Getting into medical school has gotten so competitive that it’s increasingly important to have a strong candidacy with excellent grades and robust extracurricular activities. As I’ve mentioned in previous blog entries, one mistake I see pre-meds make is that they are so focused on leadership and research, they forget a critical component – clinical experience. To prove you want to be a doctor, it’s essential you obtain clinical experience for a significant period of time – not just a health fair or two. Good grades will not make up for a lack of clinical experience. Here are some ideas for obtaining strong clinical experience:

EMT (some universities have EMT classes and/or jobs on campus)
Participate in a good hospital clinical care extender program
Work at a low-income clinic
Certified Medical Assistant
Certified Phlebotomist
Certified Nursing Assistant
Work at a hospice
Scribe (usually a full-time job)
Veterinarian’s Assistant (a great way to get hands-on procedural experience)
Volunteer for a crisis text/phone line (might need to be paired with an in-person clinical experience)

Shadowing is a mixed bag: Medical schools don’t know whether you’re second-assisting in the operating room or just standing in a corner being ignored :(. If you choose to shadow, make sure you strategically delineate your clinical experience in your written materials.

If you’re not excited about getting clinical experience, it’s time to question your interest in a career in medicine… which is exactly what admissions committees will do if they don’t see that experience.

Do your research before accepting a “clinical” job so you ensure you’ll really get a satisfying experience and show admissions committees you can handle the heat.