What is clinical experience?

[zupneja]

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This might sound like a silly question but what actually is "clinical experience"

For example: I volunteered at a hospital for a while as a book bus volunteer. I'd carry around a cart of magazines and books and go around to patients' rooms and ask if they wanted anything to read. Would this count as clinical experience?

Also, whats a good amount of hours on a med school application?

Thanks

 

[Ismet]

Clinical experience is where you are either interacting with patients or with members of the healthcare team (or both). There's the LizzyM adage of "if you can smell patients, it's clinical experience" so maybe some would consider yours to be, but this job sounds fairly similar to a courier. If your only interaction with patients is asking them if they want something to read, what are you learning about the medical world?

The point is to talk about what you got out of it. Learning either about a medical career or that you like talking to patients or seeing medicine from the eyes of the patient. We want to see that you know what you're getting into and you don't discover in MS3 that you actually hate talking to patients.

I don't have a certain number of hours I look for. Quality over quantity, though it is good to show some long term commitments.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Agree with Ismet.

What you've described could potentially be considered clinical, but I would advise you to get more experience that includes direct and non-superficial interactions with patients (though sometimes this can be hard to find).

With hours, you have to have enough to demonstrate to adcoms that you are okay with working with sick people for the rest of your career. The precise number doesn't matter nearly as much as how credible this claim is coming from you. The experience and your description of your role in it will be used as evidence for this claim.