Clinical Experience
Schools are more broadly interested in a diverse range of experiences that help you develop your “bedside manner,” see what it's like to function within clinical settings, and gain a better understanding of the day to day rewards and challenges of being a healthcare provider. It is recommended over 200 hours of paid clinical experience in several different areas such as inpatient, outpatient and community clinics.
Your paid clinical experience should answer these questions on your application.
- Does this applicant know what they’re getting into before committing to an expensive, time-intensive career path? Is their perspective sufficiently concrete and gained from personal experience?
- Has this applicant started to develop a good "bedside manner" and ability to care for people from diverse backgrounds who have medical needs?
- What is this applicant’s career vision? Where do they see themselves longterm?
- Is this applicant ready to navigate in hospital and clinical environments and work successfully as a team member within them?
Medical scribes are a relatively new phenomenon that has evolved with the electronic health record and the increased documentation requirements placed on physicians. Scribes serve as a “personal assistant” to the practicing physician by following them during clinical encounters and documenting a medical history and exam in the electronic medical record. This is “shadowing” but with a job to get done. Scribes are still primarily based in emergency departments or hospital settings, however, are moving into private practice settings. There is NO direct patient contact for the scribe, however, you will witness many patient-physician encounters, as well as learn documentation skills and requirements. You will also have direct experience with some of the challenges in healthcare administration and practice today. You may be asked to keep track of lab results, radiologic findings, and discharge and admission notes. This job requires high written and verbal communication skills, a high knowledge of medical terminology, and great bedside manner.
Becoming an EMT can be a long and labor intensive process but can be incredibly rewarding in terms of skills and clinical exposure. Requirements will vary from state to state. In general you need to be 18 years old, pass an EMT course, and not have a criminal background. There are four recognized levels of training ranging from 58 hours of training as an Emergency Medical Responder to 1200 hours of training to become a Paramedic. Once you’ve completed your training course you will need to take a certifying examination.
A certified nursing assistant is a direct member of the health care team. Generally, a CNA will work under the direction of a nurse (RN or LPN/LVN). A CNA provides hands on basic nursing care to patients in a variety of health care settings. CNA’s typically obtain vital signs, weights and height measurements and enter these in the clinical chart. Depending on the setting/specialty they may also assist with basic nursing tasks such as bathing, dressing, eating, and toileting for people who cannot do these tasks alone. CNAs work in almost any medical setting and can be in the emergency department, nursing homes, orthopedic offices, operating rooms or Cardiac cath labs.
A clinical medical assistant’s primary focus is to support patient care, from assisting physicians when performing medical examinations to collecting specimens for the lab. Although the job duties of a clinical medical assistant are broad, the scope of a clinical medical assistant’s job is always on the medical aspects of the practice rather than administrative tasks.
Phlebotomists are the technicians that draw blood. They need to know everything about drawing blood, handling needles, tubes, and bags and other equipment and regulations associated with blood collection. You DO interact with patients and gather information from them. You will develop skills that help you calm patients and explain procedures to them.