Participating in health volunteer prog not aimed at pre-mds

[nekrogg]

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I am planning to get in some more clinical experience into my resume before interviews. So due to time restrictions, i have to start as soon as possible. Is it look down upon that i do a volunteer program aimed at physician assistants rather than doctors? i am not sure of the logistics yet and how it is specifically aimed at PAs but i hear the PA volunteer program is more intense versus the pre-med program. In addition, the PA program allows you to start at any time of the year versus the pre-med which forces you to attend specifically scheduled orientations (only 3 times a year 👎 )

thanks for any feedback that can be offered!

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Seeing patients = good. It doesn't much matter where you see patients as long as you get to see them.

 

[MediMama23]

Seeing as not every volunteer program is aimed at a specific group of people, I would think volunteering for patient contact is just as important, or else thousands upon thousands of students would be at a disadvantage. I dunno. Are there lots of pre-med volunteer programs out there?

 

[prana_md]

It might even be better -- I've heard that PA programs really want their applicants to have practical experience. If it's geared toward PAs, you may get more hands-on experience than your average volunteer program. Plus, PAs are just all-around cool people (IMO). I shadowed a PA once, and he let me do way more than the MDs I had shadowed.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

You don't have to report on your application that the program was designed for PA types. If you see/do patient care just describe it as that. All they want to know is that you've seen medicine (the good and the bad) and you're not basing your decision on "ER", "Grey's Anatomy", or "House."