<p>well i dont want to taint your experience. have fun, work hard, get an administrative experience. work your way up the ladder and never settle as just a volunteer. some of my friends were pessimistic about never getting the times they wanted and having to shell money to ride the bus to volunteer on the weekends unless they were lucky to work at a department located here. and others really only did get to discharge and copy/staple papers, but im sure if you work your way up, you can dictate where you want to be or get a better sign up spot or something</p>
<p>there are plenty of other programs. go to the career center website and download the pdf.</p>
<p>it is really hard to get into these programs. ive applied to two and rejected from both. finally i got into a program this year. it takes persistence.</p>
<p>Some of the best research you can do is through contacting professors/doctors yourself. These heavily advertised positions are OK for experience, but IMHO, CE doesn't offer that much to offer if you're in a lower position; going to volunteer at UCLA Medical Center is just as good, if not better in some ways.</p>
<p>I do research in the OR, recording patient hemodynamics while surgery is going on. Remember, doing research not only gives you clinical experience in some cases, but it also helps your chances at being mentioned in a research publication (a big plus when applying to medical school).</p>
<p>Is your research through a program?</p>
<p>Nope. Like I said, contact research doctors or research professors yourself. While joining a program is easier because they are more advertised, some of the best (and most interesting!) positions you can be in are unadvertised. </p>
<p>For example, my position wasn't even competitive, and wasn't advertised; I contacted the research professor and asked if there were any open research assistant positions. I just went in for an interview, they decided they could use more manpower, and I was in the operating room 2 months later.</p>
<p>How did you find contact information for the hospital researcher? In the same places as the other professors?</p>
<p>hmm..idk</p>
<p>if i could volunteer at the ucla hospital for something unrelated to what i wanna do such as child life/child care, should i accept the offer (after their orientation, anyone could sign up-it's just the matter of time slots filling up)? it's something in the hospital, and i don't have any clinical experiences yet in college. or should i be more picky and only go for experiences that relate to dermatology/plastic surgery/etc stuff like that i like? i don't wanna be a pediatrician.</p>
<p>maybe i shall wait and see if care extenders accepts me for the summer? i'm staying for summer session a.</p>