Is 6 months working as an ER Tech enough clinical experience?

[LaCasta]

I have an interview at a hospital for a position as a nursing assistant/tech in the ER. If I start in January and apply in June, would this be considered a decent amount of clinical experience?

Is this a better clinical experience than doing an EMT basic? I read in other threads about some schools not even considering being an EMT as clinical experience, so I am leaning towards this position

Thanks

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[Tndoorijones]

Do whatever you think you would enjoy more. In my experience in interviews some people consider it good because you're actually working with patients, while other schools don't really consider it clinical because you're not really getting a feel for what a physician does and would consider shadowing a more useful clinical experience. Ultimately if you don't think you'd enjoy either or are just doing it for the clinical experience then you'll be wasting your time because training alone will eat up a lot of time before you even have a chance to ride.

 

[Vihsadas]

I read in other threads about some schools not even considering being an EMT as clinical experience

wait...what?

 

[Maxprime]

Many schools (so I'm told) don't consider EMT to be as good as shadowing, no need to argue about whether or not they're right - just part of the process.

 

[Tndoorijones]

wait...what?

It's true. It all depends on a school's idea of clinical experience. If it's to get comfortable working with patients, then EMS is a definite yes. But if a school's definition it's getting an understanding for what a physician does, then unfortunately EMS is not the best path for a clinical experience.

 

[LaCasta]

I have done shadowing as well, but less than 20 hours in total

 

[gujuDoc]

Many schools (so I'm told) don't consider EMT to be as good as shadowing, no need to argue about whether or not they're right - just part of the process.

Actually all this kind of advice should be taken with a grain of salt because it is all relative to individual school.

Different schools consider different things to be true.

LizzyM who is an adcom member that posts on here once said that if you can smell the patient then you know its close enough. EMT, volunteering, working as a nurse, etc. is a good.

Not shadowing is not going to kill you. You only really need to spend a few weeks doing it and talking to different physicians. The best shadowing if you want a real understanding of a doctor's life is to see if there are any doctors who will let you follow them when they are on call full time and understand what its really like. However this doesn't happen so a person doesn't really get an understanding in the truest sense til they live the life. Yet a lot of adcoms feel this will allow them to see what its like.

 

[gujuDoc]

I have an interview at a hospital for a position as a nursing assistant/tech in the ER. If I start in January and apply in June, would this be considered a decent amount of clinical experience?

Is this a better clinical experience than doing an EMT basic? I read in other threads about some schools not even considering being an EMT as clinical experience, so I am leaning towards this position

Thanks

If you have EMT experience and you wanted hospital experience I'm sure your licensure will mean you have skills that allow you to work in a hospital and can always get a job in a hospital. That said i think it is more important to do clinical work that is something you enjoy and can talk about in an interview.

This is one of the other things LizzyM stresses.

honestly one of the prominent posters on here (TheProwler) got acceptances just fine with doing mostly EMT work and no hospital volunteering and I don't know if he had shadowed. But point is, talk to adcom directors and deans of schools of interest directly before taking the words of posters on here as gospel.

 

[lllasd]

To answer your original question: yes, that should be enough clinical experience, especially if you do shadowing a few times too. My only real clinical experience was volunteering in an ER (not even a tech, i transported patients) for about 6-7 months and i got 11 interviews (out of 15).

Of course, the amount everybody needs might differ depending on the rest of their application (for ex. do more if you need to make up for a low GPA, etc)

 

[LaCasta]

If you have EMT experience and you wanted hospital experience I'm sure your licensure will mean you have skills that allow you to work in a hospital and can always get a job in a hospital. That said i think it is more important to do clinical work that is something you enjoy and can talk about in an interview.

This is one of the other things LizzyM stresses.

honestly one of the prominent posters on here (TheProwler) got acceptances just fine with doing mostly EMT work and no hospital volunteering and I don't know if he had shadowed. But point is, talk to adcom directors and deans of schools of interest directly before taking the words of posters on here as gospel.

With the issue of EMT work, I would have to pay $1000+ to get the license, and I would rather do emergency calls than transport patients so I would probably volounteer with an em. response squad.

With the ER tech position, I would actually get paid and I feel its as good as an exposure you can get. I also want to go into emergency medicine.

One brightside to having a sick parent is I have made some pretty good relationships with his doctors, so I have been able to shadow a hepatolgist from Wash U hospital, and a family practice doctor as well

LizzyM who is an adcom member that posts on here once said that if you can smell the patient then you know its close enough. EMT, volunteering, working as a nurse, etc. is a good.

This seems like good advice

 

[gujuDoc]

With the issue of EMT work, I would have to pay $1000+ to get the license, and I would rather do emergency calls than transport patients so I would probably volounteer with an em. response squad.

With the ER tech position, I would actually get paid and I feel its as good as an exposure you can get. I also want to go into emergency medicine.

One brightside to having a sick parent is I have made some pretty good relationships with his doctors, so I have been able to shadow a hepatolgist from Wash U hospital, and a family practice doctor as well



This seems like good advice

Seems like you are set then.

 

[SigurRos]

Hopefully you will get the position. Without any prior experience, I'd be hard pressed to say that you have a good shot at an ER tech position. Most ER tech positions that I know of require at least an EMT-B certification (unless you have extensive prior teching experience) and considerable EMS experience. Best of luck. Keep us informed.

 

[LaCasta]

Hopefully you will get the position. Without any prior experience, I'd be hard pressed to say that you have a good shot at an ER tech position. Most ER tech positions that I know of require at least an EMT-B certification (unless you have extensive prior teching experience) and considerable EMS experience. Best of luck. Keep us informed.

Thanks my friend, will do.

 

[SigurRos]

BTW I worked as an ER tech for about 3 months and will work probably another 3 months part time in the Spring. Most adcomms were impressed with my experience. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[laawalla]

I applied this cycle (for Fall 2008), and my clinical experience included a small number of ER volunteer hours last spring, and then an ER tech position that I began in May. By the time interviews rolled around, I had plenty to say about the tech job. I think it is a great experience. Also, I got the job with NO training beforehand-I think more of it is just the timing of when you apply and who else you are up against, although I'm sure it varies from hospital to hospital.

Right now I have 2 acceptances and 1 waitlist out of my 3 interviews.

 

[Mbekweni]

I have an interview at a hospital for a position as a nursing assistant/tech in the ER. If I start in January and apply in June, would this be considered a decent amount of clinical experience?

Is this a better clinical experience than doing an EMT basic? I read in other threads about some schools not even considering being an EMT as clinical experience, so I am leaning towards this position

Thanks

During this application cycle all of my interviewers have glossed over my EMT-B certification. It was valuable for the brief amount of experience during the training, and the basic skill set- but couldn't have been that valuable by itself.

I have consistently seen that the most important activities are the ones that mean the most to you, that inform your thought process on what it means to be a doctor, and that will give you the future interpersonal and cognitive skills to be a better physician. If you work as an ED tech that could be great experience. Shadowing elsewhere could also be very valuable. Just don't stop with the EMT certificate and think that's all you'll need.

 

[Snake Doctor]

I agree. It's what you do afterwards that counts 👍 As for the OP, I would say the more, the better. Don't do it just to put it on your app., do it because you want to (not saying you are... if you have other commitments, then by all means go for it 🙂 )

Good luck!