Research But also Clinical Experience?

[muskthemfall]

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Hey all,

I worked in a sleep lab for about a year and half as a research assistant. Yes, I did data analysis but a lot of my job was contacting and enrolling patients. In order to collect data we brought patients in the lab (2-3 hour set up) and then performed a sleep study (anywhere from 6-12 hours). I believe my research was very hands on with patients, would this count as clinical experience?

 

[965978]

Why exactly are these individuals considered patients? Do they have some underlying diagnosed medical condition of some sort? You can’t call someone a patient simply because they are enrolled in a sleep study and are otherwise healthy.

Personally, I’ve been involved in clinical research and I have volunteered at a hospital. They are very two different things. When you volunteer at a hospital, you see how the hospital team interacts with each other, you see all different types of patients with different backgrounds and understand the social issues that affect their treatment, you get to see the different personalities of different patients and how that affects their care.

The problem with clinical research is that the patient is not being cared for. In fact clinical research often only benefits the researcher So you can’t really get a grasp of working with patients if you don’t have that experience of working in the capacity of caring for them. Only then will you learn what it means to care for the best interest of the patient, how their conditions affect their thinking and lifestyle, and how their treatment is coordinated amongst the family and healthcare team. You’re literally getting none of this just by interacting with individuals in a research capacity, even if they are part of the study due to an underlying condition.

 

[Wahkoon]

I agree with what @ClamShell said above. There is a distinction between research with human subjects and clinical research. Not all subjects are patients, and I would only consider this as a clinical experience if they have a specific, active condition being studied (ie, they are patients from clinic being treated for OSA, COPD, etc.)

Regardless, my advice would be to also have experiences that are definitively clinical – ideally something that allows you to interact with patients/staff that are treating ailments rather than research-focused. If you are asking for AMCAS purposes, I would list the experience as research, and just detail any potential patient interaction in the description... adcoms will decide from there.

 

[muskthemfall]

Yes, our patients were diagnosed and treated if they had obstructive sleep apnea. For participants that did not, they were released from the study after the first visit.

 

[907914]

Yes, our patients were diagnosed and treated if they had obstructive sleep apnea. For participants that did not, they were released from the study after the first visit.

But did you as the sleep study conductor provide or participate in patient treatment? If not, this is point-blank a research activity.

 

[LizzyM]

This is research with human subjects. It is not patient care. They are not "patients". It is clinical research, but it isn't patient care. Classify it as research, do something else that lets you see how patient care is conducted.

 

[Goro]

This is research with human subjects. It is not patient care. They are not "patients". It is clinical research, but it isn't patient care. Classify it as research, do something else that lets you see how patient care is conducted.

Agree 1000% with my learned colleague.