Medical Including taking care of a family member in activities section?

[Question]

I have significant hours taking care of a family member as a personal care assistant and it was paid work. Should I include this in the activities section of my application? And how should it be listed?

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[Dral]

Is there a section for you to list paid positions? We can see what others think, but if so, I'd be more inclined to list it there.

What you do/did is very important, but it doesn't show as much initiative as going out into 'unfamiliar territory' to take care of others.

 

[Goro]

You can put it down, but I don't count it as volunteering or clinical activity....you're supposed to take care of family members! It's strangers that we want to see you interacting with.

The more out f your comfort zone, the better.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I do not see this as being a clinical activity because you were not in a clinical setting or performing clinical duties. You can put it down as a work experience if you are so inclined, but as noted above I'm not sure that it will be seen as that helpful, even if you don't disclose that it was a family member that you were helping.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

How long have you been a caregiver? You can be compensated, but it would be more meaningful if you were licensed and insured as if you were working for a bonafide caregivers' service. Did you do this?

Caregiving (compensated or not) is something that I would consider for the OIE essay or other "extra insights about you" essay, but not so much for activities. It could work if it interrupted your education or put serious stress on you and your family financially (but then I would suggest the OIE or similar essay).

Other Impactful Experiences Essay: Exploring Your Unique Story - SDN

The Student Doctor Network provides free tools, resources, and advising services to help students become health professionals.

www.studentdoctor.net

"Unconditional" is a MSNBC documentary on caregiving that just came out. Streaming on PBS until July.

Review: NBC's Richard Lui struggles with parental care in new film – AsAmNews

MSNBC anchor Richard Lui finds comfort in the stories of others also dealing with the debilitating diseases faced by their parents.

asamnews.com

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Not clinical. I would still list but not count towards those hours.

 

[LizzyM]

What I hear everyone saying is that this could/should be classified as employment, non-clinical. You could go on to say that you provided homecare services for a person with ___ through a program that compensates family members for care provided to people who are homebound but who might otherwise require care in a facility.

There is no expectation that you have a LOR from every employer or even every clinical experience (although we have established that you should be conservative and not list this as clinical despite the personal care provided which may have been similar to the tasks done by a patient care technician/nurse's aide).