capnamerica Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I will be applying to US med schools this cycle and am getting very concerned about lack of clinical experience. I have been doing clinical research (chart reviews, no patient contact) for about a year now, and will be shadowing my family physician for about 6 hrs/wk starting at the end of April. However, some have pointed out that these do not constitute clinical experience as there is no patient contact. I'm hoping to be able to have some patient contact integrated into my shadowing, but don't know if it will happen for certain. So, I'm just wondering what constitutes clinical experience short of being an EMT, CND, RN, phlebotomist, etc. I don't really want to have to do grunt work in a hospital, because well, that's not clinical experience either. I have found a volunteer position at a hospital with some administrative work (filing, receiving phone calls, sorting and delivering ECGs to different rooms, photocopying, mailing, etc.), but am unsure whether this will be considered clinical experience. Any and all thoughts are much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 At my ER I didn't do "grunt work"... I got to see a lot of cool stuff and got to talk to patients every now and then... I also volunteered at a regional long-term care centre for a few years and that was amazing. Work with people with a rich history and with many different medical conditions too - for example, I had never worked with any people with Alzheimer's until that point in time... so it was really eye opening with me. I think it depends on where you are and just make sure you get the actual experience you're looking for! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirty6ix Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Also, if you're sitting in with a family doc as he/she visits with patients, that's totally patient contact. And if you're able to build longitudinal relationships with patients (that is, see them come into the clinic on multiple occasions and build some familiarity) that's pretty great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Also, it's all about how you PRESENT what you did. Focus on the clinical exposures you would get. I'm sure working at a doctor's office will give you some clinical contact (as thirty6ix points out). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnamerica Posted March 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Thanks guys. I actually posted this dilemma on SDN, and one person said that shadowing does not constitute clinical experience, and is considered a passive observership, which is why I'm getting worried. So, I thought why not ask Canadians who applied to US schools and got accepted. So for a final verdict, the shadowing should suffice, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathvvv Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Correct, if you can sell yourself during interviews and your other aspects are strong. Generally, Canadians dont have shadowing experience so that gives you a slight edge compared to other Canadian applicants. However, I would suggest you take some hospital volunteering so that you get more "hands on" interactions with patients. This is not necessary by any means but i personally found it beneficial as interacting with patients gave me more insight about what healthcare is all about. Good luck Thanks guys. I actually posted this dilemma on SDN, and one person said that shadowing does not constitute clinical experience, and is considered a passive observership, which is why I'm getting worried. So, I thought why not ask Canadians who applied to US schools and got accepted. So for a final verdict, the shadowing should suffice, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.