How much clinical exposure is enough?

[jazian]

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A common reason applicants I see that have good stats but are waitlisted is due to not enough clinical exposure. I was wondering how many hours you need and what counts as clinical exposure? Shadowing I know counts. Does volunteering in a hospital count? How many hours should you aim for?

 

[ryanr]

Bottom line is you want to have enough to know what you're getting yourself into, be able to establish that medicine is a good fit for you, and essentially show this to adcoms by proving you have had some exposure to different clinical settings. So really it's subjective in that sense, you definitely want to have some baseline hours, and more hours will not hurt you, but they also may not help that much either. The important thing is what you take away from the experience and what you can translate into your PS and speaking about medicine passionately in interviews and perhaps even having some stories to tell if asked for specific examples and things of that nature.

I would agree about 50 hours of shadowing is sufficient, perhaps in a few different specialties if possible to broaden your perspective, as well as some hospital and/or clinic volunteering of about 100 hours (100/0 or 50/50, however you want to split it up). Beyond that I'd say it's up to you. Remember it's less about the hours and more about the quality of the experiences.

 

[Poit]

Enough to know what you are getting into. I got away with less than 100 hours combined clinical volunteering/shadowing.

 

[625233]

I've heard 100 is the the general cut off for clinical (not including shadowing).

 

[HCHopeful]

Plenty of people are accepted every year without clinical volunteering. If you don't believe me, check out the MSAR.

In an ideal world, one should have 50+ hours shadowing, 100+ hours clinical volunteering, and perhaps something else clinically related. That last one would just be the cherry on top.

It's not cut and dry like everyone would have you believe. Schools view clinical experience differently, and some do consider shadowing to be adequate if the hours are there.

General rules:
-Shadowing: 50+ hours
-Clinical volunteering: 100+ hours
-Non-clinical volunteering: 100+ hours

 

[familyaerospace]

I did 435 shadowing, 352 clinical volunteering.

However it is important to note that the quality is more important than the quantity.

 

[Psai]

When someone asks you "why do you want to be a doctor" and you say "because I saw this and connected with these people so i want to do this for the rest of life"

 

[NickNaylor]

There is no hard minimum. There's no set number of hours you're expected to have. @Psai's post is what it's about: having enough so that you know what you're getting yourself into and can portray that well on paper and in person.

 

[releehw]

Do you guys think 80 hours of clinical is sufficient? I still need shadowing and a little more non clinical but 80 seems close but I know 100 is good. Do you think the 20 hours makes a difference? I feel it is sufficient but how does it LOOK?

 

[caffeinemia]

I did zero hours of clinical anything. But maybe it was because of 20 hrs week x 150 weeks of lab work....my mouse euthanasia clinic was the best run and had the best outcomes in the state!

 

[Hospitalized]

Do you guys think 80 hours of clinical is sufficient? I still need shadowing and a little more non clinical but 80 seems close but I know 100 is good. Do you think the 20 hours makes a difference? I feel it is sufficient but how does it LOOK?

If you're questioning if it's enough, you probably need more. Medical school is a life commitment, you need to know what you're getting into.