Former SLP, curious about "clinical"

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
1

Hi,
Over my short life, I’ve gotten plenty of different clinical experiences, but I’m trying to figure out which ones will be formally recognized as such. As a high schooler, >10 years ago, I attended an early college. I was able to take an EMT-Basic course, but was too young for certification. I was meant to come back for my lab exam when the timing would work out, but that semester’s class flunked, and the exam never happened. Still, I did complete all of my ride-alongs and go on to serve in my college’s volunteer EMT club during undergrad. I plan on counting all of that, but I wanted to include it in this post because it does go back so many years. It’s fine if I can talk about it in a coherent and relevant manner that demonstrates I’ve been impacted, right?
The other big thing I’m curious about is my clinical hours as an SLP student. I went to CWRU and had great placements at the Cleveland Clinic, UH, and a skilled nursing facility in addition to my time in schools and the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center. If we focus on those in medical facilities, my patients crossed a range of ages (infants to 90+) and faced a range of issues (congenital, developmental, behavioral, traumatic, degenerative). I worked with other professionals, developed and carried out treatment plans, did paperwork, and even led an in-service with one of my supervisors. I don’t plan on counting my work as an SLP after graduation because it was all in middle schools rather than clinical settings and felt very different from my clinical work, even though I could still smell my students :wink:.

So, what do you think? Can I count it toward my clinical hours? Or is that greedy since, technically, all of those hours are already counted under my degree since I couldn’t have gotten my MA without them?

Thanks!

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How long did you work as an SLP? Currently an SLP grad student but thinking about going back to Med school after I work a few years and my kids are in school

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Not very long, but I’m really only asking about my grad school hours. That’s cool that you want to do that switch. I think it’s be wise to make sure you get a clinical job, even if you have to hold out and turn down a present offer in the schools.

4

I think you should be able to count them. I don’t think it’s any different than anyone using any type of paid work. You just received compensation via credit rather than money. I would definitely not count them as volunteer hours though!

I’ve had a rather circuitous route myself SLP is already a career change for me- I was looking for something with work-life balance rather than something I was super passionate about. Now I’m thinking damn I shoulda gone to med school. Im at the age where old friends are getting into residency programs and none of them were “that smart.” I think fear just held me back- now Im realizing doctors aren’t super human-- just super hard workers! Irony is I didnt want to go to school until I was 30. Now Im a few months shy of my 30th and halfway through a second masters. I realizing life isn’t a race and more of a journey and I just need to go for it!

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