Orthodoc40 said:
Ahh, I see where you're coming from. I think, depending on what ever other experiences you have, that adcoms probably would be more impressed with clinical experiences you can get.
Don't mind my enthusiasm. I really wanted to do the surg tech program so I could watch a lot of surgeries & get paid for it. It also seemed like a good way to have a decent part time job through med school. But that's just me. I spend a day every week shadowing a surgeon in the OR, and I have yet to get bored! 😍
I'm currently a scrub tech and i think it is an awesome experience! I have seen more cool stuff in the OR than most MSIII's and IV's. I was lucky though, was working full time in a research lab at a med school right across the street from the hospital where i was also working PRN. Saw the posting for a "Surgical Tech Trainee" applied and got it. It is an in-house training program that the hospital runs...no class, just short week long orientation in a class like setting...then we scrub with preceptors for about 9 months. In that time we rotate through GAGU.. (general, arterial, gyne and Urology), Plastics, Burns and Neurosurgery...then Ortho, then ENT. The hours can be a brute sometimes, because you are always on your feet...but it is so cool SEE and DO the things we do in the OR...and I've really gotten used to the standing...just buy a comfy pair of shoes..it works.
PLUS, if you are an applicant and scrub at a teaching hospital..let me tell ya you can bump shoulders with some influential docs. But even if that doesnt help, at least they know your name..and that you are a hard working interested applicant. Some of them ask if i want to go on rounds with them (hell yeah, very interesting!), most keep me updated about case when i scrubed with them, and you get to pick the residents and med students brains about neurotic pre-med crap...as long as you dont look/sound like an idiot, youre golden.
So, yeah, i think the experience you gain is well worth the work. However, i was lucky to stumble on my current position and not many are like this. Bottom line: its nice to get paid, fairly decent, to get a strong preview to medical school ....specifically surgery core clerkship and every specialty you can think of
😀