Hey folks! This is my first post on these forums, so please go easy.
I’m 25 and currently serving an Americorps term with Habitat for Humanity, and my term ends in August. I intend to apply to med schools in Spring 2017 for matriculation in 2018. I took all of the premed requisites during my time in undergrad, and had a 3.85 GPA and yet…I have next to no clinical experience. I know I need to start volunteering in a clinical setting, but beyond that, I’m not quite sure what to do, especially in regards to a job for when my term ends. Any advice on what kinds of volunteering to do? And considering my dearth of experience, should I pursue something clinical professionally as well, like scribing? Or would volunteering suffice? Are there any other professional alternatives to scribing that would be appealing to the more elite med schools? I have a year of experience working at an EMR company, if that helps. Thank you all so much in advance!
Your Americorps service will look great in terms of volunteerism. What you need to be able to show the adcoms is that you understand what being a doctor is like on day-to-day basis. That requirement can be satisfied in a number of ways, through shadowing, clinical volunteering (make sure it is a position that has patient contact), or through some professional capacity. On the professional side, scribing is one of the best options in terms of getting exposure to the medical field from the doctor’s perspective. Some other options would be CNA or EMT/ER Tech, but those would require some training.
Check out the podcast I did recently with the former Dean of Admissions at UCI - https://medicalschoolhq.net/171
Bottom line - lack of clinical experience is number one reason students are not being accepted. Best clinical experience - scribing!
Thank you so much for the responses. It seems like scribing or being an EMT would be optimal professional paths; does one look better than the other to admissions committees? It seems like there would be more interaction with MDs as a scribe, but EMTs seem to have more hands-on experience with patients.
I have looked into scribe services before. If possible I would like to know reputable institutes/services. I have already accrued approximately 170 hours of volunteering. I am, now, looking for clinical experience. I am also considering volunteering at a free clinic. The only hurdle is their availability. During the summer, I know that a lot of medically related places get swamped with a large influx of high school students seeking volunteering opportunities. I went to a local hospital for a volunteering workshop and was told exactly that.
I would say that ScribeAmerica is probably the largest and most reputable institute out there for Scribing. My advice would be to try and find a hospital that doesn’t go through these third parties for their scribe services. I worked at an Orthopedic clinic that hired and trained their own scribes, and there were exponentially less hurdles to jump through during the hiring process.
@Coltuna wrote:
I would say that ScribeAmerica is probably the largest and most reputable institute out there for Scribing. My advice would be to try and find a hospital that doesn’t go through these third parties for their scribe services. I worked at an Orthopedic clinic that hired and trained their own scribes, and there were exponentially less hurdles to jump through during the hiring process.
I’m going to claim ignorance here. I don’t know how the process works. Based purely off of assumptions this is what I’ve got:
You use a third party institute, like S.A…
They train you for a fee/are a middle-“man” like L3 Communications.
You get a job or, at least, experience.
I’m probably way off base. The latter idea sounds more appealing. What sort of experience/commitment are they looking for? Some places require that their candidates/employees are contractually obligated to work for them for 2-5 years after their training has been completed. I’m unsure if this is solely with licensed professionals or if it trickles down to something like scribing.
Hopefully my train of thought isn’t too convoluted.