The Importance of Clinical Experiences for Pre-Med Students
The path to medical school is filled with a lot of requirements and expectations. Some may be obvious, like taking organic chemistry. Others, like clinical experiences, can feel a bit vague and their importance in the application is less understood. But clinical experience isn’t just a box to be checked; it plays an important role in your development as a future doctor and is an essential part of the medical school application. These valuable experiences need to start long before you apply to medical school.
Let’s step back to talk about why clinical experiences are so important. If you’re considering medical school, I want you to ask yourself the following questions and answer with as much detail as possible, including examples to support those answers:
- How do I know I want to be a doctor?
- What is the doctor’s role on the healthcare team?
- Do I like interacting with patients and being around sick people?
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
- Scribe
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Clinical research
- Hotline or counseling volunteer
- Volunteering – hospital, clinic, or hospice
- Volunteering – illness-related summer camps or health screening organizations