Suggestions for clinical experience.

A_Ammo
Sun, 29 Jul 2007 15:14:33 +0000

Hello, everyone.

I am a non-traditional student returning to school to finish my degree and, following that, attend medical school.

I am approximately a sophomore. I will take three years to finish my degree, and I plan on taking the MCAT two years from now.

Until then, I would like to get some kind of patient care experience to give me the best possible chance of getting into medical school.
I don’t really care if it’s volunteer or paid, as long as I have a good experience.

My question is, what is the best way to go about getting clinical experience?
It seems ideal for me to be in some situation where I could shadow a physician or even a PA, whether it is at a hospital or private practice.
What is the protocol for approaching a physician or PA to get them to agree to help you?

I live in New York city and last year I tried just going to the volunteer department of a well-known local hospital. I was told that legally they can’t really let volunteers do much of anything.
I asked about shadowing and the woman in charge said absolutely not and that they “can’t help me with that.”

Any yet I remember hearing from a friend some time ago that we waltzed into the volunteer office at a smaller hospital in Brooklyn, and they had him shadowing in the ER on his second day.

Is it all in your approach, or does it just vary from hospital to hospital?

I am friendly with a couple of physicians, one of whom is a Physiatrist, which is an area I am very interested in (and also have some experience with such patients as I have worked as a personal trainer for several years).
Should I just call her up? Write a letter? Surprise her with a bouquet of tulips?

Also, would it be worth it to go through EMS training and just do that? It would be a lot of work, but would sure give me good experience I imagine, plus I’d be getting paid.
I just don’t want to over-commit myself, as I am very focused on getting stellar grades.

Many moons ago I worked at a psychiatric hospital as a mental health worker (so I have some patient care experience, charting, basic day-to-day stuff), and I am also a Neuroscience major, so I may have some edge in getting into that situation, though that is not really my preference.

So what’s the best bet on getting into a good clinical volunteer or work position? I have absolutely no idea, so I am open to suggestions. I’ll try anything twice.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Best,
Ammo