CNA or Internship?

Pre-Med & Medical School
1

<p>Hello All,
Right now I am a Junior in High School, and have an option for my senior year.</p>

<p>Through my school's partnership with Allied Health, I may either gain a Nursing Assistant Certification through next year or participate in an Internship (really just shadowing) a doctor for one block (of four total) for one semester. </p>

<p>I would like to eventually major in chemical or biomedical engineering, enter medical school and apply for a neurosurgery residency.</p>

<p>I was originally going to enter the CNA program because it would give me an opportunity to prove my work ethic in a hospital before entering college.
My Anatomy and Physiology teacher suggested the Internship, on the other hand, because it would give me more exposure to physicians and could lead to a higher paying desk job in a hospital before college.</p>

<p>I was hoping for some more opinions. From a medical school admission perspective, which would look better? And would I have as good of a chance at employment in a hospital with an internship as I would with the certification? </p>

<p>Thank you much in Advance,
Julian Stanley</p>

2

<p>Shadowing physicians is simply a necessity before applying to medical school. A CNA is not a doctor. Neither will be impressive, but if your goal is medical school, I recommend shadowing especially since you may even find out you don’t actually want to be a doctor.</p>

<p>What does one block for one semester mean in terms of time? 5 hours/week for 3 months?</p>

<p>Also, most applicants will have impressive enough resumes in college that high school activities are left off the application to medical school. </p>