How many hours of direct patient care experience is competitive for a top medical school (I've seen different answers depending on circumstances)?

[Lita0632]

I'm applying for the pre-med program at the age of 30 and haven't been to a 4-year college before. I've read on some sites that 100-150 hours is competitive, but I've also seen that 1,000+ hours is competitive if there are gaps in education (not sure if they mean gap from HS to starting undergrad, or gaps during undergrad) or if the hours are acquired through working in a job.

My situation is:
*I'm 30 and I'm applying for college/undergrad for the 1st time. I don't plan on starting undergrad school until Fall of next year (2023)
*I can get my CNA license in about a month, so I was planning on getting my direct patient care experience by working as a CNA (if necessary).

Do the hours for direct patient care experience have to be acquired DURING undergrad?
I've worked 5 years full-time as a home health care provider but that was from 2010-2015, and I also helped take care of my 90-year-old grandma who needs full-time help from 2015-2021 (I didn't get paid for taking care of her and I helped part-time because I had another full-time job). Can any of those hours count or does it have to be DURING undergrad years or more recent?

*If I need more recent experience and I work as a CNA, do the hours have to all be consecutively acquired (like working on a consistent basis until the all the hours are met), or can I work like 2 months during the summer break each year for 3 years (adding up to about 150 hours)? Or do I need 1,000+ hours since it's from working at a job? Or does it not make a difference? If I need 1,000+ hours can I get it the year before I start undergrad school or do the hours have to be acquired during undergrad school years?

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[DOCOC15]

There are other people who can provide better answers, but generally the point of clinical experience is not to "check a box" or hit a minimum number of hours. It's about getting experience directly caring for others so you can learn if that's what you want to do/be informed that being a doctor is a good profession for you. It sounds to me like you have that experience already.

 

[PeteytheFish]

I applied for medical school in my mid-30s and ALL of my patient care experience came from being an EMT in college when I was in my early 20s.

Traditional applicants usually gain clinical experience while in college because they have to in order to be on the traditional timeline. As a non-traditional applicant, your biggest responsibility when you come to apply for med school will be to put together a compelling argument for 'why medicine; why now?'

It sounds to me like you have plenty of patient experience if you were full-time for five years. Instead of getting your CNA license and going down that path just for more recent hours, I would recommend working on finding experiences that are going to help you build your narrative in a few years when it comes time to submit your med school app. What volunteer experiences and leadership opportunities can you involve yourself in that will help you tell your 'why medicine' story? Do stuff that's authentic to you. And don't forget about gaining shadowing hours.

 

[Goro]

I'm applying for the pre-med program at the age of 30 and haven't been to a 4-year college before. I've read on some sites that 100-150 hours is competitive, but I've also seen that 1,000+ hours is competitive if there are gaps in education (not sure if they mean gap from HS to starting undergrad, or gaps during undergrad) or if the hours are acquired through working in a job.

My situation is:
*I'm 30 and I'm applying for college/undergrad for the 1st time. I don't plan on starting undergrad school until Fall of next year (2023)
*I can get my CNA license in about a month, so I was planning on getting my direct patient care experience by working as a CNA (if necessary).

Do the hours for direct patient care experience have to be acquired DURING undergrad?
I've worked 5 years full-time as a home health care provider but that was from 2010-2015, and I also helped take care of my 90-year-old grandma who needs full-time help from 2015-2021 (I didn't get paid for taking care of her and I helped part-time because I had another full-time job). Can any of those hours count or does it have to be DURING undergrad years or more recent?

*If I need more recent experience and I work as a CNA, do the hours have to all be consecutively acquired (like working on a consistent basis until the all the hours are met), or can I work like 2 months during the summer break each year for 3 years (adding up to about 150 hours)? Or do I need 1,000+ hours since it's from working at a job? Or does it not make a difference? If I need 1,000+ hours can I get it the year before I start undergrad school or do the hours have to be acquired during undergrad school years?

Your job is to get into A medical school, not nearly a top school. What if you're only acceptance is at Drexel? But in general, if you're Aiming High I think you should have hundreds if not even thousands of hours of medical exposure.

Also taking care of your grandma is something you're supposed to do! You're supposed to be a good grandchild!

But what medical schools look for is you taking care of people who aren't related to you. And some of them are not nice people, either.