Clinical Exposure After Applying

[bobeanie95]

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So my plan is to take a gap year and during this time I am planning to increase my clinical exposure hours. I am aiming to apply very early in the cycle (primary submitted around June 2017). I will volunteering all through my gap year (May 2017-Aug 2018).

Will admissions committees weigh my projected clinical hours with the same regard as if I had done it prior to sending my primary?

Also, for clinical exposure is there any preference to doing volunteer work at a hospital as opposed to a paid clinical job such as a scribe?

Edit: As a reference I will have had prior clinical volunteering before applying, I just want to increase my hours during my gap year.

 

[Catalystik]

So my plan is to take a gap year and during this time I am planning to increase my clinical exposure hours. I am aiming to apply very early in the cycle (primary submitted around June 2017). I will volunteering all through my gap year (May 2017-Aug 2018).

1) Will admissions committees weigh my projected clinical hours with the same regard as if I had done it prior to sending my primary?

2) Also, for clinical exposure is there any preference to doing volunteer work at a hospital as opposed to a paid clinical job such as a scribe?

Edit: As a reference I will have had prior clinical volunteering before applying, I just want to increase my hours during my gap year.

1) No, as we see all too often that projected activities are interrupted by life circumstance. The gap year hours will, however, come in handy if recently accumulated hours are described in Secondary essays or in update letters, or if you need to apply a second time.

2) In general: No. However there are a few schools that seems to prefer clinical employment.

 

[lexswift]

1) No, as we see all too often that projected activities are interrupted by life circumstance. The gap year hours will, however, come in handy if recently accumulated hours are described in Secondary essays or in update letters, or if you need to apply a second time.

2) In general: No. However there are a few schools that seems to prefer clinical employment.

Is there a reason clinical employment is preferred over clinical volunteering?

 

[Catalystik]

Is there a reason clinical employment is preferred over clinical volunteering?

I can only speculate, as my med school is not one of those with this preference, but perhaps due to a greater density of patient experience, greater accountability or responsibility, or more reliable validation of hours as an employee.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Is there a reason clinical employment is preferred over clinical volunteering?

Because I guarantee you my clinical experience as an OR tech is way more in depth than any of the hospital volunteers (and I'd wager most voly EMTs).

 

[Lawpy]

Because I guarantee you my clinical experience as an OR tech is way more in depth than any of the hospital volunteers (and I'd wager most voly EMTs).

what about in comparison to free clinic volunteers or hospice volunteers?

 

[Sardinia]

@Matthew9Thirtyfive OR is intense, especially interacting with surgeons. One of the most invaluable experiences to finding out whether the specialty is for you.

 

[bobeanie95]

@Catalystik Thanks for your input. The reason why I'm wondering is because I'm at school now and all nearby hospitals want a minimum commitment of at least one year, which I can't commit to because I graduate in May. Do you have any advice? I don't want my projected volunteer hours to be looked down on or as less significant.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

what about in comparison to free clinic volunteers or hospice volunteers?

Hospice is what made my wife decide to be a nurse. I've never done it, but you definitely get lots of patient contact. It also exposes you to palliative care and end of life care.

But if you can swing it, I recommend getting into the OR for everyone who can stomach it. The experience is amazing. Every single day I had my hands on patients and inside patients. Even if you're at a crappy job where you just pass instruments, if you take an interest you will learn so much.

But I worked at a community hospital with no residents or PAs. I first assisted on almost every case. I've made incisions, driven the camera, used graspers on lap choles/hernias/appies, stapled bowel, retracted the heart with my hands, touched the inside of a patient's brain, delivered babies, intubated, given injections, put in foleys, closed incisions, and so much more. I've been in on codes that were successful and some that weren't.

I've been sent to conferences to learn to use new endovascular tech that ended up saving more than one patients' life. I've been on rounds, been a scribe, gone down to the ED to help put in chest tubes, and helped see pts in the office.

I learned so much about surgery and medicine in general because I was proactive. I told every surgeon I worked with that I wanted to go to med school. I read up on the cases the night before and asked relevant questions. I got pimp questions right and was able to anticipate parts of the procedures because I cared enough to learn what we were doing and why. They noticed and taught me as much as they could. A vascular surgeon is the one who had me scribe for him, go on rounds, to the ED, and to the office. All because I just asked for as much exposure as possible.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

@Matthew9Thirtyfive OR is intense, especially interacting with surgeons. One of the most invaluable experiences to finding out whether the specialty is for you.

Absolutely. I want to do a fight surgeon tour, but surgery is at the top of my list for specialties. I like kids, so I may try to swing peds sx if the Navy lets me. I am open to primary care if I end up loving it though. I just need to make sure I can do procedures.

 

[lexswift]

I can only speculate, as my med school is not one of those with this preference, but perhaps due to a greater density of patient experience, greater accountability or responsibility, or more reliable validation of hours as an employee.

That makes sense. I went to a premed med admissions workshop a few years ago and I recall the speakers emphasizing that our clinical experience should be patient centered. So I made sure to look for clinical volunteer opportunities where I was essentially spending close to 100% of my time with patients and not doing clerical work for a hospital, for example.

I feel like there aren't many clinical jobs that one can do without some sort of certificate/license. I know there is scribing and clinical research and I am sure people's experiences vary in this regard but I spoke to my few friends who are scribes and it may just be the company they work for but they don't speak to patients as the doctors just drop off the reports and they type it up. I also have a friend who is a clinical research RA and she said it's mostly administrative stuff so far. I guess they qualify as clinical experiences regardless since they can smell the patients and they are in a medical setting but I wasn't sure if this was ideal. Would you still say these are good options for clinical jobs for the schools that expect it?

 

[lexswift]

Because I guarantee you my clinical experience as an OR tech is way more in depth than any of the hospital volunteers (and I'd wager most voly EMTs).

I don't doubt it. I just hope there is a little leeway for recent college graduates who couldn't really get a clinical job since most expect some sort of license/certificate and it's not possible to attend classes for those with a full time course load.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I don't doubt it. I just hope there is a little leeway for recent college graduates who couldn't really get a clinical job since most expect some sort of license/certificate and it's not possible to attend classes for those with a full time course load.

I did mine the summer before college, but I know people who have gotten those jobs without anything other than a HS diploma. It's much harder to get a job that way, but it's possible. My instructor was an OR tech in the Army. She had crazy experiences.

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik Thanks for your input. The reason why I'm wondering is because I'm at school now and all nearby hospitals want a minimum commitment of at least one year, which I can't commit to because I graduate in May. Do you have any advice? I don't want my projected volunteer hours to be looked down on or as less significant.

You might broaden your search to free-standing or home hospice care, skilled-level nursing homes, Alzheimer's inpatient/memory care units, volunteering at a physical therapy office, urgent care, or surgi-center, VA clinic, family-planning clinic, low-income clinic, etc.

 

[Catalystik]

I feel like there aren't many clinical jobs that one can do without some sort of certificate/license. I know there is scribing and clinical research and I am sure people's experiences vary in this regard but a) I spoke to my few friends who are scribes and it may just be the company they work for but they don't speak to patients as the doctors just drop off the reports and they type it up. b) I also have a friend who is a clinical research RA and she said it's mostly administrative stuff so far. I guess they qualify as clinical experiences regardless since they can smell the patients and they are in a medical setting but I wasn't sure if this was ideal. Would you still say these are good options for clinical jobs for the schools that expect it?

From your description, they are less than ideal because either a) they aren't interacting with patients in a helpful way, but rather are passively observing/listening, or b) actual time interacting with a current patient might be minimal, relative to the rest of one's duties.

A job you might consider that requires no certification is receptionist in a small office, where you don't just greet patients, you room them, collect specimens, assist the physician, answer phones, prioritize appointments, field lab results, etc. This is how I got much of my clinical experience.

See my list of alternate sites to consider in the post above.

 

[bobeanie95]

You might broaden your search to free-standing or home hospice care, skilled-level nursing homes, Alzheimer's inpatient/memory care units, volunteering at a physical therapy office, urgent care, or surgi-center, VA clinic, family-planning clinic, low-income clinic, etc.

Thanks so much for that list! It was extremely helpful. I got in touch with a couple of clinics, yet their volunteering opportunities include administrative things such as answering phones, sending faxes, etc. My guess is that this wouldn't count as clinical volunteering even though its in a clinical setting. Do you recommend looking for something else?

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks so much for that list! It was extremely helpful. I got in touch with a couple of clinics, yet their volunteering opportunities include administrative things such as answering phones, sending faxes, etc. My guess is that this wouldn't count as clinical volunteering even though its in a clinical setting. Do you recommend looking for something else?

If you are in a back office doing those things, you're right that they won't count as "clinical" for application purposes (though it would still be "volunteering"). If you are at a desk in a waiting room performing those duties, where patients might come up to you for directions, check-in, or general information, then they would.

 

[Krooskie]

My medical school (University of Nevada Reno) gave so many opportunities to send in updates about what we did post application so while they may take "projected hours" listed on the application, at least mine took the update letters seriously and added any new experience to your file. The policy at UNR med was that we could send in information to update our file right up until the day of the first committee review.

As for clinical employment vs volunteering, I think both are important. The employment aspect shows that you were competent and respected typically with more responsibilities and training than a volunteer but volunteering shows compassion and caring about the community. I scribed at a local hospital and volunteered with a local hospice care organization and that seemed like a pretty good balance.

 

[Sardinia]

@Catalystik Thanks for your input. The reason why I'm wondering is because I'm at school now and all nearby hospitals want a minimum commitment of at least one year, which I can't commit to because I graduate in May. Do you have any advice? I don't want my projected volunteer hours to be looked down on or as less significant.

You lie and tell them you will give a one year commitment. How do you know where you will be one year from now? No one is accountable for where they will be tomorrow. Look at how many people call out for work. Life is an ambiguous anomaly for most people who are not goal oriented and logically driven. Use that to your advantage.

In addition, almost all job contracts are at will employment. This means that hiring can fire you at any time they feel your services aren't satisfactory. This also means you can quit any time you don't want to be employed. In addition, your employer cannot smear your reputation when another institution asks to verify if you worked there. These two laws protect you as a worker and your ability to work the free market.