<p>Do I have to volunteer at some point in my undergraduate career? I would much rather get clinical experience while getting paid because its the practical thing to do.</p>
<p>So, what is your plan? To find someone who is willing to pay you to work for a few hours each week part-time as a nurses’s assistant or EMT when you have no previous experience?</p>
<p>I have no plan. Thats why I’m asking. So I guess I really have to work without pay. Oh well. Usually how long does it take to get a paid position?</p>
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<p>you really have to be able to do something that someone else isn’t willing to do for free… a million premeds are more than willing to do unskilled “clinical” work for free so y would anyone pay YOU for it? As for EMT work…depends on where you are…if you are in the middle of nowhere then you might find someone willing to pay you after you have like a yr or so of experience but in a big city there is little chance you’ll get a part time EMT job since there are way too many full time applicants for them to consider you.</p>
<p>The paid clinical positions most premeds take are CNA, MA, or EMT. It’s hard to get anyone to hire you as a CNA or a medial assistant for a measley 15 hours/week (which is probably all you can afford to spare). It’s just not worth it to them to hire someone with no experience for so few hours. Thus, the applicants who were CNA’s or MA’s were the ones who took a year or two off and worked full-time. Premeds who were EMT’s usually volunteered as such. Again, it’s unrealistic to expect someone to pay you when you don’t have any previous experience and when you can only work 1-2 shifts per week.</p>
<p>But I have all the time in the world because I have nothing to do this summer. I have about 3months off.</p>
<p>There’s no reason to pay you if you’re only going to be around for 3 months. There’s even less incentive to do so because you have no training, thus incurring additional costs for your employer in order to get you ready for work. If you really want clinical experience, find a volunteer job and work part-time in a non-clinical setting to get some cash.</p>
<p>Getting into medical school requires some sacrifice. This is one of them.</p>
<p>The only way you’re going to get a paid position is if you have some experience already..which would almost definitely include volunteering. I got a CNA position but only because I promised them I would come home every other weekend in the Fall (my school is only an hour and a half away from home). And really the only reason I got the job is because I’m an EMT and volunteered all of last summer and this winter and also volunteered at the nursing home I will be at as a CNA. I don’t understand how you want to become a doctor and yet only will do something if you get something in return. </p>
<p>Also, make sure your university doesn’t require volunteer hours. I need to go through a premed committee and cannot be interviewed by them unless I already have 50 volunteer hours.</p>