Clinical experiences

Started by Diogenes
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Diogenes

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I'd like to get some idea of what people have done in terms of clinical experiences. This is the weakest part of my application, and something that I might have to improve upon. What did you do and how did you get involved with that experience in the first place?
 
None! I did shadow an orthopaedic surgeon one day, but that's it. Oh - I volunteered in a lab for a couple of months. But that's it. 😎
 
I volunteered in the emergency room of a nearby hospital. I just looked for volunteer stuff on the hospital's website; it seems that most hospitals havea voluteer services page on their website. Check it out if you want.

In the ER you get to see a wide variety of patients with a very broad range of illnesses and injuries. Look into it if this interests you.
 
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Almost none. About 15 years ago, when I was in college, I worked at a hospital as an aide for suicidal patients.
 
I shadowed a doctor for a while. I was talking with my doctor and asked him what he did for clinical experience before med school. He told me and then offered to let me shadow him. 🙂

I also recently started volunteering at the Children's Hospital at one of the med schools I'm trying to get into. I hang out with the kids when their parents aren't there, or to give them a break (so they can eat, shower, whatever, but not leave the kid alone). It's been pretty fun so far. I have to drive 40 miles each way to the hospital, but I couldn't find anything as good locally.

I did a short stint volunteering at an emergency room at a local (suburban) hospital. I didn't like it because there wasn't a whole lot for me to do. I felt pretty useless, even though I tried to find things to do.

Hope this helps! By the way, I found out about the volunteering by going to the med school's web page and doing a search on "volunteer". They usually have a volunteer services coordinator who can get you set up.
 
I was fortunate in that I had a lot of clinical experience, but I didn't help me as much as I thought it would -- I think some adcoms thought I had lost some of my plasticity with respect to learning clinical medicine since I had so much previous exposure. . . go figure. 🙂

I obtained my EMT licensure when I was in high school and then obtained my paramedic attending night classes during my first year of classes as an undergraduate. At this point, I joined a fire department's rescue company -- became cross-trained as a FF during the summer and then spent three years (& two summers) working as a FF/Paramedic near my college. . . I was really lucky and had some amazing experiences. I actually miss it quite a bit.
 
there's a whole thread on this. also, this is my first time posting a URL so it may not work.
check it out <a href="http://forums.studentdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=011944" target="_blank">here</a>
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Tweetie_bird:
•woohoo it worked!•••••Thanks for finding the old thread.
 
i would say to get as much clinical experience as possible like shadowing doctors, working with chronically sick people (vs. just ER), being in a variety of medical fields (ie. hospice, free clinic), getting further certification (ie. EMT, phlebotomy), volunteering aboard, volunteering in other areas (ie. tutoring, soup kitchens) and working with disadvantaged groups. believe me, it will help!
 
I shadowed my cousin for about 3 weeks. She was an internal medicine doctor and had her own clinic. She also moonlighted in a couple of ERs during that time to help pay for her new pool. I ended up working with her for more than 16 hours a day, including the times she spent all night in the ER. It was a valuable experience and let me get a little taste of what it will be like in residency.
 
Here are mine:

-Worked as an EMT for a year
-Worked for 6 months as a Phlebotomist in a state prison.
-Volunteered at a free clinic mostly for minorities/farm workers. I did vitals, translate spanish-english.
-Shadowed a Dr.
-Volunteered at a local Hospital E.R.
 
I'll paste mine here from the other thread 🙂 :

1) Shadowed a dermatopathologist at Mt. Sinai, went on rounds, learned to diagnose biopsies (on slides), wrote a case report, journal research. Got it through my uncle's brother who works there.

2) Volunteered in a Pediatric & Adolescent free clinic, but only got to do clerical work. I called up and asked to speak to the volunteer coordinator at the small hospital next to my school.

3) Volunteered in a free clinic for migrant farmworkers (100 hrs)....the clinic was all Spanish speaking (except for the docs).... I translated, took pt. histories and chief complaints, assisted doctors, observed doctors/patients, took blood pressure, temperature, etc., did urine and pregnancy tests, lotsa cool stuff. I got this one through my premed advisor, but she just did a google search to find it. I told her "free clinic, volunteer, Spanish", and google did the rest. 😀

It was fun!
 
1 - I volunteered 2-3 days a week in an ER for ~ 3 months, got offered a job as a registrar and stayed there for 3 years. Luckily, it wasn't just clerical work, I started helping out with some of the tests and assisting with simple procedures. As far as getting involved, I just called the volunteer office of the hospital and signed up.

2- I worked at a non-profit rehabilitation facility for the visually impaired for 1 year. I contacted a temp agency and indicated that I was interested in something related to healthcare. This position sounded interesting, and although it wasn't clinically related patient care it gave me an opportunity to observe how healthcare affects individuals outside of the hospital, in their day-to-day lives. I also assisted with the facility's Low Vision Clinic, with an opthalmologist who conducted exams for free or at low cost.
 
Currently I volunteer in the local hospital, from nursing wards to ER. I also volunteer with St. John Ambulance as a paramedic / first aider. I work part time as an aquatics supervisor and I plan on shadowing a family physician in the next few weeks.
 
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Shadowed my Dad's internist mornings for 10 weeks (I even got credit for an internship for my major!) and a dermatologist full-time for a week. What was great was that they had totally opposite "bedside manners," one friendly and loved to teach, the other brusque and hurried. Gave me lots to talk about at interviews.
 
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