<p>So I just finished freshman year and I didn't end up getting an internship for the summer and now am just planning on job shadowing, volunteering at hospital and camp for kids with medical conditions, taking EMT classes. What else is there to do? I feel like I made a mistake by not planning enough...Is this going to hurt my resume since I'm missing a productive summer in research/etc?</p>
<p><em>shrugs</em> your summer sounds fine to me.</p>
<p>Wish I had your summer! I just got the answer from the internship I applied. How did you arrange to shadow in the summer?</p>
<p>Oh, I don’t know if it is comforting, but my friend (who got and internship and is a fantastic student, she got into John Hopkins Med and will start in the fall) said it is actually normal not to get an internship, especially if you a first or second year. But, however, spending a summer as a volunteer in the medical field is something that people should do at least for one summer because that really boosts your application (she actually did that in her first year). So, I hope you feel better, now =)</p>
<p>You sound good. As a freshmen you’re chances of getting an internship are pretty low. Shadowing and volunteering are great, it sounds like you’re getting a lot of clinical exposure. Next year you can try doing a research program somewhere if you like research.</p>
<p>I’m a rising sophomore and wished I had your summer. I can’t even volunteer at hospitals because all of them are all filled up. No jobs or EMT for me either.
Only thing I’m doing this summer is shadowing some doctors. :/</p>
<p>My freshman summer I chased girls. My sophomore summer I chased girls in China. The only other thing you need to do is have fun and enjoy yourself.</p>
<p>^^haha</p>
<p>thanks.
do you need proof of official paperwork for shadowing? cause i’ve been doing it through doctors my dad had connections with at his hospital… sort of unofficial</p>
<p>You need a name that can confirm your shadowing technically.</p>
<p>Actually, I think your summer plans are better than doing research. You don’t have to have research on your med school application. You do have to have shadowing and clinical experience with patients. That is more important than research. It’s great to get started on that earlier. </p>
<p>Shadowing this summer may set you up for more shadowing over breaks or next summer. The camp for kids with medical conditions is excellent, EMT class also. You have done a good job of planning out your summer.</p>
<p>
Clinical experience yes, but I’m not so sure that shadowing would weigh more than research. From my understanding, shadowing doesn’t weigh very much.</p>
<p>Shadowing is low yield. If you have substantial clinical experience that allows you to observe doctors no one is going to call you on it if you didn’t shadow.</p>
<p>does shadowing count as clinical experience?</p>
<p>Low yield clinical experience I suppose. You’d be hard pressed to play that off as your only form though.</p>
<p>^ what are some non-low yeild clinical experience, besides becoming an EMT or something. Where does volunteering in a hospital stand? What about working at a doctors office, where you take the blood pressure, write prescriptions(not actually prescribe something, but just write down what the doctor is prescribing, then he/she looks it over, and signs it), show the patients to their rooms, and take basic history of the patient…I did this the past summer, but I just thought it was considered part of “shadowing”.</p>
<p>If you want to be technical, shadowing isn’t exactly clinical experience, but more so clinical exposure/observation. If you’re involved in the treatment (beyond just observation) then this is great clinical experience. Whatever job it was that you had, that is a GREAT type of job to have as a pre-med, and you are lucky to have had it! They’re hard to find. My sister obtained a position as a physician’s assistant as a freshman in college and received the necessary training on-job. It’s a great asset to an application. Volunteering would probably be the next step up above shadowing.</p>
<p>I assume by physician’s assistant you don’t mean that in the literal sense of a PA. </p>
<p>College: Yes working in a doctors office and taking vitals is great. Phlebotomy is a great, but difficult to manage part time, job as well. If you were taking a patient’s history for actual clinical usage and not for your own experience and growth then that would definitely not be shadowing. It sounds like that’s a pretty decent position you have, I’d keep it unless you find something better. Other good clinical experiences include volunteering at a free or homeless shelter clinic, working blood drives/for red cross, etc.</p>
<p>As far as volunteering vs working clinically, they both have their merits. I wouldn’t necessarily consider Volunteering to be valued less than a job, because it doubles as a display of compassion and self sacrifice.</p>
<p>That is what I assumed when she told me, not a literal 90k/year physician’s assistant. However, the title is out there and she has it, so it was just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>As for volunteering, there were two things on my mind. First off, it is better for personal reasons - money. Secondly, most volunteering positions, especially at hospitals, don’t allow you to do much besides wheel the patient back and forth and other less intrusive activities. While volunteering is a good clinical asset, it’s much less a clinical experience than it is an exposure. On a job, you’re handed much more responsibilities and are actually even more deeply involved with the patient’s actual well-being.</p>
<p>Hahaha, the only reason I got that position is because my family members are doctors, and their friends are doctors. They tried to teach me how to work an ekg test, but it was too much work for the summer before my freshman year in college. ROFL, I should tell my family to pay me next time, ahahaha…because I was putting in 5 hours a day, 5 times a week, for 8 weeks</p>
<p>
Point taken. I over-read this.</p>