Clinical Experience can make a great impression on a med school application but only if it is meaningful and demonstrates real experience. Your clinical experience should give you a real sense of what it is like to work in a clinic. Working in medical offices and filing paperwork will not give you this experience. Ideally, your clinical experience should:
1. Demonstrate Initiative
Simply participating in a clinic demonstrates drive and initiative but going above and beyond can push you further. I worked in a clinic and helped build a website with another student for 5 different clinics to use. The website allowed them to print multi-lingual education materials for the clinic. This extra effort demonstrated my drive and initiative.
2. Be Patient-Centered
Just because you work in a medical office, does not mean you will get medical experience. Avoid jobs where you will end up filing paperwork and look for work that involve patient contact and working with doctors.
3. Bring about Improvements for Patients
Preferably, your clinical experience should be something that gives you the ability to make a difference at the clinic. Look for areas where you can help with a special skill you may have. For example, a friend of mine helped fundraise for her clinic by appearing on TV and ended up raising money to buy equipment for HIV patients in the Philippines.
4. Be Important and Meaningful to You
When it comes time to interview for med school, you should be able to demonstrate the work you have done and talk about the experiences that really moved you. Work in an area you are interested in and find meaning in your experiences.
