Is this clinical experience?

[glassshark]

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Does working as an autopsy tech/pathology/morgue assistant in a hospital count as clinical experience? Certainly can smell the patients...

 

[candbgirl]

But you certainly don’t interact with them.

I’m sure it would be considered clinical but you need face to face patient interaction.

 

[holdthemayo]

I think @kraskadva is one of the few people on SDN who has experience in a MEO prior to med school and may be able to provide advice.

 

[Goro]

Does working as an autopsy tech/pathology/morgue assistant in a hospital count as clinical experience? Certainly can smell the patients...

Technically yes, but we want to see that you're more interested in spending the next 30-40 years with live patients. AND that you know what you're getting into.

 

[glassshark]

Technically yes, but we want to see that you're more interested in spending the next 30-40 years with live patients. AND that you know what you're getting into.

Now what if pathology is my jam? I've worked in the field for a few years now and know what I'd be getting into.

 

[ciestar]

Now what if pathology is my jam? I've worked in the field for a few years now and know what I'd be getting into.

You still have to survive four years of medical school. There is a lot of patient interaction involvwd

 

[Goro]

Now what if pathology is my jam? I've worked in the field for a few years now and know what I'd be getting into.

I'd reject you as soon as you left the interview room, if you had zero patient contact experience.

What are you going to say when asked how you know you are suited for a life of caring for the sick and suffering? “That you just know”? Imagine how that will go over!

From the wise LizzyM: I am always reminded of a certain frequent poster of a few years ago. He was adamant about not volunteering as he did not want to give his services for free and he was busy and helping others was inconvenient. He matriculated to a medical school and lasted less than one year. He's now in school to become an accountant.

 

[glassshark]

I'd reject you as soon as you left the interview room, if you had zero patient contact experience.

What are you going to say when asked how you know you are suited for a life of caring for the sick and suffering? “That you just know”? Imagine how that will go over!

From the wise LizzyM: I am always reminded of a certain frequent poster of a few years ago. He was adamant about not volunteering as he did not want to give his services for free and he was busy and helping others was inconvenient. He matriculated to a medical school and lasted less than one year. He's now in school to become an accountant.

And if I had the basic 200+ hrs of hospital clinical volunteering, and 100+ shadowing hours (primary care, ID, radiology, OB/GYN, ED, ophthalmology, geriatrics), but was still interested in pathology, primarily forensics (having worked in an ME's office and various pathology depts for 5+ years)?

I believe I have adequate clinical experience overall, but I was just wondering how to specifically list my pathology work experience in my AMCAS app. Thanks.

 

[Goro]

And if I had the basic 200+ hrs of hospital clinical volunteering, and 100+ shadowing hours (primary care, ID, radiology, OB/GYN, ED, ophthalmology, geriatrics), but was still interested in pathology, primarily forensics (having worked in an ME's office and various pathology depts for 5+ years)?

I believe I have adequate clinical experience overall, but I was just wondering how to specifically list my pathology work experience in my AMCAS app. Thanks.

That would be fine, then

 

[candbgirl]

And if I had the basic 200+ hrs of hospital clinical volunteering, and 100+ shadowing hours (primary care, ID, radiology, OB/GYN, ED, ophthalmology, geriatrics), but was still interested in pathology, primarily forensics (having worked in an ME's office and various pathology depts for 5+ years)?

I believe I have adequate clinical experience overall, but I was just wondering how to specifically list my pathology work experience in my AMCAS app. Thanks.

Are you paid for your work at the ME’s office? If so list it as a paid clinical experience and then you’d list the other 200+ hours as clinical volunteering.

 

[glassshark]

Are you paid for your work at the ME’s office? If so list it as a paid clinical experience and then you’d list the other 200+ hours as clinical volunteering.

I've done paid autopsy work at both a medical examiner's office and at hospitals. Should they all be listed as paid clinical experience, or would it be better to be on the safe side and call it all paid non-clinical and let whoever's reviewing my app judge for themselves? Thanks.

 

[LizzyM]

Call it paid clinical. No one will fault you for that and you also have the shadowing and non-clinical volunteering and some face-to-face interaction with live patients either as an employee or as a volunteer and you're all set.
I had a family member who worked for the ME and at a hospital in the role you've been in and I, for sure, would call it clinical.

 

[kraskadva]

I spent time in a MEO before med school, though not quite as much as you by the sound of it...

Does working as an autopsy tech/pathology/morgue assistant in a hospital count as clinical experience? Certainly can smell the patients...

Yes, technically. But as everyone else has said, especially the wise @Goro and @LizzyM , you need to have the live-people clinical experiences as well...

And if I had the basic 200+ hrs of hospital clinical volunteering, and 100+ shadowing hours (primary care, ID, radiology, OB/GYN, ED, ophthalmology, geriatrics), but was still interested in pathology, primarily forensics (having worked in an ME's office and various pathology depts for 5+ years)?

I believe I have adequate clinical experience overall, but I was just wondering how to specifically list my pathology work experience in my AMCAS app. Thanks.

...which you also seem to have. So, groovy then.

I've done paid autopsy work at both a medical examiner's office and at hospitals. Should they all be listed as paid clinical experience, or would it be better to be on the safe side and call it all paid non-clinical and let whoever's reviewing my app judge for themselves? Thanks.

It is clinical, and if you were paid, then it's paid clinical. Don't over think it.

As for the rest of your app, it's fine to talk about an interest in pathology (it would probably be odd if you didn't) but the focus of the app should be "why medicine" not "why I want to cut up dead people". So don't go "path or bust" even if that's how you feel now.
Nobody takes a pre-med's specialty interest all that seriously. Heck, nobody takes a M1/2's specialty interest all that seriously. You have to have Step 1 and 3rd year clinicals under your belt before anybody really believes you about what you want because so many people change their minds/aren't competitive/discover a field they had never considered/ learn they hate whatever they were so sure they'd do before/etc. Don't take it personally, just play the game and say what you need to get in.
I knew I wanted path before med school, and haven't changed my mind even now halfway through my 3rd year. But if I hadn't been more general about my interest in medicine on my app, I might not be here to say that.

Feel free to hit me up if you have more questions. 🙂

 

[kraskadva]

Posting this here from my PM with OP, because this question seems to come up about once a year and hopefully people will one day learn to use the search function...

Lol, most likely nobody on the interview trail will give a single rat's behind about it, positive or negative.
You typically aren't even asked what specialty you're thinking of. Just some version of why you want to be a doc and why that school should let you in.

If it does come up, nobody will be weirded out by it. You're talking to medical folks, not your average person. And every med school has a bunch of dead folks hanging out in the building somewhere - ya know, for anatomy lab - so that part isn't off putting at all.
It is a bit unusual...not the average pre-med interest... but somehow there tends to be about one or two in every class. So you might be the one that year for that school. Fingers crossed.

I'm also non-trad, and that was much more pertinant to my app and the interview trail. Both because of the stuff I did between college and med school (teaching mostly) and because of my academic reinvention (which drastically changed how I applied).
So do make sure to check all the boxes, and then just let the extra stuff you have shine through.

I wasn't wary or shy about stating my interest. If anybody asked what I wanted to do, my answer was and has always been path. But just like you're not gonna share all your darkest secrets on the first date, I didn't spend a lot of time on path in my app. I mentioned my interest, but also said I was open to seeing what else I might be interested in. And spent the bulk of it talking about, and demonstrating through activities/CV, that my main driver was to help people. I probably talked about teaching more than anything, since that was my demonstrable background, and talked about the other clinical experience I had as well.

Maybe just mention it, but leave my goals open ended and flexible, and focus on the broader scope of medicine?

So yes to this.

And keep in mind that nobody will look anywhere near as closely at your app as you will. So the things that seem like glaring high beams of interest might just be of passing notice to someone on the other end. Also, as more and more schools transition to MMI interviews, it's likely that the interviewers you meet will not have seen your app at all and the questions they ask won't have anything to do with it.
So include it, don't worry about it, and make sure the rest of your app is well rounded for best results. Then show up to your interviews and be prepared to talk about anything, but especially "why medicine".

If all you wanted to do was cut up dead people, there's a master's program for that, with a lot less time/debt/responsibility to worry about and a pretty reasonable paycheck on the other end. There's a reason you want to be a physician. So make sure to spell out what that is.