D
deleted919245
Hi all,
I am a non-traditional student applying in the 2021-2022 cycle and was hoping to get some feedback on whether I should be prioritizing clinical exposure during my application year.
I graduated in '17 and have since worked exclusively in clinical/translational research. In one experience (~1.5yrs), I was a research phlebotomist, assisted during X-Rays and MRIs, interviewed patients about medical history, basic measurements (bp, BMI, proportions, etc.), done assessments for frailty, and consenting for clinical trials (discussing trial drugs, side effects, etc.). However, with some exceptions where research visits turn to clinical visits (due to concerns, and i stay to translate/assist), this is pretty much all for research.
In a separate research experience, I've had the privilege to travel with a transplant team to procure organs. While I'm there to collect research samples, the majority of these trips involves assisting with prep before surgery, during surgery (e.g. holding instruments, helping open the chest, holding things in place, tying knots, etc.), quick procedures outside the sterile field, setting the back table, and other tasks like that. It may go without saying, but these trips are all on clinically dead individuals. I'm also present during actual transplants in my home institution, but these experiences simply involve collecting research samples and watching the surgeries. Unfortunately the job's call schedule/unpredictability doesn't let me commit to any volunteering or other experiences, but it will be ending in the summer.
Other than that, I have 60+hrs of shadowing and only 40 of clinical volunteering (I was about to start a volunteer position at a clinic, but that was a month before everything closed because of covid). I also have a ton of non-clinical work/volunteering/ECs/pubs, but that's less relevant for this post.
While I would prefer to continue working in research, might it be worth it to do scribing, or something similar as I apply?
Thank you in advance for any advice!
I am a non-traditional student applying in the 2021-2022 cycle and was hoping to get some feedback on whether I should be prioritizing clinical exposure during my application year.
I graduated in '17 and have since worked exclusively in clinical/translational research. In one experience (~1.5yrs), I was a research phlebotomist, assisted during X-Rays and MRIs, interviewed patients about medical history, basic measurements (bp, BMI, proportions, etc.), done assessments for frailty, and consenting for clinical trials (discussing trial drugs, side effects, etc.). However, with some exceptions where research visits turn to clinical visits (due to concerns, and i stay to translate/assist), this is pretty much all for research.
In a separate research experience, I've had the privilege to travel with a transplant team to procure organs. While I'm there to collect research samples, the majority of these trips involves assisting with prep before surgery, during surgery (e.g. holding instruments, helping open the chest, holding things in place, tying knots, etc.), quick procedures outside the sterile field, setting the back table, and other tasks like that. It may go without saying, but these trips are all on clinically dead individuals. I'm also present during actual transplants in my home institution, but these experiences simply involve collecting research samples and watching the surgeries. Unfortunately the job's call schedule/unpredictability doesn't let me commit to any volunteering or other experiences, but it will be ending in the summer.
Other than that, I have 60+hrs of shadowing and only 40 of clinical volunteering (I was about to start a volunteer position at a clinic, but that was a month before everything closed because of covid). I also have a ton of non-clinical work/volunteering/ECs/pubs, but that's less relevant for this post.
While I would prefer to continue working in research, might it be worth it to do scribing, or something similar as I apply?
Thank you in advance for any advice!
