Low clinical experience

[xyzcloud]

Hi,

I (current 3rd year, going to take a gap year) decided to be pre-med before covid hit so I'm behind on all my application but I'm most worried about my low clinical experience. I basically have none. There are no clinical opportunities available where I am and I don't see any opening up probably summer because it's pretty bad over here. I cannot get a clinical job because I already have one on-campus and I can't drive (also no public transport here). Would it be ok if I just focused on non-clinical volunteering for the rest of my 3rd year and try to find something 4th year? Also, would it be bad if my clinical experience is all from a gap year job (like a medical assistant)?

Thanks

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[Moko]

I (current 3rd year, going to take a gap year) decided to be pre-med before covid hit so I'm behind on all my application but I'm most worried about my low clinical experience. I basically have none. There are no clinical opportunities available where I am and I don't see any opening up probably summer because it's pretty bad over here. I cannot get a clinical job because I already have one on-campus and I can't drive (also no public transport here). Would it be ok if I just focused on non-clinical volunteering for the rest of my 3rd year and try to find something 4th year? Also, would it be bad if my clinical experience is all from a gap year job (like a medical assistant)?

You will need clinical experience including shadowing prior to applying, otherwise, you are just wasting your money and time. 'Future hours' (i.e hours accumulated during your application year) hold little stock as plans frequently change. Without these clinical experiences, how can you convince yourself and others that you are ready to commit at least 7 years of your life to rigorous medical training, and countless more serving others?

If you cannot obtain these clinical experiences while in college, I would recommend taking a gap year prior to applying to obtain these necessary experiences. Best of luck.

 

[M&L]

Agree with above.

Its ok if it is all from the gap year, but make sure the actual hours are before you apply. Because honestly, the big question that i have (and the adcom would have) is how do you even know you wanna be a doctor? being a doctor is stressful, messy, and a huge commitment. Years of training, dealing with stressed out pts and families in their most vulnerable moments, procedures that are not too glamorous (pelvic exams, GU exams, catheters, diarrhea, vomit, just to name a few). I know people who realized during clinical rotations of 3rd year that they made a mistake, and at that point they were already sitting on a hefty student loan. And all because they didnt get enough exposure.

 

[xyzcloud]

You will need clinical experience including shadowing prior to applying, otherwise, you are just wasting your money and time. 'Future hours' (i.e hours accumulated during your application year) hold little stock as plans frequently change. Without these clinical experiences, how can you convince yourself and others that you are ready to commit at least 7 years of your life to rigorous medical training, and countless more serving others?

If you cannot obtain these clinical experiences while in college, I would recommend taking a gap year prior to applying to obtain these necessary experiences. Best of luck.

Thank you so much! I'm a little clueless about the whole process so this is helpful

 

[xyzcloud]

Agree with above.

Its ok if it is all from the gap year, but make sure the actual hours are before you apply. Because honestly, the big question that i have (and the adcom would have) is how do you even know you wanna be a doctor? being a doctor is stressful, messy, and a huge commitment. Years of training, dealing with stressed out pts and families in their most vulnerable moments, procedures that are not too glamorous (pelvic exams, GU exams, catheters, diarrhea, vomit, just to name a few). I know people who realized during clinical rotations of 3rd year that they made a mistake, and at that point they were already sitting on a hefty student loan. And all because they didnt get enough exposure.

Thank you very much!

 

[datboi_58]

As a previous applicant with low clinical hours, I agree with the above and state that you should have clinical hours BEFORE submitting your primary app (ideally June/July of the year you’re planning to apply). I would say you should aim for at least ~40 hours of shadowing and ~100 hours of clinical volunteering/employment or some other form of clinical experience.

As far as the whole “how do you know you want to be a doctor?”, I think there is some value in clinical experiences in helping you decide whether you want to be a doctor but I personally think it is heavily overrated. The category of “physician” is so broad that the only the overarching themes between all the types of doctors you could be in the future appear to be the typical “likes science” and “likes helping people” and I don’t think you need clinical experience to determine those things about yourself although it is helpful.

But I’m still in medical school so I have a lot to learn so we’ll see if I stay true to this view.

 

[ThePACK]

I would say you should aim for at least ~40 hours of shadowing and ~100 hours of clinical volunteering/employment or some other form of clinical experience.

Given the competitiveness of the current applicant pool do you think the 100-150 hours "rule of thumb" for future applicants still holds true? It has been a while since I have seen someone post with 100 clinical hours and adcoms respond saying that its sufficient. Might be successful if the rest of the app is stellar, but for most applicants is 100 hours going to cut it?

 

[candbgirl]

Actually the current “expected” numbers are 50 for shadowing (including some with a primary care doc) ; 200+ Hours of clinical experiences, can be paid or volunteer as long as it’s face to face with patients; and 200+ hours of nonclinical volunteering serving the unserved/underserved in your community. This should be direct interaction with those less fortunate than yourself. Of course these are just guidelines. But the bottom line is for you to be able to talk and write about your activities with passion and how they have impacted your journey to medicine. As most everyone knows , med school admissions gets more competitive every cycle and just merely going through the motions to check off the expected boxes isn’t going to be effective or helpful.

 

[datboi_58]

Given the competitiveness of the current applicant pool do you think the 100-150 hours "rule of thumb" for future applicants still holds true? It has been a while since I have seen someone post with 100 clinical hours and adcoms respond saying that its sufficient. Might be successful if the rest of the app is stellar, but for most applicants is 100 hours going to cut it?

It holds true in the sense that it is what MOST applicants need in their app before they consider applying. In other words, if you don't have ~40 hours of shadowing (or similar experience where you're exposed to the physicians) AND ~100 hours of clinical volunteering (or similar experience where you're exposed to patients), you should NOT EVEN CONSIDER applying because those are RED FLAGS. There probably are a few exceptions to this rule but I think it generally holds true.

Are these numbers making you competitive? Depends on the rest of your app. But do you need these numbers in order to be even considered? More than likely. You probably don't want to accumulate more shadowing hours past ~40 hours because it's kind of useless imo but the more clinical volunteering, the better.

 

[xyzcloud]

Thank you all for your replies. Since I cannot do anything clinical related right now (explained in my first post), should I just be focusing on non-clinical volunteering?

 

[candbgirl]

Thank you all for your replies. Since I cannot do anything clinical related right now (explained in my first post), should I just be focusing on non-clinical volunteering?

Yes, it’s better than sitting around waiting for clinical opportunities to open up. And from what I’ve seen and heard about there are lots of needs right now. Good luck, stay safe.