How to Get Meaningful Clinical Experience for Medical School

Clinical experience is one of the most important activities you can list on your medical school application because it demonstrates your interest in medicine and your understanding of the role of a physician within a care team. However, it can be difficult to find opportunities with direct patient contact as a pre-med student since most offices are open during regular business hours and are looking for full-time employees. On top of that, a lot of healthcare jobs require a certification, which I found even more frustrating because I was already a student! So, I got most of my clinical experience during my gap year and chose to focus my attention on research and activities I otherwise wouldn’t have access to while I was in college. 

You’ll commonly see pre-meds getting clinical experience by shadowing, volunteering at a hospital, or working as a scribe or EMT. But for clinical experience to be considered meaningful, it has to check a few boxes. You need to look for opportunities that allow you to play an active role in directly caring for patients, are longitudinal, and allow you to work directly under a physician. Bonus points if you can get paid for your time and the attending takes you under their wing as a mentor. Volunteering and shadowing have a place in helping you figure out if you like working in a hospital/clinic setting and understanding what a doctor does, but they aren’t considered clinical experience because you’re not actually involved in caring for patients. Watching someone else take care of patients is completely different from actually caring for patients yourself! Becoming a scribe allows you to work with a physician and learn medical terms, but like volunteering, you’re not directly caring for patients. Some pre-meds work as EMTs during college, but this requires a 2-3 month course that’ll cost you $2k-3k, shifts are usually 10-12 hours long, and you won’t be working directly with physicians. 

The best clinical experiences for medical school are working as a medical assistant (MA) or ER tech. I worked as a medical assistant in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine during my last semester of college and most of my gap year. These job listings can be found directly on the hospital/organization’s website and job listing sites like Indeed. Don’t be discouraged when you see that most listings want you to work full-time and hold a certification—I could only work part-time and wasn’t a certified MA when I applied. Just cast a wide net and present your relevant experiences in your resume and cover letter. For reference, I applied to 15 MA and ER tech jobs and only got a call back from one. But it all worked out and I’m so glad I had this experience before medical school! I ended up with a fantastic physician mentor, spent many hours shadowing in the OR, made tons of connections with physicians and APPs in multiple specialties, gained a deeper understanding of what it’s like to care for patients, and insight into the challenges of working within a large healthcare organization. It also helped me significantly when it came to my medical school application and interviews. 

Feel encouraged to reach out here or on Instagram if you have any questions or want to discuss your specific situation!

Related Articles