I'm a pre-med, and have worked as a CNA in a nursing home, and in a hospital. Most hospitals require you to have previous CNA experience before they'll hire you, so you may have no choice but to work in a nursing home setting first, unless you have hospital connections. I would suggest getting into a hospital as soon as you can. In addition to getting a large amount of exposure to critical care, working in a hospital gives you an excellent idea of how the medical/patient care team actually works. As some of the previous posters have pointed out, I think pre-med CNA's can give a very thorough explanation as to why med school rather than nursing school 🙂 Additionally, I've gotten to know several doctors on my floor, and have made some great shadowing/ letter of recommendation connections. I do agree with previous posters that CNA work is HARD. Very physically and emotionally demanding, but still an extremely valuable experience. I do think EMT would be good clinical exposure, provide more autonomy on the job, and lets be honest, is probably more fun, but getting your CNA is going to be less of a time commitment if you're in school (Lots of programs are only 2 weeks), and in my area, there are many more job opportunities available. ER-tech would be a great option, however, if you can swing an EMT class and have an in with a local hospital. Realistically, one or the other isn't going to make or break your med app. Clinical exposure is clinical exposure. Get excellent grades, outstanding letters of recommendation, and kill the MCAT. As long as you have some sort of clinical experience, either EMT or CNA will work as long as it doesn't interfere with your grades.
