Lost with Clinical Experiences

[eeehjbai18]

It is my second year in college, and I've been having issues with finding clinical experiences. Since COVID, I lost my hospital volunteer position. I'm currently sitting at only 40 hours for clinical, and I'm feeling somewhat terrified. My family is low-income, so I cannot afford any CNA, EMT, or phlebotomy courses. One of the phlebotomy classes in my town were for $800, which is so demotivating. I also tried contacting a hospice but I received no response back so I'm assuming they aren't accepting volunteers. There were two free clinics a few minutes from my house but they also were unfortunately not accepting volunteers. I also turned in a few scribe applications (ScribeAmerica and ProScribe), but all of the openings were too far from my city. I also feel somewhat unsafe going to a health facility if I were to even have the opportunity to obtain an in-person clinical experience since my mom is a high-risk individual because of her health. I am currently a virtual crisis counselor (just started today!); do you think that crisis volunteering would suffice as a clinical experience especially during COVID? It's pretty much the only clinical experience (?) that is accessible to me at this time, unfortunately. I just honestly feel so stressed out and lost.

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[DNAJB6]

Relax you’re a second year student. You have plenty of time. If you end up needing a gap year then so be it.

 

[deleted1025488]

Schools understand what has happened in the past year but obviously will not excuse zero clinical hours. If you are unable to find direct clinical exposure, there are plenty of other clinical-esque activities you can do pretty easily that are fun, like vaccine site workers, blood donation volunteers, crisis hotlines, etc. As long as you're putting in some sort of concerted effort clinical hours it'll pan out eventually; plus, you're not in a bad spot right now.

 

[Goro]

It is my second year in college, and I've been having issues with finding clinical experiences. Since COVID, I lost my hospital volunteer position. I'm currently sitting at only 40 hours for clinical, and I'm feeling somewhat terrified. My family is low-income, so I cannot afford any CNA, EMT, or phlebotomy courses. One of the phlebotomy classes in my town were for $800, which is so demotivating. I also tried contacting a hospice but I received no response back so I'm assuming they aren't accepting volunteers. There were two free clinics a few minutes from my house but they also were unfortunately not accepting volunteers. I also turned in a few scribe applications (ScribeAmerica and ProScribe), but all of the openings were too far from my city. I also feel somewhat unsafe going to a health facility if I were to even have the opportunity to obtain an in-person clinical experience since my mom is a high-risk individual because of her health. I am currently a virtual crisis counselor (just started today!); do you think that crisis volunteering would suffice as a clinical experience especially during COVID? It's pretty much the only clinical experience (?) that is accessible to me at this time, unfortunately. I just honestly feel so stressed out and lost.

Here's a harsh truth: your safety, as well as that of your family and society, is more important than your med school plans.

In the mean time, you can work on your nonclinical volunteering. Venues include scribing, food banks, COVID screening or contact tracing, Meals on Wheels, election poll working (normally done by seniors) and whatever your local houses of worship can suggest.

 

[LizzyM]

It has been a few weeks since you posted but you now have the opportunity to be vaccinated if you have not already done so and your mom should get the vaccine, too. Then, two weeks after the second shot, you should be able to work or volunteer without worrying that you are putting your mom at risk.

While a virtual crisis counselor position is good, it is not a substitute for being in the same room with a patient so you should focus on getting some(more) paid or volunteer experience with that before you submit your application.

Even if you have FAP (AMCAS program for applicants from low income families), you are going to need some cash, or a no-interest credit card, for the application/interview cycle so you might consider how you will navigate that which could also be a good reason to take a gap year during which you can work in a clinical setting.

 

[LiteralLungs]

While a virtual crisis counselor position is good, it is not a substitute for being in the same room with a patient so you should focus on getting some(more) paid or volunteer experience with that before you submit your application.

Not to derail from the OP, but I volunteer at a hospice, and ever since COVID happened, all volunteering is over the phone. I call and speak with patients and their families. Can I still categorize this as clinical? It's the same thing I was doing before, just not in the physical setting.

 

[LizzyM]

Not to derail from the OP, but I volunteer at a hospice, and ever since COVID happened, all volunteering is over the phone. I call and speak with patients and their families. Can I still categorize this as clinical? It's the same thing I was doing before, just not in the physical setting.

You can certainly include the hours and fold it in with the in-person volunteering you did for the organization prior to the pandemic but in the description you should include that the contact has been by phone since [date] due to pandemic restrictions.