Will my clinical hours, even if they are a lot, be sufficient if they are "old"?

[deleted1198947]

---

Members don't see this ad.

-

 

[Stuaccount]

I would try to add a some recent hours. The past hours are a good addition but they may not be sufficient on their own. But it means it shouldn’t take too many new hours to help your application.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm not even sure what you did back then is "clinical experience." What did you do?

I agree, you need to do something more current within the last 2 years, minimum 200 hours if you can.

You are currently in Texas with no opportunities for clinical experience???

 

[Crayola227]

I would think even shadowing at this point would be more desirable than nada. There is an understanding that students can have a hard time getting more hands on or paid work at their level. Also, keep in mind that sometimes shadow opportunities can sometimes morph into something more hands on, as the provider gets to know you and you learn more, sometimes they will start to delegate tasks to you or have you assist them. Also sometimes that gets your foot in the door where they might recommend you to someone else where you might be more hands on, or more of a "job."

Also to be real, it usually isn't difficult to pick up some kind of caregiver hours. There are agencies for this as well. The pay is often awful but the hours can be odd which helps if you have an existing job. You can even look on Craigslist and NextDoor for these kinds of things.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

i live in rural texas. if your instinct is to immediately dismiss me then I don't feel the need to describe, as that's not the way to communicate to someone.

My instinct is to identify the schools that can relate to your situation. Tyler prefers applicants from rural east Texas, so i hope they would be sympathetic compared to the schools in metro centers. Similarly RGV and some of the Texas Tech schools. Have you talked to them, especially as a reapplicant?

 

[esob]

It's important to qualify the question in terms of your overall application and flexibility in school selection. If you have an amazing GPA + MCAT score then the age of your clinical experience is unlikely to matter significantly. If you look at the MSAR numbers you will see lots of matriculants at most schools that have little to no experience in areas that we generally consider "necessary" for a good application (such as shadowing). MCAT and GPA remain the most significant predictors of matriculation.

The other side of the question is your flexibility for school choice. Are you willing/able to move anywhere in the country, or are you limiting your schools to just a few in a concentrated geographic area? If the latter is true, you will likely need to ensure your application checks all the boxes, including recent clinical hours.