What is the best environment to get clinical experience as a job?

[medschooldream9098]

I am currently working as a Pharmacy Technician which I know will not count as clinical experience, but will it benefit me in anyway for the process of applying to medical school?
I also work as a CNA/Medication Technician in a nursing home. I think this was a good position to gain clinical experience, but I have to leave it because I can no longer do graveyard shifts which are the only shifts they can provide me. I can apply to another nursing home as a CNA, but I've decided to apply to jobs in hospitals as a Psychiatric technician and Cardiology technician. Both of which, I will be working with patients as well.
Obviously there is no guarantee I will get these jobs, but there is many other jobs like these that I was going to apply to. I don't want to apply to any more of them unless I know it will count as clinical experience. Should I stick to getting a CNA job or will these types of jobs be okay for clinical experience.
Sorry for the bother, I just want to be sure I will be on the right path with these jobs.

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[Cornfed101]

Any tech type job working alongside physicians that includes patient contact is great. CNA is great too. For the pharmacy tech job, it is good employment experience, which is always a good thing.

 

[Catalystik]

I am currently working as a Pharmacy Technician which I know will not count as clinical experience, but
1) will it benefit me in anyway for the process of applying to medical school?

2) I also work as a CNA/Medication Technician in a nursing home. I think this was a good position to gain clinical experience,

3) I've decided to apply to jobs in hospitals as a Psychiatric technician and Cardiology technician.
-will these types of jobs be okay for clinical experience.

1) Steady employment in a position requiring trust, reliability, and people skills is helpful. Bonus points that you'll have gained a knowledge of pharmaceuticals.

2) Yes, it was.

3) Absolutely, yes.

 

[Goro]

I am currently working as a Pharmacy Technician which I know will not count as clinical experience, but will it benefit me in anyway for the process of applying to medical school?
I also work as a CNA/Medication Technician in a nursing home. I think this was a good position to gain clinical experience, but I have to leave it because I can no longer do graveyard shifts which are the only shifts they can provide me. I can apply to another nursing home as a CNA, but I've decided to apply to jobs in hospitals as a Psychiatric technician and Cardiology technician. Both of which, I will be working with patients as well.
Obviously there is no guarantee I will get these jobs, but there is many other jobs like these that I was going to apply to. I don't want to apply to any more of them unless I know it will count as clinical experience. Should I stick to getting a CNA job or will these types of jobs be okay for clinical experience.
Sorry for the bother, I just want to be sure I will be on the right path with these jobs.

CNA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pharm Tech

 

[medschooldream9098]

1) Steady employment in a position requiring trust, reliability, and people skills is helpful. Bonus points that you'll have gained a knowledge of pharmaceuticals.

Do you think that knowing the top 200 drugs (brand, generic, and use) will be helpful in Med School? I had asked a resident that I worked with that question and he attacked me for thinking it would be of any use to me in med school and implied I was dumb for thinking that as well lol.. sorry if that’s a dumb question and that it’s off topic, I’m just wondering.

 

[medschooldream9098]

CNA >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pharm Tech

Would the Cardiology tech/Psychiatric tech be equal to CNA? They both interact with patients in the hospital. I would really like one of those positions, I’m just worried about if it will be good clinical experience in comparison to if I get another CNA job? Sorry to bother you

 

[Catalystik]

Do you think that knowing the top 200 drugs (brand, generic, and use) will be helpful in Med School? I had asked a resident that I worked with that question and he attacked me for thinking it would be of any use to me in med school and implied I was dumb for thinking that as well lol.. sorry if that’s a dumb question and that it’s off topic, I’m just wondering.

You will be discouraged from using brandnames, but knowing chemical name and usage could be very useful, IMO, if you retain it. Once you've had biochemistry, understand physiology, and grasp microbiology, it's a short hop to "getting" pharmacology.

As I was a Biochem minor in college, I really loved learning how and why "drugs work" and I've retained the ability to absorb that depth of understanding to this day. But every doc isn't like that. In my day, Biochem was not required, they covered the entire book of Lehninger in 6 weeks in med school, and once one passed the test, the knowledge often faded away, which was understandable.

Sadly, I find that those who are required to take Biochem before the MCAT don't necessarily retain the in-depth knowledge much longer. Hopefully, that won't be you, as seems to be the case with the resident you know. Maybe because you already have a solid knowledge base to help you connect to the other disciplines, you can retain the advantage you have.

 

[Skeletorr]

@Goro @Catalystik Sorry to derail your thread OP, but how would my current work as an interpreter for a population health program be viewed (clinical, non-clinical)? I work alongside nurses to help patients manage their diabetes, cholesterol, implement lifestyle changes, etc.

 

[medschooldream9098]

You will be discouraged from using brandnames, but knowing chemical name and usage could be very useful, IMO, if you retain it. Once you've had biochemistry, understand physiology, and grasp microbiology, it's a short hop to "getting" pharmacology.

As I was a Biochem minor in college, I really loved learning how and why "drugs work" and I've retained the ability to absorb that depth of understanding to this day. But every doc isn't like that. In my day, Biochem was not required, they covered the entire book of Lehninger in 6 weeks in med school, and once one passed the test, the knowledge often faded away, which was understandable.

Sadly, I find that those who are required to take Biochem before the MCAT don't necessarily retain the in-depth knowledge much longer. Hopefully, that won't be you, as seems to be the case with the resident you know. Maybe because you already have a solid knowledge base to help you connect to the other disciplines, you can retain the advantage you have.

I’m planning on keeping this Pharmacy job until I’m applying for medical school because the pay is extremely high (I just got lucky) whereas clinical positions usually pay a lot less. Therefore, I only have to work 3 days a week (2 in pharmacy 1 in clinical) and it keeps me afloat and a lot of time to study. Also because I love knowing the drugs and learning new things from my pharmacist i.e drug interactions, etc

Would you say the Cardiology/Psychiatric Technician positions would be as good as CNA? Would one be better than the other or would you say that they’d be equally seen? Sorry to bother you again. Thank you so so much for your responses.

 

[Catalystik]

1) I’m planning on keeping this Pharmacy job until I’m applying for medical school because the pay is extremely high (I just got lucky) whereas clinical positions usually pay a lot less. Therefore, I only have to work 3 days a week (2 in pharmacy 1 in clinical) and it keeps me afloat and a lot of time to study. Also because I love knowing the drugs and learning new things from my pharmacist i.e drug interactions, etc

2) Would you say the Cardiology/Psychiatric Technician positions would be as good as CNA? Would one be better than the other or would you say that they’d be equally seen?

1) If you can understand drug interactions, you'll be in good shape.

2) Yes, they are all equal in value to a med school application. You might find one to be better personally if you have enough of an interest in the area to read more widely and let your clinical encounters guide learning. Knowledge might stick better in one's memory when one has a patient story with which to associate it.

 

[medschooldream9098]

1) If you can understand drug interactions, you'll be in good shape.

2) Yes, they are all equal in value to a med school application. You might find one to be better personally if you have enough of an interest in the area to read more widely and let your clinical encounters guide learning. Knowledge might stick better in one's memory when one has a patient story with which to associate it.

Thank you so much for your replies, I appreciate it greatly.

 

[Catalystik]

@Goro @Catalystik Sorry to derail your thread OP, but how would my current work as an interpreter for a population health program be viewed (clinical, non-clinical)? I work alongside nurses to help patients manage their diabetes, cholesterol, implement lifestyle changes, etc.

The parts of your job that require interacting with patients would make those portions "clinical."

 

[Goro]

Would the Cardiology tech/Psychiatric tech be equal to CNA? They both interact with patients in the hospital. I would really like one of those positions, I’m just worried about if it will be good clinical experience in comparison to if I get another CNA job? Sorry to bother you

Yes