs like this. I am sure lots of people are in your situtation. I don't know about the ortho thing, I think it would help for patient repour (sp) and what not, but I'm not sure anyone will care on an adcomm. Stick to the hospitals, clinics...also think about medical missions if your religious, or other internation health stuff if not, I personaly, consider most of these programs to be little more than medical tourism for rich bored kids, but LOTS of my classmates did these things so, well you know, I'm not on the adcomm. Also consider something like being a phlibotomist (sp?) or something like that. I don't think that a little clinical experience will get you in, you still need to find someway to make yourself stand out, but your must have some clinicial and GOOD LETTERS OF RECOMENDATION from clinicials for an adcomm to even pick up your app, in additon to good test scores, and community service. Also maybe do something that shows you have "empathy" they really get a kick out of that.