Few questions regarding clinical

[deleted1136042]

How is paid clinical compared to unpaid clinical volunteering viewed for admissions to T20? How many hours should I accumulate as a minimum in the clinical section?

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[LizzyM]

On the clinical question: paid or volunteer doesn't matter. Except that paid is usually better in that it shows that you had some kind of skill that someone was willing to pay for and you accepted the kind of responsibility that an employer expects. People who do paid work usually have far more clinical hours than those who have only volunteer clinical hours.

Generally, you want to have been engaged for at least an academic year or a summer (more intensive in the summer if you were available full-time). In addition, you should have some non-clinical volunteering, adding up to at least 100 hours over 3 years showing that you want to help people and actually step up to help in ways you can at this point in your journey.

 

[deleted1136042]

On the clinical question: paid or volunteer doesn't matter. Except that paid is usually better in that it shows that you had some kind of skill that someone was willing to pay for and you accepted the kind of responsibility that an employer expects. People who do paid work usually have far more clinical hours than those who have only volunteer clinical hours.

Generally, you want to have been engaged for at least an academic year or a summer (more intensive in the summer if you were available full-time). In addition, you should have some non-clinical volunteering, adding up to at least 100 hours over 3 years showing that you want to help people and actually step up to help in ways you can at this point in your journey.

Thanks Liz. For non-clinical volunteering, is it okay if the topic is still related to medicine itself? Such as teaching children about the human body systems, nutrition, etc.?

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks Liz. For non-clinical volunteering, is it okay if the topic is still related to medicine itself? Such as teaching children about the human body systems, nutrition, etc.?

Ideally, you want to be providing services to those who could not afford to pay for your services. And to provide services that people need... not just what you want to provide.

In what setting would you be teaching? Why aren't paid teachers providing these lessons?

If you were providing lessons about nutrition to people picking up groceries from a food pantry, then you'd be reaching people who can't afford to pay a nutritionist and who would not otherwise get that information. I just don't see the point with regard to school age children unless the lessons are part of a food prep/cooking program that augments what is learned in school.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Clinical experience is clinical experience. If money isn't an issue, I would recommend volunteering. I volunteered in an emergency department once weekly for 4 hours. If you find something similar, you can kill two birds with one stone since you will be able to get both clinical experience as well as volunteering all in one. Depending on what it is, you may have downtime to study during the shift. I was treated like I was either invisible or garbage by staff, so it is what it is.

With that said, your first priority should be the highest possible grades and MCAT score. Any money you make with an entry-level clinical job is pocket change compared to future earnings as a physician. If you absolutely need the money, then scribing is the way to go. You will learn how to do an H&P, which serves as a backbone of what you do going forward. But despite not having paid clinical experience, I never once felt to be at a disadvantage since the introduction to clinical medicine course started us at step zero. Unfortunately, I know people that bit off more than they could chew with entry-level clinical jobs. They are still underemployed to this day, as the pre-med process can be quite unforgiving. This isn't like trying to get into investment banking, where you still have high-paying fallback options to choose from.