Medical schools are interested in applicants who have set aside time to get clinical experience. Through exposure to clinical care, premedical students can acquire not just a deeper appreciation for the rewards of medical practice but also the challenges associated with the profession.
Pursuing worthwhile clinical experiences as a premedical studen demonstrates to medical school admissions committees that your pursuit of the profession is based on a mature understanding of what it means to be a physician.
[Learn how to find the right physician shadowing experience.]
Here are five ways to ensure your clinical experiences are worthwhile.
1. Explore primary care: Experiences in primary care provide a wide-ranging perspective of the medical field.
Internal medicine, family medicine or emergency medicine will show you a variety of diseases spanning from heart problems to diabetes to fractures. This will give you ta more holistic sense of the types of medical problems you will encounter as a physician.
Additionally, the U.S. health care system is facing a shortage of primary care physicians. As a result, medical schools are more interested in applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to this area of medicine — which you can display with experience in primary care.
[Learn how to find a medical school that invests in primary care leaders.]
2. Try both in- and outpatient clinical settings: To develop a comprehensive understanding of what it means to be a physician, you need both inpatient, or hospital, and outpatient, or clinic, experience.
The diseases you see and the approaches to patient care in each setting will differ. As a physician, you’ll likely spend time caring for patients in both settings. As a result, it is a great idea to experience both and demonstrate that you feel at home in each environment.
3. Work with the underserved: Medical school admissions committees view candidates who have worked with underserved communities more favorably. As a premedical student working with these communities, you have the opportunity to gain a clear picture of the unique challenges that patients in underrepresented communities face and learn about how economic and social factors can affect health outcomes.
Through work with underserved communities, you also demonstrate your compassion for those who are in need. Medical schools are often encouraged by premedical students with this experience because their hope is to produce compassionate physicians who have a desire to give back to these populations.
4. Spend time with physicians: While many clinical opportunities may be interesting, not all opportunities afford premedical students the ability to spend time with physicians. To understand a doctor’s daily work, spend time shadowing or assisting physicians.
Through such undertakings, you can learn a great deal about how to effectively communicate with patients, display empathy and earn trust. Additionally, you will learn more about the stepwise approach that physicians take when a patient presents with a medical problem.
You can gain a glimpse into the physician’s thought process as he or she takes a medical history, orders diagnostic tests, performs a physical examination and uses all that information to make decisions about the appropriate treatment course.
[Learn how medical schools teach the value of patient-physician relationships.]
The physicians you assist or shadow can also serve as valuable mentors. If you establish good rapport with a physician you have worked with, you may be able to ask for a letter of recommendation when you apply for medical school.
Note, clinical experiences that do not involve working with medical doctors, such as being an emergency medical technician, can also provide premedical students with a sense of patient care. While these types of experiences are worthwhile, they should be done in addition to, not as a replacement for , working alongside a physician.
5. Go beyond observation: As a physician, you will have to assume an immense amount of responsibility for the health and well-being of others. As such, it is important for premedical students to assume roles that allow them to be involved in patient care in a small capacity.
Any position where you are not just a spectator is valuable. Whether you are a medical scribe, an interpreter or a medical assistant, go beyond observation and take an active approach to exploring the depth and breadth of the medical field.
Remember, the purpose of gaining clinical experience is not to acquire medical knowledge. It’s to cultivate curiosity and genuine interest. Do this by being totally engaged, asking interesting questions and being aware of the many nuances of patient care during your clinical experiences.
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5 Ways to Develop Strong Clinical Experiences for Medical School originally appeared on usnews.com
