ANYONE that has looked into the requirements and "suggestions" for medical schools and graduate schools know that meaningful experience is so so so important. A couple schools I am looking at right now require ridiculous (seeming) community service, doctor shadowing, clinical, patient care and research hours that quite simply are almost impossible to get while also taking full course loads and maintaining a glimmer of mental sanity.
Even beyond just meeting minimum requirements for occupational schools, it's also so vital to dip a toe into the field you plan on spending 12+ more years in school for as well as the rest of your life. If you start working in a hospital and you realize you literally hate hospitals, maybe medical school isn't the best option?? Likewise if you start working in a lab and decide you hate the tedious yet rewarding life of a researcher, becoming a PhD just might not be your rodeo. Doesn't mean you CAN'T, it just means you should reevaluate.
Now I am no expert at getting into med school (as I haven't gotten into med school :) but lemme tell you what I've picked up along my journey in regards to gaining valuable experience.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:
There are many places where you can gain those important patient contact hours required for many med schools (and all PA schools in fact). I think it is safe to say that MOST clinical positions require some sort of certification. Whether it's EMT (emergency medical technician), CNA (certified nursing assistant), MA (medical assistant) etc. Which one you chose all depends on what care setting you'd like to work in, how long you want to go to school for, how much you're willing to pay, etc.
Personally I went the EMT route, because I am a big fan of emergency medicine. From my experience in training, ride-alongs, volunteering on medical teams, and now working in a hospital, I know that I thrive under pressure, in fact, I know that under-stress is that state where I work best. So when it comes to med school I'll know right off the bat at least one thing I'm good at.
Becoming EMT certified required a quick 6 week class (4 hours a day for 4 days a week), a certain amount of ride-along hours and practice assessments, a clinical assessment and written test to pass the class and get recommended to take the national test. Each state is different regarding what they require to become an EMT in that state; so check your state or any state you're moving to to see.
My class was my favorite thing about my sophomore year of college. I had already taken anatomy so the 'hardest' part of the class came easy to me, and besides that it was all about how to take care of emergent needs in the field in order to get them to the hospital safe and sound.
Something to remember when it comes to getting clinical EMT positions, is that most require both an IV certification and a good amount of patient care experience before hand. A lot of EMT jobs entail sticking people for either blood or to give fluids, and you can't do that if you're not certified so if you're not IV certified, many clinical positions will pass right by you. So learn from me, and get EMT-IV certified right after you get EMT-B certified.
I wish I could suggest EMT to everyone but it really is not for everyone. You are doing real life saving for people who are are strictly depending on you and your team (often without a doctor) to let them live another day. It's a lot of pressure that comes with only a six-week class and some ride alongs. If you aren't down for stressful field work, then EMT isn't for you and that is OKAY! If you are down for the pressure, then go for it and go for it hard. Do all you can to make connections and get additional certs; it will serve you well.
Currently I am working as a patient transporter at a hospital about 20 minutes away from school trying to build up my hospital experience to transfer into the Emergency Department as a tech. I love the patient interaction and I love that it is helping me get one step closer to helping save lives. I currently (finally) got my EMT-IV cert, so I'm hoping my world of clinical positions will open up.
(scrub selfie at work)
When it comes to the other certifications, I can't speak from a place of personal experience. From what I've heard from my friends, CNAs work a lot in nursing homes and do nurse's dirty work. It's a respectable position no doubt and it takes a special type of person to do it. and becoming a medical assistant requires some serious extra schooling. I THINK around a year or even two years.
Research everything before you commit to a program. They're often expensive and time consuming, so make sure you're gonna love what you're gonna do.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
It's becoming more and more prominent for med schools to require a certain amount of hours in a lab. And if you're planning on going to grad school I'm pretty sure it's VITAL to be in a lab for probably at least a couple of years. Yet, getting into labs and therefore gaining valuable research experience is HARD; especially if you go to a school where everyone and their roommate's cousin's step-brother has the same plan as you.
My school (CU Boulder) is a very research forward school. There are a lot of labs but a lot of times the undergrad positions are already filled by other pre-meds or researching undergrads. In my specific major (MCDB) the labs commonly like to reserve their undergrad spots open to those intending on actually pursuing a PhD, not an MD. So what's a girl to do?
Because CU is so research heavy, the MCDB freshmen are now required to take a research based science lab in congruence with their intro to molecular bio course. So instead of taking a lab where the experiment is all laid out in a cook book and you follow the rules to get the exact result everyone else is getting, you work in a real lab doing (grunt-work) research for one of the labs in the department; with the option to branch off and create your own project at the end and EVEN present it at a symposium. Pretty rad. It's called the CURE program and it was introduced by Dr. Pam Harvey.
That's how I got my start. I took Drug Discovery with Pam my first semester at CU and initially fell in love with the process. I was doing REAL antibiotic research for REAL researchers in a REAL lab.
I then asked (*cough* begged) to be a TA for the next semester. I then fell in love with the small sliver of teaching I was exposed to.
(a very groggy girl presenting her research at the CURE symposium)
It didn't take long to realize that research isn't my favorite. For me, it's a lot of work and failure for the occasional win. Plus, I like patient interaction too much to spend my scientific life sitting at a bench. Some people love it. I think the reason why we are required to have so many clinical/research hours is to be forcibly exposed to our future so that we can decide what we like and what we don't. Pretty smart no matter how annoying it is to get those hours.
My biggest piece of advice for getting into a lab is to be ANNOYING. Find a lab that you find interest in and email and email and email again. Prove to the PI that you are so enthusiastic that you will do anything to just breathe the air of their experiment. Maybe even be so annoying that they just give you a chance solely to get you to stop annoying them. Whatever it is, do not stop until you get what you want.
DOCTOR SHADOWING
Most medical schools I have looked at require a certain amount of doctor shadowing hours, but even if they didn't, I think everyone should have at least a little bit of one-on-one physician time. It is so vital to make sure that being a doctor is actually what you want to do. You cannot base your entire perception of being a doctor from TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy" or "The Secret Life of Mindy". Though admitantly they are amazing tv shows, if that's what you think being a doctor is like, you are in for a rude awakening. We bust our butts to study, and gain experience, and volunteer to become a physician but what if you get to the end of it all and realize that this life isn't at all what you thought it would be. Seeing what your future could be like from the inside is vital in deciding whether or not medicine is actually what you want to pursue.
But more importantly, the doctors you follow are the experts in the process. They were once an undergrad just like you trying to get into medical school just like you and obviously were successful. If there's anyone for you to pick their brain about it all, it's them.
I have been so fortunate to shadow many physicians of all different kinds. Each one has a different take on what's important for medical school and how you can succeed.
Not to mention if you shadow doctors in all different specialties you can start deciding which fields you like or don't like in order to get a head start.
(another scrub selfie before learning from my fave surgeon [shout out to Dr. Cervantes])
Finding them is the tough part. If you don't already have an 'in' among doctors it's pretty tough to know where to start. I've gotten doctor contacts through the waiting room at the ER I used to volunteer at, church, my own doctors I've seen, my mom's friends, and even now just stalking down doctors at the hospital I work at. It's not so much being annoying as it is being resourceful. The way I see it, these physicians have put AT LEAST 12 years of their lives into their specialty. Why would they not want to teach you about it? I mean sure there are the ones that aren't like that, but from my experience, the idea of someone listening to them talk about what they love with undivided attention for hours on end is something of a dream to most. I cannot get the advise I've gotten from the physicians I've shadowed from any textbook. It's personalized and meaningful and is truly what makes physician shadowing worth it.
VOLUNTEER WORK
This is one is oh so important to applying to medical schools. Most require unpaid volunteer work in the health field. This is also the area that is not my strong suit. As someone who is entirely paying her own way through school, it's hard to devote time I could be to my jobs to an activity that isn't paid.
That being said, there are many different ways someone can gain volunteer experience. In high school I volunteered in my local hospital's ER. It wasn't glamorous by any means. I mostly just got patients water and organized supply rooms. Quite frankly, I hated it. I was already an EMT by then and I hated being assigned to mundane jobs when I knew I could be more involved.
Other ways to volunteer is through medical mission trips. It's nice because you can probably get all of your volunteer hours banged out in one go. I personally have never experienced one, because they quite often break the bank, and ethically, I don't think they're very sound. When I'm struggling to pay tuition, rent and heaven forbid eat for the week, it's hard to fork out thousands of dollars to do mission work, that studies have shown, don't really make a difference (see post about "pop-up clinics").
This summer I was fortunate to be on a medical team for a youth wilderness trip with my church. I didn't have to pay anything, I got to spend a week with nurses and doctors in all different fields, learned vital skills and got wonderful advise I know I can use for the rest of my life.
(don't you know the best medical work is done in pioneer clothes sleeping on patient cots?)
In my personal and humble opinion, volunteer work is all about chance. Sure you can get a part-time volunteer gig in a hospital if that's your thing. It's important to the application process, but don't bust your hump volunteering in the ER every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night when you could be studying or getting paid. Save your summers for volunteering.
In the end, meaningful experience isn't tough to find if you know where to look. Get your certs, get involved, and be annoying. It's such an important part of being a competitive applicant, so put the time into discovering the field you could be spending the rest of your life in.
Even beyond just meeting minimum requirements for occupational schools, it's also so vital to dip a toe into the field you plan on spending 12+ more years in school for as well as the rest of your life. If you start working in a hospital and you realize you literally hate hospitals, maybe medical school isn't the best option?? Likewise if you start working in a lab and decide you hate the tedious yet rewarding life of a researcher, becoming a PhD just might not be your rodeo. Doesn't mean you CAN'T, it just means you should reevaluate.
Now I am no expert at getting into med school (as I haven't gotten into med school :) but lemme tell you what I've picked up along my journey in regards to gaining valuable experience.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:
There are many places where you can gain those important patient contact hours required for many med schools (and all PA schools in fact). I think it is safe to say that MOST clinical positions require some sort of certification. Whether it's EMT (emergency medical technician), CNA (certified nursing assistant), MA (medical assistant) etc. Which one you chose all depends on what care setting you'd like to work in, how long you want to go to school for, how much you're willing to pay, etc.
Personally I went the EMT route, because I am a big fan of emergency medicine. From my experience in training, ride-alongs, volunteering on medical teams, and now working in a hospital, I know that I thrive under pressure, in fact, I know that under-stress is that state where I work best. So when it comes to med school I'll know right off the bat at least one thing I'm good at.
Becoming EMT certified required a quick 6 week class (4 hours a day for 4 days a week), a certain amount of ride-along hours and practice assessments, a clinical assessment and written test to pass the class and get recommended to take the national test. Each state is different regarding what they require to become an EMT in that state; so check your state or any state you're moving to to see.
My class was my favorite thing about my sophomore year of college. I had already taken anatomy so the 'hardest' part of the class came easy to me, and besides that it was all about how to take care of emergent needs in the field in order to get them to the hospital safe and sound.
Something to remember when it comes to getting clinical EMT positions, is that most require both an IV certification and a good amount of patient care experience before hand. A lot of EMT jobs entail sticking people for either blood or to give fluids, and you can't do that if you're not certified so if you're not IV certified, many clinical positions will pass right by you. So learn from me, and get EMT-IV certified right after you get EMT-B certified.
I wish I could suggest EMT to everyone but it really is not for everyone. You are doing real life saving for people who are are strictly depending on you and your team (often without a doctor) to let them live another day. It's a lot of pressure that comes with only a six-week class and some ride alongs. If you aren't down for stressful field work, then EMT isn't for you and that is OKAY! If you are down for the pressure, then go for it and go for it hard. Do all you can to make connections and get additional certs; it will serve you well.
Currently I am working as a patient transporter at a hospital about 20 minutes away from school trying to build up my hospital experience to transfer into the Emergency Department as a tech. I love the patient interaction and I love that it is helping me get one step closer to helping save lives. I currently (finally) got my EMT-IV cert, so I'm hoping my world of clinical positions will open up.
When it comes to the other certifications, I can't speak from a place of personal experience. From what I've heard from my friends, CNAs work a lot in nursing homes and do nurse's dirty work. It's a respectable position no doubt and it takes a special type of person to do it. and becoming a medical assistant requires some serious extra schooling. I THINK around a year or even two years.
Research everything before you commit to a program. They're often expensive and time consuming, so make sure you're gonna love what you're gonna do.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
It's becoming more and more prominent for med schools to require a certain amount of hours in a lab. And if you're planning on going to grad school I'm pretty sure it's VITAL to be in a lab for probably at least a couple of years. Yet, getting into labs and therefore gaining valuable research experience is HARD; especially if you go to a school where everyone and their roommate's cousin's step-brother has the same plan as you.
My school (CU Boulder) is a very research forward school. There are a lot of labs but a lot of times the undergrad positions are already filled by other pre-meds or researching undergrads. In my specific major (MCDB) the labs commonly like to reserve their undergrad spots open to those intending on actually pursuing a PhD, not an MD. So what's a girl to do?
Because CU is so research heavy, the MCDB freshmen are now required to take a research based science lab in congruence with their intro to molecular bio course. So instead of taking a lab where the experiment is all laid out in a cook book and you follow the rules to get the exact result everyone else is getting, you work in a real lab doing (grunt-work) research for one of the labs in the department; with the option to branch off and create your own project at the end and EVEN present it at a symposium. Pretty rad. It's called the CURE program and it was introduced by Dr. Pam Harvey.
That's how I got my start. I took Drug Discovery with Pam my first semester at CU and initially fell in love with the process. I was doing REAL antibiotic research for REAL researchers in a REAL lab.
I then asked (*cough* begged) to be a TA for the next semester. I then fell in love with the small sliver of teaching I was exposed to.
It didn't take long to realize that research isn't my favorite. For me, it's a lot of work and failure for the occasional win. Plus, I like patient interaction too much to spend my scientific life sitting at a bench. Some people love it. I think the reason why we are required to have so many clinical/research hours is to be forcibly exposed to our future so that we can decide what we like and what we don't. Pretty smart no matter how annoying it is to get those hours.
My biggest piece of advice for getting into a lab is to be ANNOYING. Find a lab that you find interest in and email and email and email again. Prove to the PI that you are so enthusiastic that you will do anything to just breathe the air of their experiment. Maybe even be so annoying that they just give you a chance solely to get you to stop annoying them. Whatever it is, do not stop until you get what you want.
DOCTOR SHADOWING
Most medical schools I have looked at require a certain amount of doctor shadowing hours, but even if they didn't, I think everyone should have at least a little bit of one-on-one physician time. It is so vital to make sure that being a doctor is actually what you want to do. You cannot base your entire perception of being a doctor from TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy" or "The Secret Life of Mindy". Though admitantly they are amazing tv shows, if that's what you think being a doctor is like, you are in for a rude awakening. We bust our butts to study, and gain experience, and volunteer to become a physician but what if you get to the end of it all and realize that this life isn't at all what you thought it would be. Seeing what your future could be like from the inside is vital in deciding whether or not medicine is actually what you want to pursue.
But more importantly, the doctors you follow are the experts in the process. They were once an undergrad just like you trying to get into medical school just like you and obviously were successful. If there's anyone for you to pick their brain about it all, it's them.
I have been so fortunate to shadow many physicians of all different kinds. Each one has a different take on what's important for medical school and how you can succeed.
Not to mention if you shadow doctors in all different specialties you can start deciding which fields you like or don't like in order to get a head start.
Finding them is the tough part. If you don't already have an 'in' among doctors it's pretty tough to know where to start. I've gotten doctor contacts through the waiting room at the ER I used to volunteer at, church, my own doctors I've seen, my mom's friends, and even now just stalking down doctors at the hospital I work at. It's not so much being annoying as it is being resourceful. The way I see it, these physicians have put AT LEAST 12 years of their lives into their specialty. Why would they not want to teach you about it? I mean sure there are the ones that aren't like that, but from my experience, the idea of someone listening to them talk about what they love with undivided attention for hours on end is something of a dream to most. I cannot get the advise I've gotten from the physicians I've shadowed from any textbook. It's personalized and meaningful and is truly what makes physician shadowing worth it.
VOLUNTEER WORK
This is one is oh so important to applying to medical schools. Most require unpaid volunteer work in the health field. This is also the area that is not my strong suit. As someone who is entirely paying her own way through school, it's hard to devote time I could be to my jobs to an activity that isn't paid.
That being said, there are many different ways someone can gain volunteer experience. In high school I volunteered in my local hospital's ER. It wasn't glamorous by any means. I mostly just got patients water and organized supply rooms. Quite frankly, I hated it. I was already an EMT by then and I hated being assigned to mundane jobs when I knew I could be more involved.
Other ways to volunteer is through medical mission trips. It's nice because you can probably get all of your volunteer hours banged out in one go. I personally have never experienced one, because they quite often break the bank, and ethically, I don't think they're very sound. When I'm struggling to pay tuition, rent and heaven forbid eat for the week, it's hard to fork out thousands of dollars to do mission work, that studies have shown, don't really make a difference (see post about "pop-up clinics").
This summer I was fortunate to be on a medical team for a youth wilderness trip with my church. I didn't have to pay anything, I got to spend a week with nurses and doctors in all different fields, learned vital skills and got wonderful advise I know I can use for the rest of my life.
In my personal and humble opinion, volunteer work is all about chance. Sure you can get a part-time volunteer gig in a hospital if that's your thing. It's important to the application process, but don't bust your hump volunteering in the ER every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night when you could be studying or getting paid. Save your summers for volunteering.
In the end, meaningful experience isn't tough to find if you know where to look. Get your certs, get involved, and be annoying. It's such an important part of being a competitive applicant, so put the time into discovering the field you could be spending the rest of your life in.
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