I'm interested in volunteering at the local university-affiliated cancer treatment center as someone who guides patients from appointment to appointment, but I'm curious: is this considered clinical experience? If not, what is? (obviously I can't treat patients as a lowly undergrad, so I'd like to know what I could do, hopefully with the cancer center -- this is something I really want to do) Thank you!
What constitutes clinical experience?
- Thread starter InNotOf
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You should try to get a good mix of experiences. However, you need to actually SEE medicine being practiced. I spent a lot of time doing things like walking patients back and forth, and I honestly think it helped strengthen my resolve to go into medicine. However, some places won't let you do much more than walk things/people back and forth and never let you see anything cool. You don't have to DO anything, just see things. That is why volunteering at hospitals is a must, but shadowing doctors is the other necessary component.
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If you're setting up an experience, try talking to a doctor as opposed to a volunteer coordinator. A doc will try to let you see and possibly do things to let you experience medicine first hand, a volunteer coordinator will put you to work.
Both are valuable, but you need the first hand experiences to have some stories to tell in your interviews.
Both are valuable, but you need the first hand experiences to have some stories to tell in your interviews.
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Rafa said:
I worked in a doctor's office as a volunteer medical assistant for 8 months. This was true.
Got a great LOR out of it too.
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consider working as a transporter in the radiology department(or OR) of a local hospital. It doesn't sound too overwhelming, especially on paper, but you get exposure to:
*Interventional radiology procedures
*Surgery
*ER
*Primary care physicians on patient floors
*nursing, PT's, PA's, NP's and all kinds of technicians
*And most importantly, direct patient exposure
Keep in mind though that you will almost def. get less than $10 dollars an hour, and you are at the absolute bottom of the totem pole.
*Interventional radiology procedures
*Surgery
*ER
*Primary care physicians on patient floors
*nursing, PT's, PA's, NP's and all kinds of technicians
*And most importantly, direct patient exposure
Keep in mind though that you will almost def. get less than $10 dollars an hour, and you are at the absolute bottom of the totem pole.
