I don't know if this is necessarily the best advice. I would think schools would much rather see real commitment than a bunch of part time activities. I'm not sure if DO schools would care about research, as long as you had other real, long-term commitments. DO schools aren't really well known as research institutions (although some are), so I would recommend the EMT job if that's what you truly want to do.
The best advice I can give you at this point is to buff up your clinical hours. Seeing that you are a 4th year student, the likelihood of a couple of months of research really building up your resume is relatively small since it will be a short commitment. From the interviews that I had, schools seemed like they wanted to see if you were active in furthering your own understanding of medicine through shadowing, clinical exp, etc. That being said, most of the DO schools I interviewed at asked about research too. You really need to look at the mission statements and goals of the schools you are planning on applying to. Schools like DMU, KCUMB, PCOM and even MSU-COM, which have strong research programs, will want to see some interest in research along with clinical experience to see if you are a good match for the school. If it is possible to do both and survive your last year of undergrad, I'd try to do both in order to cover all bases. If not, then go with the EMT job since it sounds like something that you are more interested in. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful to you.
I stand corrected then. I guess they really only bring things like that up if you did it in order to see how committed you really were. I just know research and clinical exposure were brought up in all of my interviews, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone else will have the same questions/conversations.
I just kept an eye out on job openings on the hospital's website. When I applied, there was no certifications required, but now you have to have either a CNA or EMT certification.
