Nursing home CNA

[yodalehehu]

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I live in a state where I would need to work at a nursing home for at least a year before becoming competitive for hospital CNA/PCT positions. Is it worth pursuing this pathway to gain clinical experience, or should I consider a more direct route, such as working as a scribe or hospital volunteer?

While a nursing home role would offer hands-on experience with residents, I'm concerned about the limited exposure to physicians and clinical medicine overall. I do plan to shadow physicians, but I’m second-guessing whether spending a year in a nursing home might offer diminishing returns.

I hope to apply during the 2027 cycle, so if I do get a hospital job at the one year mark, I'd only have about 4-5 months of hospital work under my belt.

 

[chilly_md]

See if you can be an MA instead. That may give you more flexibility.

 

[FuturePediatricNeurosurge]

Working as a nursing home aide was one of the most important experiences in my app.

Residents in nursing homes are often completely dependent upon you to survive. Some may not be able to get to the bathroom by themselves. Some cannot shower, eat meals, or get dressed without assistance. Patients with dementia would be aimless and confused without your help. I learned so much throughout my time at a nursing home about being a humble, supportive servant to people in their most vulnerable states.

I would strongly encourage you to take up the nursing home position-- even if it's detached from "clinical medicine" it is still very intense caregiving and was deeply meaningful to me. It was a humbling experience sitting with someone in the bathroom applying pain relief lotion to their feet, for example, while they tell me about their life's story, family, etc. and I look back on it very fondly.

 

[yodalehehu]

Working as a nursing home aide was one of the most important experiences in my app.

Residents in nursing homes are often completely dependent upon you to survive. Some may not be able to get to the bathroom by themselves. Some cannot shower, eat meals, or get dressed without assistance. Patients with dementia would be aimless and confused without your help. I learned so much throughout my time at a nursing home about being a humble, supportive servant to people in their most vulnerable states.

I would strongly encourage you to take up the nursing home position-- even if it's detached from "clinical medicine" it is still very intense caregiving and was deeply meaningful to me. It was a humbling experience sitting with someone in the bathroom applying pain relief lotion to their feet, for example, while they tell me about their life's story, family, etc. and I look back on it very fondly.

I've been thinking about my next move for the past few days, and I noticed that several prominent posters have "liked" your post—which I take to mean they agree that pursuing a CNA position at a nursing home is a path I should take.

Would you all give the same advice to someone who has been working as a caregiver for the past few years? The work is quite similar. While I understand that nursing homes need staff, I'm concerned that it might not benefit me in the long run if I have limited experience working in the vicinity of doctors. In a nursing home, most/all of my interaction would be with nurses.

 

[FuturePediatricNeurosurge]

I've been thinking about my next move for the past few days, and I noticed that several prominent posters have "liked" your post—which I take to mean they agree that pursuing a CNA position at a nursing home is a path I should take.

Would you all give the same advice to someone who has been working as a caregiver for the past few years? The work is quite similar. While I understand that nursing homes need staff, I'm concerned that it might not benefit me in the long run if I have limited experience working in the vicinity of doctors. In a nursing home, most/all of my interaction would be with nurses.

If you haven’t worked in a nursing home yet and have been doing 1-on-1 home health caregiving work, I’d recommend making the switch to a nursing home.

In the meantime see if any hospitals in your area hire patient care techs, non-certified nursing assistants, patient care assistants, patient observers/safety attendants, etc. without the need for certifications beyond a BLS

I was able to work at two different hospitals without having a CNA/EMT license. Some states/hospital systems are more strict than others, though.

 

[polymerization]

I agree with @chilly_md in that the MA path is most beneficial. In many states, you do not need the RMA credential to practice. Don't take this to mean that it won't be preferred or recommended, but you absolutely can find a private practice to hire you and train you on the job. Once you've worked a few months in any specialty, you'll have an easier time making lateral moves to other settings or specialties.

I don't think you're wrong to question whether moving from a caregiver role to nursing home aide will limit your exposure to "the good stuff." This process isn't just about making your experiences legible to admissions committees, it's also an elaborated mission/vision statement about who you are and what you value as an aspiring physician—and whatever you say has to be corroborated and self-evident by what you've already done.

That said, it's very difficult from a rhetorical point of view to make broad claims about your desire to do medicine if you lack exposure to the more classic, typical medical setting.

There are nuances: (and again, it bears repeating) I'm not saying admissions will not view a nursing home aide's work as a clinical experience. Surely that work will "check a box." The issue is that most people will check all the boxes, technically, but not everyone gets in.

It may just be my sneaking suspicion, but these decisions along the journey are, in my opinion, the real make-or-break moments, and they come long before you ever sit down to apply. Most applicants worry excessively about making grammatical errors or not having 20 more hours in whatever activity, but my guess is that the biggest mistakes are the ones you make for a very, very long time.