Medical Is it okay to front load clinical experience?

[tantacles]

Hello! I'm a rising sophomore interested in doing full-time research at the NIH IRTA postbac program after graduation. Would adcoms view it poorly if I frontload most of my clinical hours in between now and graduation, then switch to a heavy research role for 1-2 years prior to my application? Also, clinical research does not constitute clinical experience, correct?

The timing doesn't matter that much as long as you've ticked the box. That being said, why not find an experience that would let you do 3 hours per week or something similar once you transition your role? That kind of experience would be ideal because then you'd have longitudinal exposure.

Clinical research, assuming you are interacting with patients, would double as clinical experience.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

Timing really isn’t important as long as your time is filled doing something. If you are doing a ton of research, and you have your other boxes checked, fine.