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Clinical Experience / Exposure

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What is clinical experience/exposure?

Clinical experience/exposure is any experience that involves the care and treatment of patients and ideally one in which you can observe the patient/healthcare professional relationship. Most pre-health students will engage in some form of clinical experience/exposure before enrolling in a health professions program.

Why should I engage in clinical experience/exposure?

Health professional schools want to be confident that you:
  • have a good understanding of the realities of healthcare
  • are service-minded and people-oriented
  • are committed to the practice of your chosen health profession

What do I gain from engaging in clinical experience/exposure?

Clinical experience/exposure allows pre-health students to get a firsthand look at what it’s like to work in a healthcare setting and to see the qualities and characteristics it takes to provide care. It also allows pre-health students to test and confirm that this is the right work setting and profession for them.

Do I need to volunteer, shadow, or do research as a first-year student?

There is no expectation that you engage in these kinds of experiences during your first year. Most Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ students choose to spend their first year focusing on the transition to college life. We encourage students to not feel rushed to dive into these activities and wait until you’re feeling comfortable on-campus and have time in your schedule. However, these are important experiences that you will need to account for, and your advisor can help you decide when the best time may be to begin these types of experiences.

How do I find volunteering opportunities?

Volunteer Resources include the following:

  • The Importance of Clinical Experience handout. Ask your health professions advisor about this.
  • Our Service & Volunteering page (both clinical and non-clinical volunteering opportunities)
  • Community Health Volunteer/Internship Fair, usually held in March in Norris
  • Volunteermatch.org, for volunteering opportunities anywhere

Will I have enough time to engage in these experiences in addition to my coursework?

Yes, of course! Remember, this is about slowly building your experience, not jumping into everything at the same time. If you plan accordingly, you can engage in a wide range of valued experiences over 3+ years.

How much volunteering do I need to do?

This varies greatly by health path with physician assistant programs requiring the most clinical experience/exposure hours. In general, health professional programs prefer to see a consistent record of service over an extended period of time.
  • All programs will value service in a medical/clinical setting
  • Some programs may also wish to see service in a non-medical/clinical setting
  • Many schools will not have a required number of hours, but we recommend at least a year of volunteering before applying to a health professions school (one shift a week, ideally). Hours can vary depending on the pre-health path that you’re pursuing.

How do I find shadowing/mentoring opportunities?

Shadowing/mentoring resources include:

What are some student organizations that students can join?

Any student organizations that you like.  Being active in any type of club can demonstrate qualities of teamwork and Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵhip.

Visit the Student Groups page on our website to see some of the clubs available to you. However, this isn’t an exhaustive list, so is the best way to search Student Groups.

Where do I find a pre-health work study position?

While many pre-health students might be more interested in in research labs, health professional schools have not shared with us a preferences for specific types of work study jobs. Any job that sounds interesting to you and in which you could develop some of the would be fine.

How do I find summer internship opportunities? What do I do over the summer?

Explore the following resources and summer opportunities provided by Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ University and the Health Professions Advising office:

I want to volunteer abroad so I can get a lot of great hands-on medical experience. Do you recommend any programs?

We recommend that you review and follow the and only choose a program that adheres these guidelines.
  • Remember, if you are not qualified to do something in the U.S., you certainly are not qualified to do it in another country.
  • From the above AAMC document: Many pre-health students believe that the more in-depth clinical experience/exposure they have, the stronger their applications will be. However, taking on tasks that are beyond your training could make you look unethical, unknowledgeable about the health professions, irresponsible to admission committees, and may diminish or eliminate your chance for acceptance into medical school.
  • You do not need to go abroad to engage in global communities, many cities have international populations in need of service.