Do I Have Enough Clinical Experience as a Nontrad?

Session 114

As a nontraditional premed, you need to get clinical experience – but do you need to switch to a clinical job? Not necessarily. Today, let’s talk about when it’s okay to keep your non-clinical job as a premed and any potential issues it raises.

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[00:21] Question of the Day

“I’m nontraditional. I’m about halfway through my DIY postbac. I’m working full time and I’ve had, throughout the start of my postbac journey, multiple part-time jobs that aren’t necessarily clinically related.

I worked in the service industry. I’ve worked as a fashion designer. And now I’m going back to work full-time as a fashion designer just to make ends meet and afford this journey.

So I’m wondering how that looks to medical schools. I don’t want it to seem wishy-washy, or if that’s negatively going to impact me. And they see it as me choosing something over no clinical experience or research experience or something that maybe other people have the opportunity to do. And it looks like I’m just going back to my old career.

I was having volunteer experience. I used to live in New York City while I was working as a designer, and I was working at a hospital and in their emergency department. But it was so short-lived, it was only from maybe January to March, and then COVID hit. And I ended up deciding to take it as an opportunity to move since I’m starting my postback program in May anyway.

I’m trying to do shadowing but I don’t want it to seem like I’m complaining or whining because everyone’s dealing with COVID right now. So I don’t really have time to pick it up. And then I just got an email from my university that they canceled the volunteering program for next semester. ”

[02:40] What Other Clinical Experiences Does This Student Have?

Our student says she has around 30 hours of clinical experience. And it’s not that much. She said she shadowed for about three months full-time with a rheumatologist in the office where they let her do a few clinical things. She also got to scribe for a little bit and vitals. Obviously, COVID is disrupting everyone’s schedule.

She’s planning on applying in the 2022 cycle to start medical school in 2023. Hopefully, with the vaccines out, things are going to get a little bit better. Then this student will have some time to pick back up and get some shadowing and some clinical experience.

Now, instead of taking a full-time designer job, she could probably get a job as an EMT or a scribe. But her main concern right now is financial stability. And being a nontrad, she just pays her own way.

She said she has a yoga teacher certification and was teaching yoga on the East Coast. But when COVID hit, this also stopped. And this could be something you could do that’s a little bit more relatable to working with people rather than a designer. So try to check out some virtual yoga teaching opportunities or call a nursing home and see if there’s something for you.

But going back to the core of the question, for a nontraditional student going back and going to your main career being considered as wishy-washy or a negative thing, I don’t think it is – with COVID right now.

[05:17] A Big Misconception!

As a nontraditional applicant, you already obviously have a skill set where you can make money doing it. And this will support you going through your postbac program and put a roof over your head and food on the table. So it’s not a problem.

“There's this big misconception or fear among premed students that it looks bad if you are doing something not clinically related while you're in the middle of this process.”Click To Tweet

You need to have the experiences that prove to yourself that this is what you want. And it’s not something where you’re just making a last-minute decision to want to be a physician. You have to have those experiences to support it and to back that up. And you have a little bit of that, which is great. And obviously, again, COVID is throwing a wrench into your plans as well as everyone else’s plans.

So go back to work full-time and make the money that you need to make to support yourself. Then see if there’s a weekend where you can throw a couple of hours in doing some volunteer yoga for a nursing home, or doing some virtual hospice or maybe in-person hospice, depending on where we’re at pandemic-wise. This way, you start to gain a little bit of clinical experience.

Again, I don’t think there’s an issue with you going back to doing a non-clinical job while you’re in the middle of this. It’s just not a problem. And those skills and experiences bring a lot more to the table than just you being a fashion designer, or whatever it is.

[06:58] Taking University Level Classes

“Taking on a full-time job takes like a lot of time out of your schedule. So that’s also something I’m finding a little bit of an issue with is finding university-level classes that are available. I’m planning out my next semesters and I can’t find an organic chemistry class that’s taught at night.

I’ve listened to your podcast and watched your videos before talking about community college. But that seems like the only option for me to transfer to another community college out from my state school. I don’t want it to look like I’m just trying to take a harder class at an easier college. It’s not going to be easy either way.

As I transferred already from a formal postbac to a DIY. Because of COVID, I was going to go to Chicago, and then I just decided I’m going to stay home. Then it’s going to look like I also have a bunch of transfers going on.”

The transfer is not a problem because you have an answer for it. There’s a reason behind everything you’re doing. Even with taking one organic chemistry class at a community college while the majority of your postbac is at a four-year institution, it’s not a problem.

'Even students who do a full postbac at community college get into medical school.'Click To Tweet

You have good reasons. You’re working full-time. So schedule-wise, it doesn’t work and that’s a good reason. And in terms of fixing a GPA, if you’re not the type of student looking at the grand scheme of things in terms of your GPA, you’re not a student that doesn’t have a good GPA, and it does look like you’re running around trying to play the GPA game, then it just won’t be an issue.

Medical schools are looking big picture at your application. They can see in your activity list that you have this full-time job. So they would understand why you transferred during the pandemic. A lot of that is going to make sense on the top level. And if they want to ask you follow-up questions in an interview, they can do that.

My biggest concern for you is going to be in terms of working full-time and taking these science classes depending on how good you are at transitioning to this whole science world. So you have to be cognizant of what your bandwidth is in terms of studying and work and making sure you don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

'You need to make sure your GPA stays where it needs to be.'Click To Tweet

[10:57] Going to Extension Schools

A lot of students go to the extension schools, but historically, they’re still in-person. Now again, obviously, right now with COVID, is online organic chemistry going to carry the same weight? Well, I would prefer in-person. But again, it comes down to what is available for you and what works for you – and if there’s one class that’s online. That being said, it’s a potential risk because most schools are back in-person.

It’s a gamble but it’s also an opportunity. The concern at this point is the cases rising and things are going crazy again so that can always change. But it’s really up to the medical schools to determine, at this point in the pandemic, if they’re still going to accept online classes.

Hopefully, medical schools will be very lenient and understanding in terms of where students are. Because students can’t control if their institution goes online.

[14:24] Why Now?

Whether your postbac journey is relevant on the personal statement, I’d say it’s not relevant. Your personal statement is why do you want to be a doctor and not why you bounced around a lot in your postbac. So there’s no relevance to that. Being a career changer, it’s the same for any nontraditional student.

What’s more important to focus on is the “why now” questions. What is it in your life that’s drawing you to medicine at this point?

If you’ve read The Premed Playbook: Guide to the Medical School Personal Statement, traditional and nontraditional students have a very similar kind of journey in terms of why you want to be a physician. So make sure they understand why it is you want to be a physician with this added layer of “why now.”