Confused on what to do this Summer (Deciding b/w 2 opportunities)

[Spongeman7]

Hi everyone, so I am currently a sophomore going to be junior and am on summer break. I applied for and got into a fellowship/internship clinical opportunity with a major healthcare network where I will be going over clinical research studies, shadowing physicians, sitting in on clinical meetings, etc. It is unpaid. I recently also got a call from a pediatrics doctor's office that said they have a paid position, where I would take children's blood pressure, height, weight, etc. (kind of life a medical assistant). I am very confused of what to do, should I stay with the unpaid internship or should I work at the pediatric office? The pediatric office would be paid, I would probably have more patient interaction, and interaction with children. If I did the internship, I would have more research experience, be able to shadow procedures, and the internship provider has a very big and good reputation in the healthcare industry. I would thoroughly enjoy doing either but which would look better on an application? I very much appreciate any advice anyone has to offer. I am also very grateful for getting these two opportunities and just want to make an informed decision. Thank you!

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[Doctor-In-Training99]

Hi everyone, so I am currently a sophomore going to be junior and am on summer break. I applied for and got into a fellowship/internship clinical opportunity with a major healthcare network where I will be going over clinical research studies, shadowing physicians, sitting in on clinical meetings, etc. It is unpaid. I recently also got a call from a pediatrics doctor's office that said they have a paid position, where I would take children's blood pressure, height, weight, etc. (kind of life a medical assistant). I am very confused of what to do, should I stay with the unpaid internship or should I work at the pediatric office? The pediatric office would be paid, I would probably have more patient interaction, and interaction with children. If I did the internship, I would have more research experience, be able to shadow procedures, and the internship provider has a very big and good reputation in the healthcare industry. I would thoroughly enjoy doing either but which would look better on an application? I very much appreciate any advice anyone has to offer. I am also very grateful for getting these two opportunities and just want to make an informed decision. Thank you!

It depends on what kind of hours you already have/what are you planning to do next year. You need to have both paid and unpaid hours (I’ve noticed it’s like an unspoken requirement). If you can do the internship and get paid hours at another time then i say do the internship. If you don’t believe you’d be able to do work next year because of the MCAT or other reasons then you need to do the work experience. If it’s a toss up and you can work the other option in easily during the school year then I’d do the internship because of the connections it will grant you

 

[Lardy Boy]

Former Provides the opportunity to learn research. Also shadowing multiple physicians (I’m assuming) which is must too.

If you lack clinical hours, then the latter. Also you can get a physician LOR.

Basically I agree with what the previous post said. ideally you want both.

TLDR: do both if you can.

 

[CoomassieBlue57]

If you are concerned about lack of research with option number 2, you could potentially ask the pediatricians if they have any research projects to work on, or if they get an interesting patient, you can write up a case report. Also pediatricians do procedures too. I would think that working at a small office will offer you more personal time with the physicians rather than a big healthcare network. Both sound like they are good opportunities, so it's basically what you want to get out of it.

 

[hungrydoc710]

Get creative and do part-time of both

 

[dial1010usa]

Are you planning to go MD or DO? If DO then take paid one.