Clinical experience

[theaznfishxiaoy]

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Hello, I am new to this forum and I currently major in bioengineering as a junior. I've been looking towards applying to a medical school soon (summer of jr year) and people (particularly my pre-med advisor) have been telling me that clinical experience is necessary or else your chances are a lot worse than the rest of the applicant pool...is this true? If not, has anyone had successes in getting into a med school having other EC's and not having clinical experience?

Since I am already a junior, I don't really have much time to go accumulate any sort of clinical experience of the sort, are there any suggestions for what I should do to increase my chances?

Thanks for any insight 🙂

 

[ADeadLois]

It's essentially a requirement. If you're serious about applying to medical school, you need to have clinical experience. I would either seek out volunteering or shadowing opportunities in local hospitals or clinics right away. If that doesn't pan out, I would recommend waiting another year to apply and obtain clinical experience. You'd be in much, much better shape waiting a year and obtaining clinical experience then applying next summer without it.

Bottom line: without tangible experience in the field you can't give an honest or credible answer as to why you want enter it.

 

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

Bottom line: without tangible experience in the field you can't give an honest or credible answer as to why you want enter it.

Agreed.

But don't just look at it as a "requirement" for your med school application.

You want to be sure that medicine is right for you. Too many people apply to medicine because they're not sure what else to do with their 3.9 GPA and they figure that being a doctor will make them rich and happy. The truth is there are many problems in healthcare and you need to be sure that you are ready to face
those challenges.

No matter how many Grey's Anatomy episodes you've seen, you don't really know what it's like to be a doctor until you've experienced it first-hand.

 

[theaznfishxiaoy]

The only experience I've had, is volunteering at a regional medical center for 40+ hours as a helper in the OR...but people tell me that this is so little hours that it might as well count as nothing..But this was one of the things that made me seriously consider medicine as a career, and next to the research I do at school...

The problem is, at where I go to school, I've been having a hard time finding a good place to go volunteer- any suggestions in terms of where to look and is it too late for me to try to accumulate more hours at this point in time?

Thanks

 

[Dr_Dan_the_man]

The only experience I've had, is volunteering at a regional medical center for 40+ hours as a helper in the OR...but people tell me that this is so little hours that it might as well count as nothing..But this was one of the things that made me seriously consider medicine as a career, and next to the research I do at school...

The problem is, at where I go to school, I've been having a hard time finding a good place to go volunteer- any suggestions in terms of where to look and is it too late for me to try to accumulate more hours at this point in time?

Thanks

40 hours definitely counts for something....

most people around SDN are obsessed with stats but the truth is QUALITY over quantity... if you truly had a worthwhile experience and you have some stories to tell that show a genuine interest on your part then I think youre good to go.

You might want to do some more volunteering/shadowing though just to show a continued interest ... you dont want it to look like you just "did your time" so to speak.

 

[theaznfishxiaoy]

40 hours definitely counts for something....

most people around SDN are obsessed with stats but the truth is QUALITY over quantity... if you truly had a worthwhile experience and you have some stories to tell that show a genuine interest on your part then I think youre good to go.

You might want to do some more volunteering/shadowing though just to show a continued interest ... you dont want it to look like you just "did your time" so to speak.

Thanks for the positive reinforcement!
Does not having as many hours discredit you though in the eyes of the medical school? Or does the experience you earned from it supersede the amount of hours?

 

[Bacchus]

If you can astound the school with "Why Medicine?" you have no worries. You have clinical experience. I'd die to get into the OR, but I'm making the best of the opportunities that are available to me. To answer your question, I would call clinical experience (in some form) mandatory. For example, at Jefferson, if you don't have some form of volunteering and clinical experience you're not getting interviewed. Straight from the Director of Admission's mouth. Is every school this strict? Probably not, but like said above, you want to make sure medicine is right for you.

 

[GEFFENorBUST]

MCAT 39, GPA 3.9+, EC's diverse, Clinical Experience 0. Reapplicant. You do the math.

 

[medking]

I understand that clinical experience is important for the application, but can one really learn what a physicians job is like just by volunteering at a hospital or shadowing? I really don't think it's possible unless one actually becomes a physician. Therefore, I think clinical experience is overrated even though it is crucial that you have it for your application.

Maybe it's because I've seen too many premed volunteers "slack-off" while volunteering at the hospital.

 

[ADeadLois]

I understand that clinical experience is important for the application, but can one really learn what a physicians job is like just by volunteering at a hospital or shadowing? I really don't think it's possible unless one actually becomes a physician. Therefore, I think clinical experience is overrated even though it is crucial that you have it for your application.

Maybe it's because I've seen too many premed volunteers "slack-off" while volunteering at the hospital.

You're right, to an extent. But the point of clinical experience is not to learn specifically about what a physician's job is like, but about the field of medicine in general.

 

[hereIcome]

Okay, I have to tell you guys my story. OP, I haven't had any clinical experience and I have interviews at two top thirty schools. My situation is a little different because I DO work at a Mental Health Agency and I am a non-traditional student with a little more life experience under my belt (but not much, I'm only 25!). I am a First Responder but can't work in my city (they don't need me because the EMTs can respond so quickly) and I have never used my skills regardless of how many "Emergency Response Teams" I have been on for work. I made a decision a little while ago that I was not going to "play the game." I think I will be an excellent doctor because of who I am and if who I am isn't good enough, then I don't want to do it. Don't get me wrong, I want to be a doctor more than ANYTHING. But if I lose myself in the process, then I've lost the reason I'd be good at it!

I'm not discounting clinical experiences in any way. I am just saying that people are given chances at schools for a variety of reasons. You should do clinical stuff because you want to and not because it is "mandatory." But you should want to...if you don't, then why do you want to be a doctor? There are many more ways to volunteer clinically than just at a hospital. Does your community have any home nursing or hospice organizations? Or how about a group home for the developmentally disabled? Just find something that interests you and that fits your journey.

I had many people tell me that I had to do something clinical before I even applied. But I now have a first-round interview at Cornell, my TOP CHOICE school, and another first-round at Mt. Sinai. I realize that an interview is not an acceptance, but it is a lot closer than most people thought I would get without traditional clinical experience. That's just me, though. I believed I could do it. And I still do.

 

[foreverLaur]

If you want to be a doctor, shouldn't you be EXCITED about getting clinical experience? 😕

I have loved every minute I spent shadowing (mostly in the OR). I got a chance to speak with the doctors on their path and they thoughts on medicine and their career. I got to see what they do each and every day. I got to see what it was like, as a whole, working as a surgeon in a big hospital. Not only does it look good on an application, it gives you insight into your career and it is a lot of fun.!

 

[paranoid_eyes]

If you want to be a doctor, shouldn't you be EXCITED about getting clinical experience? 😕

in most cases this depends solely on the type of experience. if you try doing anything in large public institutions or large corporations, the most you can really do is replace blankets/pillows and paperwork. not too exciting...just bull**** you have to do to get in i guess. Stupid HIPAA...

 

[foreverLaur]

in most cases this depends solely on the type of experience. if you try doing anything in large public institutions or large corporations, the most you can really do is replace blankets/pillows and paperwork. not too exciting...just bull**** you have to do to get in i guess. Stupid HIPAA...

haha not my experience. ohio state is pretty darn big and i've gotten to do and see some pretty neat stuff!

 

[brianmartin]

if you try doing anything in large public institutions or large corporations, the most you can really do is replace blankets/pillows and paperwork. not too exciting...just bull**** you have to do to get in i guess. Stupid HIPAA...

Ahhhh.....I'm so lucky 🙂

 

[premed21]

Ok, so my EC's are kinda meh:

My questions is, what exactly constitutes as clinical experience? I know some people have shadowing doctors as clinical experience, but when I volunteered in the ICU, I got a feel for what doctors do (watching some procedures, how they operated, etc.) so would my volunteer count as being a clinical experience? Btw, I'm planning on applying this coming up cycle aug. 2008.

 

[anomalous738232]

like everyones said, it varies and depends on what else you have to offer.

if it's too late to rack up volunteer hours, look into job-shadowing a professional, or a summer internship. anything goes.

just keep in mind that every year, the pool of applicants are basically the cream of the crop. they have strong GPA's, MCATs, 2-page long list of E.C., hundreds of volunteer hours, etc. to give yourself the best chances, you should do all those things and of course "something that makes you stand out"

=] good luck!

 

[anomalous738232]

Ok, so my EC's are kinda meh:

- ~120 hrs volunteer in ICU
- One summer volunteering in private dental office ~35hrs/week
- deans list x3
- planning on doing research spring 2008 semester

My questions is, what exactly constitutes as clinical experience? I know some people have shadowing doctors as clinical experience, but when I volunteered in the ICU, I got a feel for what doctors do (watching some procedures, how they operated, etc.) so would my volunteer count as being a clinical experience? Btw, I'm planning on applying this coming up cycle aug. 2008.

volunteering in any hospital counts as clinical experience. even filing papers in the back of a dermatology clinic would suffice =p

 

[premed21]

Thanks for the comments. What are things that make you stand out? Like examples of some?