Volunteer Work

[vp826]

Ok so I hear its good if you have some kind of experience in the medical field when applying for med. school. My question to you guys is what would be the best type of work I could do before I apply for med. school. I was thinking EMT, SnM (some position in a hospital), or a ER Tech. Some of my friends work in a hospital so they suggested the SnM and ER tech positions to me. What would be my best bet to get some experience for med. school. If there are other better ones, please do share.

One more thing. I am gonna be a junior this september. Am I late on the volunteering thing?

Thanks

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[kevster2001]

Ok so I hear its good if you have some kind of experience in the medical field when applying for med. school. My question to you guys is what would be the best type of work I could do before I apply for med. school. I was thinking EMT, SnM (some position in a hospital), or a ER Tech. Some of my friends work in a hospital so they suggested the SnM and ER tech positions to me. What would be my best bet to get some experience for med. school. If there are other better ones, please do share.

One more thing. I am gonna be a junior this september. Am I late on the volunteering thing?

Thanks

Being an EMT is a very popular choice among premeds. You can also volunteer at a children's hospital, so easy, just play with kids all the time.

 

[greytmedic]

My impression of Dropkick when he reads about becoming an EMT just for med school.

On a serious note, unless you are already an EMT and just haven't volunteered with it before, you probably don't have enough time to get your EMT liscense and do anything substantial with it. Usually, EMT-B class is a one semester course, so you will have to take it on top of you regular class-load. Then you have to take the liscensing exam and wait for the results. This will leave you with only a couple of months to find someplace to work/volunteer as an EMT-B.

Volunteering in a hospital would be a good. You get to talk about volunteering and clinical exposure in one. You may not get to perform medical skills as a volunteer, but you will be exposed to the clinical setting. You can try getting a job as a ER tech, but depending on the hospital you might need some kind of certification (ie, EMT, med assistant). Some hospitals don't require certification for techs and give you on the job training, so just contact your local hospitals/clinics for any oppurtunities.

 

[Robizzle]

careful someones about to burn you for asking about EMTing just to add it to your app!

 

[LizzyM]

Get your foot in the door in a hospital, nursing home, free clinic, hospice. Your goal is to get a feel for the clinical environment and to become comfortable talking with patients. (Even if you are only pushing their wheelchair you can ask them if they are sleeping well, how their appetite has been, etc which helps when you learn to take histories.)

If you can watch physicians working and have an opportunity to talk about their work, challenges in health care delivery today, health policy, etc, all the better. Sometimes it means getting a chance to say "hi" to a doc and asking for an opportunity to round with him/her. After they've seen you around for awhile this can work out easily.