Is my clinical experience good enough?

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

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I volunteer at a free health clinic and have done so since this past summer. It is only open two days a week for three hours. While I am there I do a variety of things including interviewing patients to figure out what they need from the clinic, working with pharmacists to distribute medication, and every now and then helping a physician. I have accumulated approx. 60 hours as of now. How many hours of clinical experience is ideal and am I doing the right thing? I am trying to volunteer at the local hospital but the lady in charge of volunteers is being very slow. I just want to make sure I am on the right track for MD admission. Thanks

 

[NickNaylor]

Hours are not important. Demonstrating that you understand, to the best of your ability, the medical profession and the role of the physician in providing medical care. If you can convince members of the admissions committee that that is true, then the number of hours is irrelevant.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I volunteer at a free health clinic and have done so since this past summer. It is only open two days a week for three hours. While I am there I do a variety of things including interviewing patients to figure out what they need from the clinic, working with pharmacists to distribute medication, and every now and then helping a physician. I have accumulated approx. 60 hours as of now. How many hours of clinical experience is ideal and am I doing the right thing? I am trying to volunteer at the local hospital but the lady in charge of volunteers is being very slow. I just want to make sure I am on the right track for MD admission. Thanks

Enjoy your experience, get some exposure to the physicians there and work as much as you can so you can really understand what medicine is like.

If at that point you feel like you will be able to maturely explain to adcomms why you want to be a physician based on your past life, future goals and experiences with physicians and patients then your clinical experience was sufficient.

FYI - "because I've always wanted to be a doctor." "Because I like science and want to help people." "because my parents are doctors." are NOT mature answers to that question.

 

[LizzyM]

This is good, particularly since you are getting an opportunity to talk to patients and figure out what they need/want. Even if you apply this June, you'll have a year of service in this place and that's great. If you are more than a year away from applying, all the better. It isn't the hours that are important as much as the longitudinal nature of the experience and what you get out of it.

 

[StudyShy]

Keep doing what you are doing. It sounds like a wonderful experience. Also, keep trying to get into the hospital. Those things take some time. 🙂

 

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

Ok, this is all encouraging. The fact that the longevity of the experience rather than the number of hours spent is more important makes things easier. Like I said I have been there since this past summer and have tried to be there as much as possible during the school year, but a lot of times I am unable to make it because of class.

I find this all interesting too, because it really seems to depend on who you are speaking with on SDN, as to what kind of response you get regarding hours spent. I have seen many posters criticize on the "What are my Chances?" page, telling people to boost their hours.

 

[deleted357625]

generally most applicants have about 100-150 hrs. 11 is fine anything above that is not necessary. Just as long as it's clinical experience it's all good.