Clinical rotations or not in 11th grade

[tx2015]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello,
I am currently a 10th grade student from Texas and am very interested in getting into BS/MD programs especially the one in UTD. I need to choose my courses for 11th grade and am having a tough time in deciding if i should take the Clinical Rotations class that is being offered. It is a double block class (2 periods) and I am very interested in it since I can then be in HOSA and i think i will love the experience i get from it. But the only problem is that it is a "regular" class and will hurt my gpa and my ranking. Is taking Clinical Rotations in 11th grade have atleast some impact to show how my serious i am to get into the medical field when I apply for BS/MD program or does it not have any value? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[URHere]

What exactly does the "clinical rotations" class involve? Such classes are not a standard part of a high school curriculum, so I'm guessing that whatever is offered is specific to your school. Whether or not you should take it depends on what it is - does it involve shadowing? Hospital volunteering? Introduction to medical terminology? A chance to speak with practicing physicians? Etc? The name of the class won't mean as much to admissions committees as the actual things you are doing within the medical field.

If you are worried about your GPA, you could always seek out similar experiences on your own. Shadowing is a must, but you may be able to set something up with your family doctor or one of his/her colleagues. Medical volunteer work may be hard to secure if you are under 18, but you could volunteer at a nursing home or something similar. If you are close to any medical schools you could also see if they offer mentoring programs.

 

[tx2015]

What exactly does the "clinical rotations" class involve? Such classes are not a standard part of a high school curriculum, so I'm guessing that whatever is offered is specific to your school. Whether or not you should take it depends on what it is - does it involve shadowing? Hospital volunteering? Introduction to medical terminology? A chance to speak with practicing physicians? Etc? The name of the class won't mean as much to admissions committees as the actual things you are doing within the medical field.

If you are worried about your GPA, you could always seek out similar experiences on your own. Shadowing is a must, but you may be able to set something up with your family doctor or one of his/her colleagues. Medical volunteer work may be hard to secure if you are under 18, but you could volunteer at a nursing home or something similar. If you are close to any medical schools you could also see if they offer mentoring programs.

The course is called "Practicum in Health Science" The course description is as follows.
"Practicum in Health Science is a two-hour full-year program that provides the student with a unique opportunity to explore a variety of health care careers. Students develop skills while training under the direct supervision of a licensed health care professional. The first twelve weeks of the course are spent in class in preparation for the clinical rotation intern experience. The remainder of the year students alternate between related classroom instruction and serving as an unpaid intern in a hospital or other health care facility. Students will become AHA Healthcare Provider CPR certified. Acceptance into Practicum in Health Science is based upon application only."

We are in Texas.
What do you think?

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Seems cool, but don't let it eat at your gpa.

 

[tx2015]

Seems cool, but don't let it eat at your gpa.

 

[tx2015]

I would like to clarify the GPA issue. when i said that GPA will be affected, it will be the "WEIGHTED GPA" that will be affected. "Unweighted GPA" will not be affected. Weighted GPA is used for class rankings in our school district and hence my ranking will be affected.

Weighted GPA will be affected since with this above course, i will be having two class periods of regular gpa courses versus 2 of honors /AP classes.

 

[URHere]

The course is called "Practicum in Health Science" The course description is as follows.
"Practicum in Health Science is a two-hour full-year program that provides the student with a unique opportunity to explore a variety of health care careers. Students develop skills while training under the direct supervision of a licensed health care professional. The first twelve weeks of the course are spent in class in preparation for the clinical rotation intern experience. The remainder of the year students alternate between related classroom instruction and serving as an unpaid intern in a hospital or other health care facility. Students will become AHA Healthcare Provider CPR certified. Acceptance into Practicum in Health Science is based upon application only."

We are in Texas.
What do you think?

Something like this is a ready-made packet of experience for BS/MD programs. My advice would be to do some research and see if you can set up shadowing and clinical volunteering experiences on your own. If you can, take the AP classes. If not, take the clinical class.

Also, how important will your weighted GPA be? Are you a candidate for valedictorian if you take (and ace) two AP classes? If so, I would push you more in that direction. If you're generically top 10-15%, your overall rank won't matter so much.

 

[WedgeDawg]

My understanding of weighted GPA and unweighted GPA is that colleges use unweighted to compare you to people at other schools and use weighted to determine class rank within your school. If this is going to drop you out of an important percentile bracket (ie top 10th percentile, top 25th percentile, valedictorian, etc), then don't do it. If it's likely not going to, then if you're interested go for it, but also realize there are plenty of other ways to do more or less the same thing without risking your GPA.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Something like this is a ready-made packet of experience for BS/MD programs. My advice would be to do some research and see if you can set up shadowing and clinical volunteering experiences on your own. If you can, take the AP classes. If not, take the clinical class.

This.

You can get CPR certified in one weekend. This sounds like a survey class and better fit for mid level health professionals. You have more than enough time to find a clinical volunteering opportunity on your own that can offer similar if not better clinical exposure.

 

[735833]

What school district are you in? I am a junior student in North Texas currently enrolled in a class identical to the one you described. I was able to do a "weighted" version allowing me to earn the higher GPA by doing some additional work. At the half-way point in the course, I would highly recommend it despite its negative effect on your GPA. Although your high-school GPA may suffer slightly, the program provides valuable lessons essential for your future and fascinating shadowing opportunities.