How do I find clinical experience related to mental health?

[jacob42]

I’m a junior pre-med who’s been looking for clinical experience for the past few months. Ive applied to several (10-15) local hospitals and related institutions for mental health technician positions because I am interested in psychiatry and need a summer job. However, I’ve been having trouble landing these positions.

They mostly involve assisting doctors and nurses in inpatient wards. Many require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree with one to two years of experience already in the mental health field. However, most of the ones I applied to only “prefer” that, so I figured I could land at least one since they train on the job anyway. Still, in all my applications, I’ve only been invited to interview in two, and those two opted to go with someone with more experience.

My prior experience includes volunteering as a moderator in mental health communities online, working in an animal research lab related to psychopharmacology on campus, and participating in a neuroscience club. While I realize these aren’t the patient-facing experience in the mental health field that these hospitals are looking for, I can’t really get more direct experience without getting experience.

I’m a bit stuck and unsure what to do outside of just blindly applying. Where should I be looking, Indeed, Handshake, anywhere else? I also networked with and have been referred to interview at an in-patient behavioral facility by a recruiter in the mental health field (how I got one of the two interviews), but that facility opted for someone else. I plan to keep applying to similar places, but I don’t want the summer to waste away and I have nothing to show for it. At the same time, I don’t want my clinical experience to something generic like scribing; I really want to find something related to mental health and/or psychopharmacology. Are there perhaps related positions I could look for?

Thanks.

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[chicandtoughness]

Crisis hotlines. One of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Really teaches you how to handle tough situations. While you’re not directly in front of a patient, you’ll build supportive listening skills, learn about mandated reporting, and generally feel like you’re helping people out.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I echo the advice for crisis hotlines which can definitely be rewarding and give you something good to talk about in interviews, but that doesn't count as clinical experience because you aren't dealing directly with patients.

Basically, I suggest you not be so picky. Scribing is an old standby because it works to check a box that you need to check. If you can check the box by doing something unique and directly related to an aspect of medicine that you're particularly interested in, great, but as you said the main thing you need to focus on is not letting the summer waste away. You can take a scribing gig and keep looking for mental health jobs if they happen to come up.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Shelter work: Homeless, battered women's, LGBTQ+, adolescents or children, or imcarcerated/former incarcerated shelters will likely have a significant portion of their efforts focused on mental health.
EDIT: refugee shelters too

Someone also verify if this is also covered somewhat as a teacher (Americorps/TFA, substitute training, etc.) please? Rural health clinics/FQHC's maybe?

 

[cj_cregg]

^above options are good (though I can't speak to the teaching). FQHCs/rural health clinics in my experience don't generally utilize much volunteer labor or entry level jobs that don't require certifications more than typical clinics, but will almost certainly have a psychologist/LCSW type person providing behavioral health counseling and/or physicians that prescribe MAT that might be willing to let you shadow.

I also know some folks who have been sexual assault victim advocates - essentially they are "on call" and available to accompany people who have been assaulted to things like ER/doctor visits for exams, to the police station to make reports, lawyer consultations, etc. and be a consistent support person and navigator for them through the process.

 

[LindaAccepted]

I’m a junior pre-med who’s been looking for clinical experience for the past few months. Ive applied to several (10-15) local hospitals and related institutions for mental health technician positions because I am interested in psychiatry and need a summer job. However, I’ve been having trouble landing these positions.

They mostly involve assisting doctors and nurses in inpatient wards. Many require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree with one to two years of experience already in the mental health field. However, most of the ones I applied to only “prefer” that, so I figured I could land at least one since they train on the job anyway. Still, in all my applications, I’ve only been invited to interview in two, and those two opted to go with someone with more experience.

My prior experience includes volunteering as a moderator in mental health communities online, working in an animal research lab related to psychopharmacology on campus, and participating in a neuroscience club. While I realize these aren’t the patient-facing experience in the mental health field that these hospitals are looking for, I can’t really get more direct experience without getting experience.

I’m a bit stuck and unsure what to do outside of just blindly applying. Where should I be looking, Indeed, Handshake, anywhere else? I also networked with and have been referred to interview at an in-patient behavioral facility by a recruiter in the mental health field (how I got one of the two interviews), but that facility opted for someone else. I plan to keep applying to similar places, but I don’t want the summer to waste away and I have nothing to show for it. At the same time, I don’t want my clinical experience to something generic like scribing; I really want to find something related to mental health and/or psychopharmacology. Are there perhaps related positions I could look for?

Thanks.

Volunteering with the homeless frequently means working with people dealing with mental illness. Same is true of working in substance abuse clinics or rehab centers. It may not be exactly what you want, but it's getting you closer.

 

[jacob42]

Thanks everyone, looking at these indirect ways to get exposure to mental health is a great idea! I will be sure to look for these when I do job searches. Isn't working at a homeless shelter not clinical experience though since they're not patients? I did consider the crisis hotline before actually, but was confused if it was clinical experience or not. I could always count it as nonclinical volunteer experience though I suppose, which I also need, but clinical experience is a focus right now.

On clinical experience, would something like an ABA Behavioral Technician (working with autistic children) count? I see these positions advertised on job boards a LOT, citing no experience necessary.

 

[deleted1100659]

Most areas have a community mental health system nearby, unless its a really rural place. This could be a good avenue too. I work at one of the largest community mental health facilities in the region, we have ACT team, crisis workers, people who do behavioral health assessments, CSU, substance abuse courses, peer support courses, etc.

If you could get into a facility like this, this would also be a goldmine for clinical experience

 

[chicandtoughness]

I counted my crisis hotline hours as clinical experience on my application. Physicians are free to disagree, but I think in terms of psychiatric experience, it would count. No, I wasn't in physical presence of a patient, but I was providing supportive listening while supervised by a licensed professional (and later on, I continued to do hotline work as a licensed professional, which to me DEFINITELY counts). Would you consider a telehealth experience to be non-clinical? Because I consider telehealth clinical, and crisis hotline work is, in my eyes, a tech/entry-level equivalence of telehealth.

 

[LizzyM]

Get your clinical experience dealing with patients in an emergency department. In all likelihood, this is a population with a high proportion of mental health issues. Get additional experience helping people with mental health issues by volunteering in a shelter or with a community-based program. I googled "drop in center for mental health patients" and found quite a few service providers in my metro area.