Does working in the field of mental health count as clinical experience?

[bashir]

(I did find a thread very similar to this, but there was no consensus and not much of a dialogue, so I'm posting anyway.)

I just finished a year working as a community support worker (similar to a case manager) for adults with mental illness, primarily in an assisted living setting. I want to be a psychiatrist, so I view this as valuable experience. Do you think adcoms would view it as clinical experience though, or does it not "count" because of the non-medical setting (or, alternatively, because the field of mental health itself doesn't count in the eyes of some doctors)?

I know the typical response to this question will probably be "Sure, it counts for something, but you might as well get experience in a hospital too, both to improve your application, and to make sure that you actually know what you're getting into." I am in fact volunteering in a hospital (as soon as they process my application) for those reasons, but I'm estimating I'll have less than 150 hours by the time I want to apply next summer and I'm worried that that won't be enough to earn me a 👍 in the clinical experience department. Any speculations about how the experience I have thus far will be viewed?

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[messenger634]

IMO, clinical/non-clinical if it falls under the catagory of something you enjoy and genuinly care about, then thats whats important. Not only does it sound clinical, and it also sounds like some not-so-typical and challenging clinical expereince as well - which the more " hospital volunteering may nicely complement. I think there is a quote on here of "if you can smell patients, then its clinical experience". If that applies in any way to your current work, then it sounds like more than enough experience to me.

I think your expereince thus far would be viewed very well, since it seems to be very important to you. The volunteer work, whether its 75 or 150 hours would be nice too. No worries man.

 

[pianola]

(I did find a thread very similar to this, but there was no consensus and not much of a dialogue, so I'm posting anyway.)

I just finished a year working as a community support worker (similar to a case manager) for adults with mental illness, primarily in an assisted living setting. I want to be a psychiatrist, so I view this as valuable experience. Do you think adcoms would view it as clinical experience though, or does it not "count" because of the non-medical setting (or, alternatively, because the field of mental health itself doesn't count in the eyes of some doctors)?

I know the typical response to this question will probably be "Sure, it counts for something, but you might as well get experience in a hospital too, both to improve your application, and to make sure that you actually know what you're getting into." I am in fact volunteering in a hospital (as soon as they process my application) for those reasons, but I'm estimating I'll have less than 150 hours by the time I want to apply next summer and I'm worried that that won't be enough to earn me a 👍 in the clinical experience department. Any speculations about how the experience I have thus far will be viewed?

Yes, but did you SMELL the patients??? 😱 How did they SMELL?!?!


(JK😉)

I think it's unique and interesting. And counts as clinical experience. I mean, med school will train you to deal with the science part -- you have to already come in to med school with life training about "how to deal with unpleasant/uncomfortable situations" in order to be a good clinician (IMHO).

 

[AMEHigh]

I currently work full time in mental health as a case manager. I have clients diagnosed with all sorts of disorders...schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, etc. And you better believe I count this as clinical experience! I really don't see why you wouldn't. If you are working with people that are diagnosed with a clinical disorder, it's no different than working with someone diagnosed with cancer....which I'm sure everyone would consider clinical experience. Hope that helps...good luck with your applications!

 

[Mobius1985]

I agree with the others that your experience with mental health patients is clinical experience, just as your hospital experience will be. I also had less than 150 hours of hospital-based volunteer experience, but I also spent time in a nursing home (working) and briefly volunteered in two different clinic environments (general medicine and womens health). It's my feeling that having broad experience, meaning in more than one patient environment, will serve you well, as you have a better overview of the ways medicine is practiced. Since you are getting a relatively unique experience, you should have great material to write an interesting, attention-grabbing Personal Statement essay that will make you stand out.

 

[bashir]

Thanks for all the replies. With them in mind, I'm going to try to stop stressing out about that part of my application now.

 

[hants]

volunteering in the realm of mental health is definitly a positive...definitly a atypical field of volunteering for a premed which will only help you stand out in a positive way. im sure that the adcoms will take more pleasure in reading about your experiences with the mentally ill than the other million applications that talk about their hospital experiences.