I’m a 37 year old recovering musician who’s lifelong dream has been to go into medicine. I more or less bombed out of college in the early 90’s due to my, er…career. Anyways. I’m enrolled in college after my 19 year hiatus and I want to go into a medical related field to get clinical experience. My local CC offers two great programs in both EMS and nursing. My question is…what should I do at this point as far as a clinical type job training? I’m not really happy with my job and I would be more than willing to jump ship and go with another profession while I clean up some of my academic wreckage. I’ll take all the advice I can get!
- guitardoc Said:
I'm a 37 year old recovering musician who's lifelong dream has been to go into medicine. I more or less bombed out of college in the early 90's due to my, er...career. Anyways. I'm enrolled in college after my 19 year hiatus and I want to go into a medical related field to get clinical experience. My local CC offers two great programs in both EMS and nursing. My question is...what should I do at this point as far as a clinical type job training? I'm not really happy with my job and I would be more than willing to jump ship and go with another profession while I clean up some of my academic wreckage. I'll take all the advice I can get!
are you looking into becoming a doctor or into another medical area?
I was wanting to become a doctor. I’m just not sure at this time what job would provide the best clinical experience along with ease of transition.
Depending on where you live, most major academic centers have volunteer programs. When I met with the volunteer coordinator, I explained to her that my long-term goal was applying to medical school and she asked me what my interests were. She then offered me a few positions where I could get exposure in those areas. There is a lot to be gained from stocking shelves, transporting patients, sitting and visiting with patients. The longer I volunteered there, the more responsibilities I was given. Also, the docs find out that you are a future medical student and, if you show initiative, will come find you when there is an interesting procedure to see, etc (I worked in a post-anesthesia recovery unit).
I would recommend finding a local hospital that has a volunteer program to get your foot in the door.
Sounds like you are looking for a clinical job while you are taking your prerequisites. Although I am a nurse, I would NOT suggest nursing at this point. A commumity college RN program is likely to take a big investment in time - closer to 3 years than 2 - and effort, leaving little time to take prereqs. An EMT program would be shorter timewise till you could be employed and probably fewer credit hours, leaving more opportunity to take your prereqs.
But, there is no need to have a clinical job prior to med school to “transition” . The advantage is to become familiar with the roles on the health care team and with the environment - which can also be done through volunteering. To get a little exposure and test the waters (to see if you like “medical” things) you might volunteer either at a hospital, or even with a rescue squad/ volunteer fire dept (that runs ambulance).
I did this before college to see if indeed the medical field was for me, and it was very useful experience.
Is it that you need a job from a financial standpoint or you are using the term “job” though may include volunteer positions to get the medical exposure that med schools are looking for?