Clinical Hours

[p0o9i8u7]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why medical schools don't require clinical hours but PA school does? To me that seems counter-intuitive. I mean, medical school is more rigorous and a lot more time and money. Wouldn't medical schools rather take students who have been exposed to real medicine not classroom medicine?

 

[weezynation]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know why medical schools don't require clinical hours but PA school does? To me that seems counter-intuitive. I mean, medical school is more rigorous and a lot more time and money. Wouldn't medical schools rather take students who have been exposed to real medicine not classroom medicine?

It may not be "required," but it's an unspoken rule that it is required. Even people with amazing stats have very good chance of being rejected from everywhere if they have no clinical experiences.

 

[p0o9i8u7]

It may not be "required," but it's an unspoken rule that it is required. Even people with amazing stats have very good chance of being rejected from everywhere if they have no clinical experiences.

Right, what I mean is, why isn't more weight put on it? I mean, you can't even apply to certain PA schools without a minimum number of hours and it has to have patient contact. For med school, any type of clinical works and there is no minimum requirement. I know a lot of people going to med school that can't tell you what a nurse does and what a doctor does. Nor do some of them even understand the basics of a differential. Their 'clinical experience' was volunteering and shadowing now and then, but nothing truly substantial enough to learn anything and with little patient interaction.

 

[Osteoth]

It's the basic idea behind a "holistic" approach to enrollment. They can basically accept anyone or reject anyone for no real "reason" and claim that their holistic approach found something in the applicant that was lacking.

 

[45408]

This road is long enough as it is. I've been working on this for 10 years now, and I've still got about 4 more to go. You can be a PA in 5 years flat after high school (Marquette University). How much longer did you really want this damn process to take? You'll know how to be a doctor at the end of it, don't worry. If they wanted you to be a doctor first, they'd require an MD for med school.

 

[Mountaineer12]

I think it's because a PA degree is usually obtained after working in another healthcare field. Whereas MD/DO is considered a first-time career. Does that make any sense?

 

[p0o9i8u7]

This road is long enough as it is. I've been working on this for 10 years now, and I've still got about 4 more to go. You can be a PA in 5 years flat after high school (Marquette University). How much longer did you really want this damn process to take? You'll know how to be a doctor at the end of it, don't worry. If they wanted you to be a doctor first, they'd require an MD for med school.

There's plenty to do in undergrad. I'm with you, I'm taking a longer route to get to med school. I'm just saying that there are plenty of opportunities to get great clinical experience and you can weed out those who don't care about medicine from the ones who do. It's not getting someone who already is a doctor, it's getting someone who actually has some sort of background rather than what the undergrad classes teach. Wouldn't med schools rather have a student who knows what being a doctor entails rather than the idealized version people think of from TV?

 

[p0o9i8u7]

I think it's because a PA degree is usually obtained after working in another healthcare field. Whereas MD/DO is considered a first-time career. Does that make any sense?

No, because plenty of people go to PA school straight out of undergrad.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Having no clinical hours and applying to medical school gives you about the same odds as having no clinical hours and applying to PA school.

 

[weezynation]

There's plenty to do in undergrad. I'm with you, I'm taking a longer route to get to med school. I'm just saying that there are plenty of opportunities to get great clinical experience and you can weed out those who don't care about medicine from the ones who do. It's not getting someone who already is a doctor, it's getting someone who actually has some sort of background rather than what the undergrad classes teach. Wouldn't med schools rather have a student who knows what being a doctor entails rather than the idealized version people think of from TV?

That background doesn't matter to adcoms (generally speaking) because they have confidence in their school's curriculum to develop the physicians they want to form. Medical students gain all of the clinical experience they need in med school and residency so there is no need for extensive clinical knowledge. Gaining a general idea of the medical profession through shadowing, hospital volunteering, etc is important, but specific skills within the healthcare realm are not necessary.

 

[Xenops]

No, because plenty of people go to PA school straight out of undergrad.

It USED to be that to get into PA school, you would take a few prereqs and have tons of clinical experience to get into a PA program that awards a bachelors. Now it's expected that you have a bachelors to apply to a masters PA program. These programs, to my understanding, require less clinical hours.

 

[Dan1804]

Medical school admissions requirements reflect the tradition of the Flexner Report, which laid out how to ground a student in basic scientific technique, followed by rigorous medical education. PA schools reflect the tradition of rapidly advancing Navy corpsmen with significant clinical experience to a higher level of practice.