Clinical paid experience

[myfunnyusername]

Hi everyone! I am a non-traditional student who recently graduated with a Comp Sci degree, working a tech job, and has decided to switch to medicine. I am international, so I am still on my student visa and tied to the jobs related to my major. This makes me sad that I can't work as an EMT / CNA / MA, etc.... how am I supposed to get into medical school if I don't do these things?

I am starting to volunteer in a hospital + in a hospice in the next few weeks to gain some volunteer experience before applying for post-bacc but I am wondering what is (if there is one) a workaround to get clinical experience. I may try to get a part-time job to do research and tie to my major. But in terms of clinical hours, should I find EMS volunteer positions, or phlebotomy volunteer or something like that? Feeling a bit upset that the situation is not in my favor now, and any advice whether just clinical volunteering is okay or what can I do would be great

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[karaya]

Some volunteer positions can be clinical. It depends on what you're doing in the hospital and hospice. Feeding the patients, fetching warm blankets, helping them brush their teeth, wash up, or get dressed--definitely clinical. Restocking the utility room or delivering mail--not so much. If your hospice experience is clinical, I would stay there while you do postbacc. Four hours a week over two years is sufficient.

 

[AveragePerson.Psych]

If you need clinical hours, you could see if Scribe America or Proscribe have any medical scribe opportunities in your area. You'd get paid for your clinical work and get great experiences to write about for your personal statement and secondaries. I'm currently a medical scribe, the training goes by really quickly and you have to take a final exam after 2 wks of training for Scribe America. I didn't pass the exam the first time, but luckily the manager I have was nice enough to let me retake it, every place differs with their policy I guess.

I will say the forums have differing views about medical scribe positions in terms of treatment for the scribes. My experience has been good so far, but that may be because I scribe in small-medium sized towns and all of the ER doctors are familiar with the scribes. Other people have had awful experiences. If you find the medical scribe position to be of interest to you, I recommend reading through the forums about the experiences of others and even checking out some YouTube vlogs about medical scribing.

I'm wishing you the best!

 

[chssoccer7]

Hi everyone! I am a non-traditional student who recently graduated with a Comp Sci degree, working a tech job, and has decided to switch to medicine. I am international, so I am still on my student visa and tied to the jobs related to my major. This makes me sad that I can't work as an EMT / CNA / MA, etc.... how am I supposed to get into medical school if I don't do these things?

I am starting to volunteer in a hospital + in a hospice in the next few weeks to gain some volunteer experience before applying for post-bacc but I am wondering what is (if there is one) a workaround to get clinical experience. I may try to get a part-time job to do research and tie to my major. But in terms of clinical hours, should I find EMS volunteer positions, or phlebotomy volunteer or something like that? Feeling a bit upset that the situation is not in my favor now, and any advice whether just clinical volunteering is okay or what can I do would be great

Paid clinical experience is wholly unnecessary and not a requirement. You need clinical experience which you can obtain via volunteering or by getting paid. You also need non-clinical volunteering.

 

[esob]

Paid clinical experience is wholly unnecessary and not a requirement. You need clinical experience which you can obtain via volunteering or by getting paid. You also need non-clinical volunteering.

100% correct. While paid clinical experience is common among applicants, it is not required, nor is it the norm.