Research v. Clinical Exp

[beethousand]

Need a little help deciding what to prioritize, I'm doing a post-bacc and taking O-chem and bio this Fall, but am wondering about whether or not I should focus on getting more clinical experience or start research. I have a potential opportunity to help out in a neurophysiological lab for about 10 hours per week. I also have an opportunity to volunteer in a pediatric emergency dept for 4 hours per week. I am currently volunteering as a public health mentor in a high school classroom for 2 hrs per week. I worked as a rehab aide for 2 years and got quite a bit of clinical exposure then, granted it was working more with physical therapists than physicians. Should I just go for the research and not worry about getting more clinical exp? (besides shadowing that is) Or perhaps both? ~20 hrs per week of EC's plus o-chem and bio including lab may be rather busy, but seems doable? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

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[Hopefull22]

Need a little help deciding what to prioritize, I'm doing a post-bacc and taking O-chem and bio this Fall, but am wondering about whether or not I should focus on getting more clinical experience or start research. I have a potential opportunity to help out in a neurophysiological lab for about 10 hours per week. I also have an opportunity to volunteer in a pediatric emergency dept for 4 hours per week. I am currently volunteering as a public health mentor in a high school classroom for 2 hrs per week. I worked as a rehab aide for 2 years and got quite a bit of clinical exposure then, granted it was working more with physical therapists than physicians. Should I just go for the research and not worry about getting more clinical exp? (besides shadowing that is) Or perhaps both? ~20 hrs per week of EC's plus o-chem and bio including lab may be rather busy, but seems doable? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

If you think you can handle it, I would say go for both. Is definitely tough (I volunteered as an EMT and did research along with other ECs while I took orgo, and it definitely takes away study time). But if you don't think you can handle both, I would say go for research since you have a lot of clinical experience. Both are extremely important, but if your grades go down from taking on too much, it won't matter. So choose carefully, and good luck!

 

[lobo.solo]

Dude, you already have paid clinical experience, why more? Do research.

 

[beethousand]

Thanks for the input, I figured it might not be too necessary for me to pursue more clinical exp unless I have more time, although I would like to show longer term commitments. That said, I definitely want to get some research experience and this opportunity could be for about 2 yrs roughly.

 

[sankri92]

Do research and try to get a publication. Best of luck.

 

[bluestreaks]

Every counselor I've talked to says clinical is more important.
But since you have clinical experience, I think it would be good to do research so you have at least something to discuss when asked about research on secondaries and interviews.

 

[beethousand]

Every counselor I've talked to says clinical is more important.
But since you have clinical experience, I think it would be good to do research so you have at least something to discuss when asked about research on secondaries and interviews.

Yeah, my question was I guess, do I have enough clinical exp?

 

[bluestreaks]

I wish I could give you a straight answer on that, but who am I to say? In my opinion, you have a pretty good amount.

 

[Catalystik]

Yeah, my question was I guess, do I have enough clinical exp?

You have plenty of active clinical patient experience, but what about clinical environment experience? Was the PT office free-standing, or within a hospital or clinic complex? If the former, I'd suggest that a broader experience might be suitable and that taking on the gig in the Peds ER would be a good idea, perhaps for a semester or so. This activity would also put you within the orbit of physicians whom you might ask for shadowing opportunities once they get to know you.

 

[Jojoviss]

It sounds like you have had more physical therapy experience than experience with a physician. Every advisory I have talked to also says clinical experience is more important than research. If it is research directly impacting the medical field, then I would say go for the research. However, the more time you have spent volunteering as well as shadowing, and volunteering at a children's ED would most likely allow both, shows more commitment to pursuing medical experience, which every medical school will love to see. Research is NOT necessary for medical school because not all doctors will have the need for research after medical school.

I would say go for the volunteer position because it will allow more time to see the ins and outs of the medical field with direct patient contact. When I interviewed, I got questions about my volunteer and clinical experience and not my five semesters of research involving metabolic disease.

 

[beethousand]

You have plenty of active clinical patient experience, but what about clinical environment experience? Was the PT office free-standing, or within a hospital or clinic complex? If the former, I'd suggest that a broader experience might be suitable and that taking on the gig in the Peds ER would be a good idea, perhaps for a semester or so. This activity would also put you within the orbit of physicians whom you might ask for shadowing opportunities once they get to know you.

I worked in an inpatient setting. We cared for patients throughout the hospital, which included telemetry, med/surge, ICU, ortho, surgical units and I also did a little outpatient work (not much). I occasionally interacted with physicians, but mostly PT"s, OT"s and nurses. I ended up shadowing a hospitalist that I worked around some. So I got pretty broad exposure, but I certainly would love more, it just comes down to time management. ER is one setting I have not been exposed to. Thank you very much for the input.

 

[beethousand]

It sounds like you have had more physical therapy experience than experience with a physician. Every advisory I have talked to also says clinical experience is more important than research. If it is research directly impacting the medical field, then I would say go for the research. However, the more time you have spent volunteering as well as shadowing, and volunteering at a children's ED would most likely allow both, shows more commitment to pursuing medical experience, which every medical school will love to see. Research is NOT necessary for medical school because not all doctors will have the need for research after medical school.

I would say go for the volunteer position because it will allow more time to see the ins and outs of the medical field with direct patient contact. When I interviewed, I got questions about my volunteer and clinical experience and not my five semesters of research involving metabolic disease.

I guess that's another important point, is bench research not as valued as clinical? I've heard it both ways. I think I'll have more of a predominant role in this type of research (bench) than the clinical research I have seen in my area. Curious what peoples' thoughts are on this.

As far as the clinical experience, I was working directly with PTs, but also learned alot about the provider's role as well as med management, pathology, etc. Seems like a volunteer experience would be less hands on, but perhaps in greater proximity to providers? I'm planning to shadow as well, so not sure if that would help fill that gap. Thanks for the input!

 

[Catalystik]

is bench research not as valued as clinical? I've heard it both ways. I think I'll have more of a predominant role in this type of research (bench) than the clinical research I have seen in my area. Curious what peoples' thoughts are on this.

Perhaps it depends on the mission of the med school. If it is a research-oriented one, then your having creative input/control during a project is valued and you are likely to achieve this sooner with bench research than via entering into a clinical project which someone else has already designed. For schools that want to train practioners, the in-depth patient involvement during clinical research may be preferred.

 

[beethousand]

Perhaps it depends on the mission of the med school. If it is a research-oriented one, then your having creative input/control during a project is valued and you are likely to achieve this sooner with bench research than via entering into a clinical project which someone else has already designed. For schools that want to train practioners, the in-depth patient involvement during clinical research may be preferred.

Very good point. Once again thank you for all your input, your help is greatly appreciated.