Many traditional and non-traditional premeds are asking us how to get clinical experience during the COVID pandemic. Being a medical student has some advantages, including direct access to a medical school dean. Before delving into her insight, let’s first explore the rationale for clinical experience in the medical school admissions process.
For premed students, the first question on your mind ought to be “is med school the right career path for me?” This is essential to figure out for yourself PRIOR to applying to medical school. While this sounds like a no-brainer, I’ve met premeds who applied to medical school and then decided during the application process that it wasn’t a good fit for them. Several former classmates decided to drop out of med school. The fastest and easiest way to answer the question of whether med school is right for you is to throw yourself into a clinical setting and see how it feels. Exploring whether medicine is right for you is harder in COVID times, but it’s still possible to find out without being physically in a medical setting.
One thing to do is to talk to a number of physicians to find out about their experiences. While this isn’t perfect, you can learn a lot about whether medicine would be a good fit for you or not by speaking with people from similar backgrounds who went into medicine. Before applying to a post-bac program, I contacted every graduate of my non-science major who went on to become a doctor to get their perspective on being a physician. However you do it, look for people with a similar background to you and try to learn more about the pros and cons of going into medicine. Obviously, this won’t tell you if you’re going to like being a doctor but you will better be able to evaluate if it’s worth finding out.
Another way to figure out if med school is right for you is by volunteering. Ironically, volunteering is mandatory if you want to get into a good post-bac or med school. Since you may not be able to be in the hospital now, I highly recommend investigating hospital-adjacent fields. Try contacting a local hospice and see if you’re able to interact with patients there. Even virtual/ telephone contact is better than nothing. I have friends who volunteered for suicide and sexual assault hotlines. Another option is to volunteer to help out indirectly with free health clinics in your area that need administrative support or non-direct patient care.
Now for the premed student who has made up their mind, I went ahead and emailed the dean of my medical school to ask what a prospective applicant should do to gain clinical experience during COVID times. Here’s what she recommended:
- Telemedicine. Either one-on-one or e-rounding w/ inpatient teams. Although this may be tough, you should find shadowing opportunities via Zoom. It’s definitely not the same as in person experiences, but since more medicine is becoming telemedicine anyway, it’s something to consider. You will need to have a good connection to get your foot in the door (so to speak), but this may be a good option!
- E-scribing. Apparently many scribing services have transitioned to the virtual space. Contact hospitals and companies that hire scribes to find out more.
- Direct patient care positions. Many medical school applicants this cycle have had in-person clinical/medical positions, such as being medical assistants. If others are able to get certified and work in a medical facility with appropriate PPE, that means you can too!
However, the bottom line is: because everyone has the same disadvantage, medical school admissions committees will not hold it against you if your clinical experience is slightly lower now than it would have been a few years ago.
Remember to contact people within your network. If you have a friend who is a physician or a resident or is a medical student, reach out to them and see if they can help connect you with someone who can help. If they’re your friend and if the request isn’t too egregious, people generally like to help.
Feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you have any other questions!