Premed students worry about clinical experience requirements

“Hey all, hope you guys are doing well. I'm currently a sophomore right now and last summer I did absolutely nothing in terms of clinical (primarily research and non clinical volunteering). I'm not sure on whether or not to take a gap year because of this (this may be a hint of neuroticism idk, sorry if it is). I'm planning on being an uncertified MA for the coming summer and already doing clinical volunteering at the ER (26 hours per semester). Please let me know what I can do, thank”

“I will get 600hrs of meaningful clinical experience and 1200 hrs of research by the end of this semester. I got accepted into a semi-prestigious texas research program where I would do full-time research for the next semester. should I do it or do more clinical instead? submitted by /u/Born-Leopard-2693 [link] [comments]”

“Hi, I am just beginning my medical journey as a freshman in college. While adjusting to college life, I have been searching for volunteer opportunities and the like. I found something clinical, but as I've been perusing this and other subs, I have found that nonclinical might be better suited for what I've got going on. I have a pretty solid shot at a clinical job this summer. It will likely put me at around 4-500 hours of paid clinical experience by the time I'm ready to apply. I&#3”

“Ik that getting enough hours for clinical is good, but how many different positions should you have? Like should u have one position where you get say 800 hours from or like 2 positions where you get 400 hours from? Assuming that there is enough depth in ea ch position submitted by /u/Easy-Entrance-1596 [link] [comments]”

“Maybe this is a silly question, but I’m a pre med with no family or friends who have gone thru American medical training. I’m a CRC and work with two people (also in clinical research) who did their med school in India and are looking to do residency and fellowship here. They were talking the other day about one of them doing their CRC role while in residency. Is that normal? Are you supposed to do other things that look good on applications while in residency and working 80h weeks? Ik you have”

“I am currently a freshman and may not be able to start clinical volunteering due to certain circumstances until sophomore year. Would that be normal? I am already involved in research, shadowing and non clinical volunteering. submitted by /u/SatisfactionUpset886 [link] [comments]”

“how many clinical hours would be considered as competitive or good if I have a 3.66 GPA, shadowing 60-70 hours, volunteer for almost a year and a half for non profit organization, a lot of leadership positions like president and secretary of multiple clubs, and NO research unfortunately. I am working as a MA so far I have 160 hours, but im planning on working for more as Part time as I study for MCAT. So technically ill have about 500-580 hours by the time im ready to take my MCAT. Im trying to”

“Can I count it towards clinical experience? Is it fully nonclinical experience? I'm not sure because by definition I could see, smell, touch the patient and I'd often have my fingers/tools in their mouth or I'd be checking them in and triaging for the dentist before he saw them, but dentistry is not a medical specialty so does it even count then? If it matters my dental clinical experience and medical clinical experience will likely be a 50/50 split by the time of my application. any”

“I'm a junior. During my first year I was pre-dent and I was able to get 170 dental assisting hours that first summer, I then switched to pre med over the second year and was able to get about 100 MA (uncertified, unpaid) hours the second summer (I had a tech internship at this time). I also have about 50 hours of hospice volunteering hours. The question is I have no idea how people are applying with like 1000 hours because if I apply this upcoming May I'll be applying with just over 300”

“Hey everyone. I’m a premed going into my sophomore year and just wanted to get some feedback on the way my EC’s are going what should I add and what am I lacking or doing too much of. Clinical: Pediatric Cancer Unit CNA: 24hrs/week: 1000 hrs University board leadership position: Health and wellness senator: 400 hours Sci Mi Mentor: Sci Mi: Mentor for High Schoolers in biology. leading meetings with 20 + kids on their own research project. Non clinical Volunteer: Going around teaching kids from u”

“I’m a sophomore with no research experience and currently do hospice volunteering. I can join a research lab and/or also start as an MA at a clinic, but am worried doing both while taking physics and ochem together isn’t a good idea. I’d like to apply to summer research programs and was thinking I should start in a lab now since deadlines for those will come soon. But I don’t know if missing a year of clinical experience is any better. Should I just start both and learn to manage my time?”

“Undergrad Junior. I have over 1000 clinical hours as an EMT, but less than 80 volunteering hours. I think that EMS volunteering would be a good way to use my skills for good. Yet, for where I am at, I need to make sure that they will count for volunteer hours. Any help would be appreciated submitted by /u/FartMultiplier [link] [comments]”

“Hi there, I do clinical dental assisting and have around 180+ hours performing hands on work with patients. My issue is I am not sure how to shorten the description to be impactful under 150 characters but also what to label the activity type as!! For now I put it as employment (I was formally employed and on the payroll making an hourly rate) but I think the EC itself is more related to my career then it is a job similar to working at retail (which I am doing as well and listing on the common a”

“For schools that like a lot of service/volunteering, do they specifically want non-clinical volunteering or do they include clinical volunteering in what they’re looking for? submitted by /u/mellos_anisochronos [link] [comments]”

“just switched my major from nursing to premed and my stats are looking like -4.0 gpa(tentative obviously) -600 pce (360 clinical as cna, 240 as pca) -0 research(what i think i need to get into asap) -20 hrs volunteer -0 shadowing(i got something set up this will be 50 by time of senior year -priveliged af so have resources to take gap -not even worried about mcat till i get last 5 pre reqs ins also seriously considering caa school(gonna shadow anesthesiologist) submitted by /u/wunofw”

“Im a rising senior who is looking to apply next cycle and it is hard/impossible for me to get clinical hours during the school year because of my sport I play for my university. Would it look bad if I applied with a few clinical (~100) and have a lot of expected hours? I have a lot of research (3k+) and the rest of the app is solid if that changes anything submitted by /u/_Vexatiion_ [link] [comments]”

“I’m a hs senior doing clinical volunteering in my ED. if I continue to volunteer all throughout this year and next summer before leaving for college, and then each summer in between college years, can I put it on med school applications? submitted by /u/Otherwise-Parking566 [link] [comments]”

“Im starting my junior year in spring and I have 0 experience or hours in anything for some personal reasons that had me in and out of school since 2022. My end goal is to be a psychiatrist and I was trying to find what I can do from now until application season in my senior year. It’s a tight deadline but I just gotta lock in and would appreciate any advice I can get. For example, I was looking into crisis text line volunteering while I wait to start classes in January, in which I’d then do in p”

“Hi all! I’m about to head into my sophomore year of college and I’m wondering how my stats are looking. I currently have a 3.89 gpa and roughly ~150 clinical hours (all from working as a CNA in a nursing home). As I head into my sophomore year, are there any areas I could improve? What should I be focusing on this year? Thanks!! submitted by /u/Pristine-IceCream [link] [comments]”

“Hi all. First time posting here, but have a question about the UC Irvine secondary. For the activities section they ask: "how many total research hours (all your clinical experiences) will you estimate to have had (include university-based research, lab assistant, clinical research*, preparing manuscript, etc.)" If I did summer research, then wrote my undergrad thesis on that research, and also helped with the manuscript, would I include all of those hours or just the hours in the lab”

“I will have 300 volunteer clinical hours and 500+ anticipated hours but i’ve heard that anticipated hours basically mean nothing to adcoms. Let’s also assume i’m also able to reflect really well on my clinical experience in my application. Do you think it would be a red flag or is it true what people say about quality>quantity? my gpa would be at a 3.8 and MCAT a 513 submitted by /u/ImportantPangolin923 [link] [comments]”

“How would taking a gap year between junior and senior years of undergrad look when applying to medical school? I am going into my junior year with very low clinical hours and feel like I need a dedicated time to boost my clinical experiences and also study for the MCAT. Taking a gap year AFTER graduating would mean that most of my clinical experiences could not included on my primary application if I submit it in early June. Also, if I take a gap between junior and senior years, the classes I wo”

“My school’s pre health department wants a clinical advisor letter to be one of your lors for med school. Do you guys know what counts as a clinical advisor? Is it just MD/DOs or anyone that was an advisor to your clinical activities such as a hospital volunteer advisor? submitted by /u/TomorrowExtension345 [link] [comments]”

“I'm an incoming college freshman and will be volunteering at my pediatrician's clinic doing basic data entry (with patient names/dates/stuff). I heard that this wouldn't count as clinical experience as I'm not interacting with patients. However, wouldn't it be not non-clinical too since it takes place in a clinic? I know this wouldn't be "quality" experience for a med school application but I'm still hoping that it'll count for something. submitted”

“By the time I apply I will have about 400 clincal volunteering hours in total and 40 to 50 hours of non clincal volunteering a which I help organized for a club should I focus on having that 400 or should I lessen it for non clincal submitted by /u/thechathliocbisexaul [link] [comments]”

“For my first question, is it bad that all of my clinical hours come from one summer, during which I worked as a scribe for 550 hours? A little more about my application: I will have 300 volunteer hours, but 120 of them will be online and completed over a few months. I also have 1,000 total research hours, but 600 of those will come from a research internship that lasted a few months. This brings me to my second question: Does it look bad that the majority of my hours come from short bursts of ti”

“I’m entering senior year, starting a clinical job, and need to shift my focus toward the MCAT. I genuinely thought I was basically done adding activities/volunteering, but I’ve recently been told I should return to hospital volunteering because the years I’ve been involved in some activities compared to the hours I’ve accumulated could be red flags. Stats: 3.8 gpa (will begin studying for mcat and taking it at the end of the school year) Current breakdown: Student Gov: Dec 2023–Oct 2025 | ~150 h”

“hi! i’m planning to apply next cycle and had a question about clinical hours. my freshman summer i worked as a clinical research assistant and racked up 480 hours. Outside of that i worked at a free clinic my first 2 years of college and have 150 hours from that. If i am shooting for t5 will most of my clinical hours coming from a cra job be fine? im worried because my app is super research heavy already (~25 pubs at app time). Thanks! submitted by /u/billybob2907 [link] [comme”

“I thought I would have an advantage since I had 4 years of reputable medical experience at a high-level institution (work experience). But it seems to have had no impact on my chances. This coupled with being financially independent after graduating has been super stressful. I'm completely broke, living on credit cards, and I graduated 5 months ago. Ive applied to hundreds of jobs. I dont have the luxury of taking free/volunteer work rn. So I've been completely stagnant since March. I do”

“I apologize in advance if this question is dumb, but I am currently a rising freshman so all this is very new to me. I worked a clinical job my last year of high school with about 250-300 hours and I had to quit before college since the schedule clashed with school and it was a far drive from campus. However, I'm currently interviewing at other places near campus for the same position and line of work. Would the hours I accumulated in high school count towards my clinical hours when submitti”

“I was wondering if a CNA program I did during the summer before my first year of college counts as clinical hours or do only paid hours as a CNA count? submitted by /u/Junior_Load3367 [link] [comments]”

“Basically Im an incoming premed freshman struggling to find experience and was wondering if you would consider RBTs as clinical or patient care experience or not? I've just been seeing a lot of discourse online and I don't have any certs so its been hard to find any other traditional pre med job opportunities like cna ma or or even scribing with what I have except for this- do you think it is something worth my time to be impactful on an application? I dont want to take a gap year unless”

“I am becoming a CNA this summer since I read that it can be a useful way to get clinical work experience. My plan is to work at OHSU as a CNA (the school I would ultimately hope to attend 🤞). It seems that I would likely need to work at least one 12hr shift a week though, which is achievable for me, though I want to maintain my gpa. My thinking is that there is some kind of advantage to working there for “3 years” before applying and maybe I could get an LOR if things go well for me. It could b”

“I am currently applying to jobs to get some more clinical hours and was wondering if med schools have any preference on the role you have. For example, do schools weigh your hours depending on whether you were an MA, EMT, scribe, phlebotomist, etc, or are most roles treated equally? submitted by /u/Necessary_Cod_3900 [link] [comments]”

“I had a question regarding ECs during your gap year. For example, if I starting a clinical job recently in my gap year and also non-clinical volunteering/shadowing, how would I put this on my application if I already applied? Doesn’t that not show my recent experiences? Thanks submitted by /u/Mission_Breath_7789 [link] [comments]”

“Hey guys, so I’m premed but my freshman year of college I didn’t get involved in any extracurriculars other than volunteering for a bit at the hospital before I got kicked out of the program lol, and so far during the summer I worked from May-July at a store as a part time job. However, I have nothing else to do for the remainder of the summer. I should’ve looked into this earlier but I applied for some internships and got rejected, I cold called several clinics and they all said they don’t allo”

“Hello, so its pretty much the title, I'll list briefly what my current extracurriculars are and please let me know if I should pursue getting a clinical job in my circumstances. so I have a 3.9+ ogpa and sgpa, im still studying for the mcat (planning on taking it in January), i currently volunteer for a hospice and a ER department, and in both places I do get to interact with patients and I have a total of 530 hours in both and its going to increase by the time I apply to about ~1200 hours.”

“So first off, I don’t even know if I am a freshman or a junior. When I was applying and going through the admissions process, they told me I was a freshman, but I completed my associates degree while I was in high school and I’m transferring 62 credits over to my new university. Also, I should be able to complete what is left of my degree in two years. I guess the main thing I am worried about and wondering about is the clinical experience. How does is this work? I worked in two different assist”

“Are ECs and research/clinical experience in the same category? Or are ECs specifically activities like clubs/sports. In the amcas are there specific sections to fill in volunteering hours, research hours, etc? Can I open an amcas without actually submitting it just to see what it looks like? submitted by /u/encyclopediab [link] [comments]”

“I had and will have a clinical job but I don’t have any “volunteer” clinical hours. Is that necessary or just having clinical hours is enough? submitted by /u/-ZoroJuro [link] [comments]”