Clinical Hours: Scribe, Volunteering, Massage Therapy

[worldcitizen1]

Hi guys,
I am currently in the midst of finishing my pre-reqs. I am wanting to begin my volunteer, clinic, shadowing hours and wanted your opinions.

I am a massage therapist and at our local Asante hospital there are positions for massage therapy in the hospital. Should I consider this as an option for hands on/clinical experience?

Also I am thinking about applying for a scribe position and wanted to know your opinion on that~ I know there are a couple threads on the topic already.

That said I am also beginning to apply for volunteer positions and have made a few contacts for shadowing.

In general any advice to steer the course a bit more is much appreciated.

Thank You!
B.

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[radian313]

Hi guys,
I am currently in the midst of finishing my pre-reqs. I am wanting to begin my volunteer, clinic, shadowing hours and wanted your opinions.

I am a massage therapist and at our local Asante hospital there are positions for massage therapy in the hospital. Should I consider this as an option for hands on/clinical experience?

Also I am thinking about applying for a scribe position and wanted to know your opinion on that~ I know there are a couple threads on the topic already.

That said I am also beginning to apply for volunteer positions and have made a few contacts for shadowing.

In general any advice to steer the course a bit more is much appreciated.

Thank You!
B.

Think quality not quantity.

Volunteer where? Try to get involved in a local soup kitchen or homeless shelter, dont jumble too much clinical exposure as DO is more missiom oriented tapping into your altruistic competencies as a physician for your community.

Scribe is good but only thing is you dont get much direct patient contAct, unless you work in private practice.

If anything your massage therapy would be more beneficial out of them all.

 

[37Base]

Scribe4lyfe. Scribing is definitely the best. Try to get in an ER. It's basically paid shadowing that forces you to learn valuable medical decision making and terminology from the perspective of a physician


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[More_Medz]

As a veteran scribe, I have learned so much about the clinical side of medicine. It has been an invaluable experience.

The only caution I have, is that is very difficult to be financially independent as the job pays poorly.


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[worldcitizen1]

Think quality not quantity.

Volunteer where? Try to get involved in a local soup kitchen or homeless shelter, dont jumble too much clinical exposure as DO is more missiom oriented tapping into your altruistic competencies as a physician for your community.

Scribe is good but only thing is you dont get much direct patient contAct, unless you work in private practice.

If anything your massage therapy would be more beneficial out of them all.

Thanks very much for your input, especially on the DO mission. I will keep this in mind.

 

[worldcitizen1]

Thank you guys for all your input! I am thinking I am going to go ahead and apply for the scribe position and see what kind of clinical environment I find myself in. I think the massage route will be worth exploring because I will be able to have hands on experience with patients. And I really appreciate the advice on quality volunteer hours.. I look forward to corresponding more on SDN and will keep you guys posted!

 

[samac]

I'm just curious what other people think on the massage therapy. I wouldn't consider than clinical but would adcoms?

 

[holdthemayo]

I'm just curious what other people think on the massage therapy. I wouldn't consider than clinical but would adcoms?

I would think it would count as clinical, but might depend on the setting.

I know a person who got accepted to DMU after working as a massage therapist. She worked at a Physical Therapy practice which may have made it count as more clinical than someone who works out of their home or something. I'm not sure.

 

[37Base]

I'm just curious what other people think on the massage therapy. I wouldn't consider than clinical but would adcoms?

I think you could spin it to work in your favor for DO, but it's not really clinical imo


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[costales]

I would think it would count as clinical, but might depend on the setting.

I know a person who got accepted to DMU after working as a massage therapist. She worked at a Physical Therapy practice which may have made it count as more clinical than someone who works out of their home or something. I'm not sure.

It's probably not clinical if the practice has a neon sign out front.

 

[ahc336]

As a veteran scribe, I have learned so much about the clinical side of medicine. It has been an invaluable experience.

The only caution I have, is that is very difficult to be financially independent as the job pays poorly.


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I feel like finding those jobs are so rare though. PhysAssist and the other company (I think it's ScribeAmerica or something) don't have any postings where I am.

 

[grapp]

I know I might seem like the typical guy on SDN saying take it easy, but I think it's tremendously important. I'm assuming you are doing well based on your grades because you are seeking further options to maximize your application. As a hospital volunteer I've been fortunate enough to see a lot and make a lot of memorable experiences. However, with that said, many people like to diverse things with volunteering outside of medicine to make their application unique. Something I don't see a lot of people mention, but if you have time, an EMT-B certification could get you a job or a volunteering position in EMS. A lot of DO schools have taken liking to this, "or so I've heard." By doing this you are receiving a certificate in basic life support which I believe is a critical component, but again... I'm not the smartest person around here.

Some good jobs are;
- CNA (normally 3-6 month course)
- Scribe (sometimes a small training session for a month or so at a hospital, but I haven't done it.)
- EMT-B (3-6 month course, working on an ambulance or volunteering as an EMT)
- ER Tech (3-6 month course that you can get with your EMT, emergency room technicians are important in the ER, but have a lot of free time. *What I've heard.* )

Some good volunteering positions are;
- Church Volunteering
- Daycare / Teacher *primarily church to my knowledge, but could change from location*
- Homeless Lunch Server in summers.
- Your city
- Animal Shelters / Hospitals

The list goes on, and of course we have hospital volunteering.

The reason for my hospital volunteering experience being so good, is because I've had the chance to see a lot. I'm constantly in different departments such as the ICU, Surgical Floor, Medical Floor, Emergency Department, Pediatrics, even the OR a few times. It's allowed me to see so many different departments, I'm not allowed to have patient contact other than transfers without an EMT-B or CNA. But as far knowledge, it's been great. It also has allowed me to become friends with multiple surgeons, and several doctors. One of them is a DO which will help as a letter of rec. if I apply to DO.

Just a couple thoughts OP, if you have any questions for the college/high-school student let me know.

 

[jwilliams1993]

Put more emphasis on shadowing and make sure you aren't stretched so thin that your grades suffer. The second time I applied, I had a school reach out to me and tell me that my application wasn't competitive (despite working in an emergency department for four years, 250+ volunteer hours in a hospital, community service and leadership roles in numerous organizations in college, etc.) because I hadn't directly shadowed a physician. Employment doesn't count, volunteering doesn't count, and not even the clinical shadowing I did in a medical magnet program in high school counted. You NEED a bunch of shadowing hours, especially if you're applying DO. You'll be expected to have some idea about osteopathic medicine in practice. Additionally, don't stretch yourself too thin. I did that and my grades suffered in addition to my mental health.