<p>So what is meant by clinical experience? I used to volunteer at the hospital or the Red Cross in high school and I didn't like it. All I did was push patients around in a wheelchair or file paperwork, because obviously, I wasn't allowed to draw blood or deliver lab samples. I feel like while it's a nice thing to do for the community, it's was waste of my time because I wasn't getting much out of it.</p>
<p>Other than that, the rest of my "resume", if you will, is pretty good and is filled with things I'm interested and love to do (research...being a teaching assistant...some clubs&orgs, jobs, etc.). I deal well with people and I have a really good GPA (>3.9) as a rising junior. But will not having clinical experience hurt me?</p>
<p>I would be interested in volunteering in a hospital that was more hands-on and there were more learning opportunities present, but it would require significant effort on my part (no car), so it needs to be omg-amazing. Any suggestions? I don't have enough time for EMT classes.</p>
<p>The most important thing to get out of your clinical experience is twofold. First, patient contact. Can you just drop in and visit, talk, get to know them. Second, physician contact, so that you see what their life is like. I had a few schools specifically ask about each of these in interviews.</p>
<p>The point of clinical experience isn't to learn techniques. You don't need to draw blood or take blood pressures. They'll teach you that in med school. If you are wheeling around patients all day, then talk to the patients. See how good you are at comforting patients and whether you like dealing with sick people. If you are filing paperwork, at least get an appreciation for the bureaucracy that plagues the healthcare world. Take some time to look through the charts you are assembling/disassembling. See where electronic medical records can improve our delivery of healthcare. Don't just turn your brain off when you step into a hospital.</p>
<p>I got some patient contact out of it, but most just want to talk to their relatives walking beside them or just were shy. I remember talking to a guy who was part of D-Day in WWII...Other than that, not much came out of it. This was for two summers, by the way.</p>
<p>Doctors were always busy. I rarely got any word out of them until I shadowed one of them for a day.</p>