Extracurriculars -- Clinical Experience Question

[Danlee07]

I got some questions.

I asked a hospital exactly this: "I'm wondering if I can volunteer or help to get clinical experience."

They respond: "We're busy. I'm sorry."

I'm gonna try again, but after that I kind of realized i'm not really sure what I'm looking for. I noticed that many people with clinicals are emts or phlebotomists or other certified jobs.

What's something that qualifies for clinical without certification and is that what the med schools are looking for?

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[randombetch]

Did you ask their volunteer services department?

Also, they're probably not to fond of people "volunteering" for their own personal gains...

 

[Morsetlis]

It's a paradox.

 

[Danlee07]

Did you ask their volunteer services department?

Also, they're probably not to fond of people "volunteering" for their own personal gains...

I couldn't get past the secretary

How do I make an impression that i'm not? I'm gonna guess that they get more pre-meds other than me that ask since I'm at a big school, but I don't think they'd get that many volunteers my age just to volunteer because they love volunteering ha.

 

[apumic]

I couldn't get past the secretary

How do I make an impression that i'm not? I'm gonna guess that they get more pre-meds other than me that ask since I'm at a big school, but I don't think they'd get that many volunteers my age just to volunteer because they love volunteering ha.

You need to show legitimate interest. Pre-meds are notorious for completely self-serving going through the motions behavior. If you call "to get clinical experience," you have "Flaky and Self-Centered Pre-Med" written all over you! I was just talking earlier today w/ a really nice, older professor at my school about this (but in terms of research) and he agreed that there are too many [mostly pre-professional] students who start on research "because it will look good on my resume" and then flake later and/or get little out of the experience and neither he nor anyone else wants those students in their labs. It's the same way w/ clinical experience. If your primary motivation is "to get clinical experience," why should the secretary pass you on? It's her job to screen callers. You got rejected before, in her assessment, wasting her boss's time.

 

[Morsetlis]

This is why you don't let on that you're a pre-anything.

Be like a ninja.

 

[d1ony5u5]

Exactly. Pre-meds have terrible reputations almost anywhere for the "get what I need and run" attitude. No one likes to deal with people who are there only because they feel like they are jumping through one more hoop to get something they desire. They want people who are actually interested in the activities.

Clinical experience is just anything that has to do with the practice of medicine. It is my understanding that medschools want you to have experience in this area so that you have a good idea of what you are getting yourself into. Like, what is the work like, what are the problems with medical care, what are important things to consider in its practice, etc.

You can even bypass the hospital staff at certain (smaller) hospitals by just contacting Dr's directly and arranging to shadow them. You could try that, I suppose...

 

[duress]

I'm quite insane, so take this with a grain of salt; but we are talking about volunteering for a corporation to help reduce their spending, correct? Because since that's what I am to a hospital, I'm really not too upset with staying with them for what I need and moving on.to the next step. Granted, I'm very friendly and sociable and I don't skimp on my duties, and I would love to maintain contact with everyone when I'm gone, but I really don't see myself in the ER till I'm 40. Perhaps if there were more meaningful things for volunteers to do, I'd stay and give longer, as I have with EMS.

That being said, I agree that self-identifying as premed tends to close a lot of doors on you, though in your particular case, I really don't see how your intro is what's holding you back, they probably are busy - with other premeds asking for the same thing.

 

[apumic]

I'm quite insane, so take this with a grain of salt; but we are talking about volunteering for a corporation to help reduce their spending, correct? Because since that's what I am to a hospital, I'm really not too upset with staying with them for what I need and moving on.to the next step. Granted, I'm very friendly and sociable and I don't skimp on my duties, and I would love to maintain contact with everyone when I'm gone, but I really don't see myself in the ER till I'm 40. Perhaps if there were more meaningful things for volunteers to do, I'd stay and give longer, as I have with EMS.

That being said, I agree that self-identifying as premed tends to close a lot of doors on you, though in your particular case, I really don't see how your intro is what's holding you back, they probably are busy - with other premeds asking for the same thing.

Many (most?) hospitals systems are non-profit organizations. Yes, they are a part of Corporate America, but you'll find that many healthcare workers tend to think of themselves more along the lines of "health ministers" than "body mechanics" (i.e., more "non-profit-esqe"). Honestly, you can walk in with all the attitude you want and "not care about" coming in, getting what you need, and leaving, but don't expect hospitals and clinics to come running to you and don't expect good LORs from them. OTOH, from your post, it doesn't sound like you've gotten a great volunteer experience w/ your hospital. I'd suggest moving on if that's still an option and/or you need more clinical experience. Jobs in the hospital and volunteer positions in a free clinic are far more likely to offer the kind of clinical experience that will help you make a good case for your interest in medicine....

 

[Morsetlis]

Being a volunteer is so far removed from what a doctor actually does that I think shadowing gives you a better idea of what to expect as a doctor. Hospital volunteering is good... if you're training to be a nurse.

That said, many corporate hospitals, even the not-for-profit ones, have formal volunteer programs.

 

[duress]

Many (most?) hospitals systems are non-profit organizations. Yes, they are a part of Corporate America, but you'll find that many healthcare workers tend to think of themselves more along the lines of "health ministers" than "body mechanics" (i.e., more "non-profit-esqe"). Honestly, you can walk in with all the attitude you want and "not care about" coming in, getting what you need, and leaving, but don't expect hospitals and clinics to come running to you and don't expect good LORs from them. OTOH, from your post, it doesn't sound like you've gotten a great volunteer experience w/ your hospital. I'd suggest moving on if that's still an option and/or you need more clinical experience. Jobs in the hospital and volunteer positions in a free clinic are far more likely to offer the kind of clinical experience that will help you make a good case for your interest in medicine....

Well I mean, there's a marked difference between acting like a jerk of a flaky volunteer and being pragmatic about the whole situation. Surely there has to be a large personal investment in any clinical experience choice. In any case, I'm almost sure I agree with you.

You are right, the volunteer experience I had isn't great, just not for the supposed reasons. It's fairly clinical, and has a nice overlap with my EMT, it's just there isn't that much of a feel of being part of anything, aside from transient, monetary relief, so to speak. So in that respect I don't understand why it matters, as some of the above posters stated, whether if the staff thinks you are doing it for your own needs, especially if they have a formal volunteer program, because then they are almost assuredly inundated with 100s of even flakier high school students fulfilling their 'mandatory' community service 'requirements.'

The OP probably should try another place. And the truth is, if s/he isn't at least somewhat honest about his intentions (desiring clinical experience), they're just as likely to stick him/her in a gift shop.

 

[Morsetlis]

I will gift shop volunteer 80 hours a week if it counted as clinical experience. I am sick and tired of stocking cabinets and cleaning beds.

*bitter at not being able to get an EMT job*

 

[duress]

I will gift shop volunteer 80 hours a week if it counted as clinical experience. I am sick and tired of stocking cabinets and cleaning beds.

*bitter at not being able to get an EMT job*

In some regards I have a lot of fun just walking around the place and talking with everyone. I'm not sure how clinical that is. I really wanted PCT or ER tech job, they're all just overfilled. Any local volly fire/ems around you? The longer you ride with them the more free stuff they give you, which is sort of like a salar.. hmm

 

[Dr Optimistic]

What state are you in? Here in CA I have volunteered in a program that allows clinical and hands-on. It is true that you will see nurses more than doctors though (but that's what shadowing is for). See if your school has any care extenders or something like that. Free-clinics want volunteers and tend to be smaller.

Volunteering in a hospital though gets you used to what it (the hospital) is like. I am so comfortable now in talking to patients and the whole medical team. I do think clinical makes sense if you aren't just doing paperwork or changing beds. If you get to see action and even change the occasional adult diaper (code brown) then you can see what the hospital experience is really like.

I have got to:
see surgery
see crazy stuff in the ER
dirty work (bathing patients)
feed patients
Hold a woman's leg as she pushed out her second child
Bag a deceased patient (pretty morbid and unsettling yet somehow cool because you know you realize just see the pretty stuff as a doc)
some paper filing and bed changing
Playing Wii with peds patients because their parents wouldn't visit
Heard every complaint doctors can throw my way and heard every lecture on why I should never, ever become a doctor
And much more

If you can really get clinical then you can be motivated and not just be doing it for the app

Try asking a doctor in a department you would like to see if you could shadow him maybe as an alternative.

 

[Morsetlis]

In some regards I have a lot of fun just walking around the place and talking with everyone. I'm not sure how clinical that is. I really wanted PCT or ER tech job, they're all just overfilled. Any local volly fire/ems around you? The longer you ride with them the more free stuff they give you, which is sort of like a salar.. hmm

No.

I'd have to drive 2-3 hours to the boonies to MAYBE find a place that's under-staffed. Even then I'd have to get licensed there and maybe spend $200 in gas before everything is said and done.

I just about gave up trying to do anything remotely interesting in a city where apparently everybody is either a healthcare provider or is a family of one. The house to my right has two PA's and the house to my left is a family of nurses.

This is why I go to Mexico.

 

[Danlee07]

sounds good. I'm in GA.

I have legitimate interest in trying to get some patient interaction, so i'll try another place. Where do you get to app for a "free clinic"?

 

[apumic]

If near Atlanta for instance try googling "atlanta free clinic" or "atlanta indigent healthcare" or similar.

 

[Abby_Normal]

When I did clinical volunteering last summer, I did not immediately mention that I was a premedical student. Instead, I emphasized that I was a college student looking for something to keep me busy over the summer, and who thought volunteering would be a good and enjoyable use of my time (and this is true). I only mentioned that I'm premed when I was asked in which department I would prefer to volunteer/what sort of work would I like to do.

In short, if you express genuine interest first, you are probably better off.

But as a caveat I should note that some hospitals/other places that use volunteers don't like college students, whatever their motivations and major, because, unless they live near where they go to school, their involvement tends to be seasonal.

 

[wanderer]

Even though the vast majority of people volunteering in patient care are doing it because they are pre (med, nursing, PT, PA etc.), don't say that until you interview with the volunteer coordinator and they ask you what you want to do with your life.
You pretty much said, "I want to volunteer at your institution so I can put another line on my resume."