How much clinical experience?

[nycNerd]

Right now I have about 90 hours of volunteering in a hospital over the course of three semesters, and about 20 hours of shadowing that I have done recently. I have respectable stats, and a non-medical EC that I have dedicated a lot of time to. Is this too little clinical experience?

I would appreciate replies from some people who have been accepted/not been accepted with similar or less clinical experience.

Thanks

And Happy Holidays to everyone on SDN!

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[MossPoh]

I think you could use a bit more. I know it is hard, but I have about 250 hours of shadowing and I started mid august....granted I'm not the definitive statement of shadowing. An hour or two in the ER a week really isn't much. I sat there for about 30 hours this week just to get a feeling of what was going on..and that was secondary to my radiology stuff. I helped a little bit (put a guys arm back in the joint, taped up a wound, helped with a foley, etc) but most of the time in the ER was just sitting around and dealing with psychiatric issues because people were lonely during the holidays...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Right now I have about 90 hours of volunteering in a hospital over the course of three semesters, and about 20 hours of shadowing that I have done recently. I have respectable stats, and a non-medical EC that I have dedicated a lot of time to. Is this too little clinical experience?

I would appreciate replies from some people who have been accepted/not been accepted with similar or less clinical experience.

Thanks

And Happy Holidays to everyone on SDN!

it really depends. you've had enough hours of time in clinical settings to get good experiences and to see enough of the health care world to make an intelligent decision to enter medicine. but have your experiences been good enough that you're going to feel comfortable writing essays about them and talking about those times while you are on the hotseat in an interview? if so then I think you're good. if there was a supervisor at the hospital that could write a letter of recommendation vouching for your dedication to service then you're in even better shape.

I had about the same amount of experience, and I've done pretty well, if that helps.

 

[thedelicatessen]

I had about 200 hours of volunteering at a hospital over the course of a year, and I still had one interviewer comment that my clinical experience could be better. The whole notion of clinical experience is kind of inconvenient though because it's difficult to get a paying position, and oftentimes we premeds don't really have the skills to actually do useful medically related work. Fortunately for me, that was only one interview, and I have received a few acceptances already.

Having said that, I don't think your clinical exposure will be the highlight of your application as you said that you have dedicated yourself to a more worthwhile non-clinical activity. If you can convey your passion and understanding for medicine, I don't think they will have a huge issue with your clinical work. You can never please all the interviewers, but be sure to cover all the bases as best as possible. Good luck!

 

[ihatescience]

250 hours of following a doctor around? Is that all you did-- or did you get to take medical histories, vital measurements, etc.?

I think you could use a bit more. I know it is hard, but I have about 250 hours of shadowing and I started mid august....granted I'm not the definitive statement of shadowing. An hour or two in the ER a week really isn't much. I sat there for about 30 hours this week just to get a feeling of what was going on..and that was secondary to my radiology stuff. I helped a little bit (put a guys arm back in the joint, taped up a wound, helped with a foley, etc) but most of the time in the ER was just sitting around and dealing with psychiatric issues because people were lonely during the holidays...

 

[docdude]

I think it really depends on what you're doing. I shadowed 3 doctors (ob/gyn, orthopedic surgeon, opthalmologist) each for 2 weeks (and gotta do a lot of really cool stuff), but I literally went with them and left with them from work, so I REALLY knew exactly what their practices were (and spent about 60 hours with them in each week, and one of them gave me a clinical research position afterwards . I worked their hours... it was crazy stressful, and they really made it interactive so i learned about each patient with them. I think it should be much more than walking around and just seeing random things/people. So... yeah, I'd say it's quality over quantity if you can get it.

 

[EndSong]

quality vs. quantity

It will show through on PS and secondary essays when you can write intelligently about the clinical setting and its pertinence to your own interests. I had over 500 when I applied, but most of it wasn't listed on my AMCAS.

 

[Robizzle]

Honestly? To get a good feel for medicine and yadda yadda? It depends on what you got out of those hours. To get into medical school? With some good writing skills you've got enough.

But like everyone said, quality over quantity.

 

[wjustice]

I'm in a pretty similar position. 100 hours volunteering, 40 hours shadowing. I also plan on applyng to start in 2008. I guess my philosophy is that I don't want to take any chances. I'm going to try to get as much additional shadowing and volunteering before I start applying next June, even though I feel pretty good about my extracurriculars. Applying is expensive, and I don't want to take too many chances. I think we'll be okay if we can write/talk convincingly about why our extracurriculars influence our decision to go to med school, and also demonstrate that we understand what the profession is like. I think getting more shadowing will be the more important of the two, because that'll give us an idea of what doctors do. 50-100 hours more of volunteering probably won't be too impressive, so although I'm going to do it, I think it won't be one of the strengths of my application. I'll bank on my other ecs (community service)

 

[AlkaIL]

The point of is for you to understand what being a doctor is and to see whether you like being around sick people/in a hospital. If it takes you 100 hours, be it, If it takes you 500, that's fine too. If you would rather volunteer somewhere else, then do that.

 

[moe_4eva]

Just to add in my 2 pennies, I would remember too that there is a difference between clinical time and shadowing, and a lot of schools require both/won't allow you to double dip.

I personally have an estimated 3000 hours clinical experience (low balling it), probably around 500-700 hours volunteer, and somewhere around 170 hours shadowing. Although keep in mind my clinical is my job (24-48 hours a week usually), and I've been volunteering since junior year of high school for the same organization, so that's why those hours are so high.

I agree to an extent that you do what you think you need to, but I also don't think it hurts to stand out in some areas. Of course, that can be in a couple of different areas from the ones mentioned.

 

[docdude]

another rule of thumb can be (if you're shadowing specific physicians), is when they bump you into something else. My ortho. surgeon just told me, well, you've learned anything you can shadowing, now you should do something else, and I did. I have NO shadowing experience on my AMCAS, because once I got to that stage, I had so many more in-depth clinical experiences that the shadowing importance became obsolete. At one of my interviews, when I was asked "what will you be doing in 10 years" the interviewer was incredibly impressed and said, "you obviously have thought this through thoroughly and have a very strong grasp on how you want to be a physician"... so I guess, my point in all this rambling is to say, shadow until you make it obvious that you know EXACTLY what being a doctor (and the kind you want to be) is about.

 

[vtucci]

That really is not much experience. Shadowing with nothing else is also not great experience.

I would recommend becoming an EMT. OR get certified to teach CPR and AED through the Red Cross or AHA in the community. It shows leadership and is a volunteer activity that you can work in at your convenience.

 

[szhao]

lol ZERO hahaha definitely hurt me o well

 

[Nasrudin]

That really is not much experience. Shadowing with nothing else is also not great experience.

I would recommend becoming an EMT. OR get certified to teach CPR and AED through the Red Cross or AHA in the community. It shows leadership and is a volunteer activity that you can work in at your convenience.

While I agree. I don't necessarily think tons of clinical experience is that big a deal, unless your an RN, paramedic (not EMT-B), PA, or NP as well as some other allied health professionals--those are the only real clinically relevant experiences. I have been an EMT-B ER Tech and nursing assistant for over 5 years. I know how to disimpact the lower bowels and some other lovely skills. It only proves that I'm not squemish when it comes to patient care and that I realize the show "House MD" is about as far from the reality of practicing medicine as is possible to stretch even for Hollywood.

I would trade those years in a second for the pristine gpa of the OP, a great MCAT or a published paper. Some schools may favor real clinical experience but I get the feeling most view that aspect of the application as secondary to more intellectual accomplishments.

 

[nycNerd]

Thanks for your help everyone!

For those of you who mentioned some cool experiences shadowing, how did you get them? I've shadowed my family doctor, who has a private practice, but I'd love to shadow in an ER or another department in a hospital. Did you all just call and ask or did you know someone who helped you get the opportunity?

 

[Anka]

I didn't shadow at all and did just fine in the admissions process... I agree with the previous poster that as long as you are able to answer the question about why you want to be a doctor you'll be fine. On the other hand, it would certainly stand out if you had more clinical experience than that, but you should decide whether that's how you want to devote your time so that you stand out, or whether you want to stand out in another arena (non medical EC, research, etc.). Personally, I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of time shadowing or becoming an EMT or something -- you're going to get a lot of patient contact in years to come, and it will be of a much higher quality than getting water for the patient in the hallway of the ED or driving around in an ambulance all night.

Best,
Anka

 

[MossPoh]

250 hours of following a doctor around? Is that all you did-- or did you get to take medical histories, vital measurements, etc.?

Well, as a student you have legal issues with doing too much. I helped set an art, put a shoulder back in, fetch some things, listen to various heart murmurs and stuff like that...as well as compare chest xrays but as a regular student you are not supposed to take any part in the process and when I did the docs were taking a gamble. I followed surgeons around a lot too...not much I coudl do there except observe surgeries, radiology...not much I can do there either, GI and Cards...the nurses had the histories taken before we even got into the room....I saw 20 colonoscopys a day with the occasional peg tube and whatever else...he spent most of his day doing that......it seems like a lot of time but it really isn't....I mean there is dead time in the ER where you just sit there. IN that case the docs usually discussed topics with me, their life insights, maybe explained concepts more in depth....whatever. I also did a research project on the side while I was in there.