Does this count as clinical experience?

[deleted1091713]

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I am currently volunteering with an organization that provides free essential services to homeless people. The services include cleaning of ulcerated areas and dressing changes, prevention kits (condoms, needles.), food provision (coffee, sandwiches, soups, etc.), and basic needs items provision. The most important thing is listening and talking to them. Would this be considered a clinical experience or non-clinical?

 

[deleted1091661]

Only part of it is clinical, I would personally list the entire thing as non-clinical.

 

[JimKimSlim]

Non-clinical. Listing this as clinical is a stretch in my eyes - no patients, no clinical setting, and not even nurses. I had a similar EC myself (delivering homeless people to ER at winters) and didn’t count that as clinical experience.

 

[Catalystik]

I am currently volunteering with an organization that provides free essential services to homeless people. The services include cleaning of ulcerated areas and dressing changes, prevention kits (condoms, needles.), food provision (coffee, sandwiches, soups, etc.), and basic needs items provision. The most important thing is listening and talking to them. Would this be considered a clinical experience or non-clinical?

Do you personally clean the ulcers/apply dressings and provide a needle exchange? What percent of the time do you engage in those activities?

 

[DNAJB6]

More info is needed. Catalystik's questions are dispositive. If not personally doing the activities or if it is a small fragment of your time, I'd call it non-clinical.

 

[Goro]

I am currently volunteering with an organization that provides free essential services to homeless people. The services include cleaning of ulcerated areas and dressing changes, prevention kits (condoms, needles.), food provision (coffee, sandwiches, soups, etc.), and basic needs items provision. The most important thing is listening and talking to them. Would this be considered a clinical experience or non-clinical?

Unless you're the one cleaning the ulcers, then answer is non-clinical

 

[LizzyM]

Call it non-clinical. if you were babysitting and it came up that you had to clean and bandage a scraped knee, would you call any part of babysitting "clinical"?

 

[DNAJB6]

Call it non-clinical. if you were babysitting and it came up that you had to clean and bandage a scraped knee, would you call any part of babysitting "clinical"?

How desperate am I in this hypothetical? 🤣

 

[SMCCA22]

On the topic of needle exchange, needle exchange is illegal in my state. If I were to volunteer with a needle exchange organization and get arrested doing it, would this hurt my chances with medical school?

 

[deleted1001544]

On the topic of needle exchange, needle exchange is illegal in my state. If I were to volunteer with a needle exchange organization and get arrested doing it, would this hurt my chances with medical school?

Have you checked what the penalties are? It would make more sense to me if this were a civil thing where the organization just gets shut down or fined. Arresting people for handing out needles seems to be a bit overkill.

At any rate, there are plenty of ways to volunteer to help people who are struggling with addiction. I personally believe my time would be better spent on the ones that don't incur a risk of legal issues.

 

[SMCCA22]

Have you checked what the penalties are? It would make more sense to me if this were a civil thing where the organization just gets shut down or fined. Arresting people for handing out needles seems to be a bit overkill.

At any rate, there are plenty of ways to volunteer to help people who are struggling with addiction. I personally believe my time would be better spent on the ones that don't incur a risk of legal issues.

Great questions. Thank you! The person who runs the needle exchange was very blasé about the idea of getting arrested as a problem for medical school. I just needed a reality check 😎 Another related question: does doing a lot of mental health volunteering make medical schools think you are more interested in psych than medicine?

 

[LizzyM]

Great questions. Thank you! The person who runs the needle exchange was very blasé about the idea of getting arrested as a problem for medical school. I just needed a reality check 😎 Another related question: does doing a lot of mental health volunteering make medical schools think you are more interested in psych than medicine?

psychiatry is medicine.

A;lso, I think that getting arrested for risk reduction efforts could be a badge of honor. I know some old-timers who attended medical school with criminal records for anti-war and civil rights protests (back in the 1960s).