Does this count as clinical experience? (another EC thread)

[mental1]

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I'm a psych major aspiring to be a psychiatrist, so my experiences and interests in medicine are largely on the mental health side of things. That being said, for my psychology capstone, I am interning at a shelter for children and adolescents who have been taken out of a bad home situation and who may be at risk for psychological or behavioral problems. As a non-professional, most of what I do is hang out with them and act as a sort of mentor. I really enjoy bonding with these kids and am considering extending my time volunteering there even after I have completed this capstone course.
So my question is, does this count as clinical experience? Or would my time be better spent elsewhere?
I'm approaching graduation, and I did not participate in many ECs for the first 3 years of college due to lack of time and mental health issues of my own. I have very little in the way of volunteering other than this experience, and I'm volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation facility (non-clinical volunteering), and I plan on applying to ScribeAmerica in the following months.
Furthermore, the only research experience I have is also in the field of psychology. Do ADCOMs view psych research in the same light as research in chem/bio/etc.?

TLDR: Is volunteering at a children's shelter clinical experience? Is psychology research sufficient for med school?

 

[palatopharyngeus]

So my question is, does this count as clinical experience? Or would my time be better spent elsewhere?

I don't like how you set up these two questions...no, I wouldn't classify this as a clinical experience, but this doesn't mean your time would be "better spent" elsewhere. from what you wrote, it sounds like a wonderful experience and something that you should continue to do if you enjoy it

having said that, I do hope you have at least SOME clinical stuff on your application...perhaps shadowing a doctor? some generic hospital volunteering? if not, I would try to get some

Is psychology research sufficient for med school?

research isn't even necessary to get into med school, although it certainly can help. it doesn't matter whether your research was in cancer biology or electrical engineering or psychology...research is research is research, as long as you put in some quality hours and can (preferably) get a great LOR out of it

 

[WilsonFan]

My concern would be that your application and experience profile is set up as someone who would make an excellent psychOLOGIST. Medical schools want to know you will be a good general doctor first, and a specialist second. Might I suggest:

1) general medical volunteering/clinical experience - scribe is OK, and definitely shadow some general doctors outside of psychiatry. I would suggest ER and family medicine doctors, so in your interview and personal statement you can say that you fell in love with emergency medicine and primary care (the areas most relevant to psychiatry), and hope that your training in medicine (especially in these areas) will help you treat mental health issues to the fullest.

2) I wouldn't worry about the research. Psychiatry research is fine, and even no research is fine if your scores are about cutoffs.

 

[hydroxyurea]

Sounds like you are just kicking it, shooting hoops, talking about relationships and watching TV on an old donated couch. So no, not clinical. I was a mentor for kids at the Boys and Girls Club in my community when I was in high school- definitely not on AMCAS.

If you actually were to take leadership of designing a study or meaningful outreach program around these kids/ vulnerable populations, then you have something to run with.

 

[mcatjelly]

I'm a psych major aspiring to be a psychiatrist, so my experiences and interests in medicine are largely on the mental health side of things. That being said, for my psychology capstone, I am interning at a shelter for children and adolescents who have been taken out of a bad home situation and who may be at risk for psychological or behavioral problems. As a non-professional, most of what I do is hang out with them and act as a sort of mentor. I really enjoy bonding with these kids and am considering extending my time volunteering there even after I have completed this capstone course.
So my question is, does this count as clinical experience? Or would my time be better spent elsewhere?
I'm approaching graduation, and I did not participate in many ECs for the first 3 years of college due to lack of time and mental health issues of my own. I have very little in the way of volunteering other than this experience, and I'm volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation facility (non-clinical volunteering), and I plan on applying to ScribeAmerica in the following months.
Furthermore, the only research experience I have is also in the field of psychology. Do ADCOMs view psych research in the same light as research in chem/bio/etc.?

TLDR: Is volunteering at a children's shelter clinical experience? Is psychology research sufficient for med school?

1) It is not clinical experience, but that doesn't mean it's not great for your application.

2) Psych research is fine.

3) If scribing doesn't work out for you, I highly recommend working as a Psychiatric Technician. I was a Neuroscience major with a Psych minor who is also strongly feeling Psychiatry (I did a ton of mental health advocacy in undergrad), and I'm currently a Psych Tech at a state psych hospital. I couldn't have asked for better clinical experience; not only am I learning about behavioral health firsthand, but I'm also learning how a variety of chronic medical conditions that are commonly seen in our patients are treated, such as diabetes, kidney disease, COPD, epilepsy, etc.

You're going to need *some* sort of clinical experience in a non-mental health setting, but given the push for integration of behavioral health into primary care, if you're able to tie in your passion for mental health to your passion for medicine, I don't think your background in psychology will hurt your application at all.