Research vs Volunteering

[cttv]

Hey everyone,

 

I'm a junior-level transfer student at a University of California. 

 

As a new student at my school, I don't feel prepared for a heavy work load, so I'm choosing to either go into clinical research at a nearby med school/hospital or declare a minor that will eventually lead me to volunteer internationally doing public health/medical/clinical work for a min. of 6 weeks. 

 

I spoke with two PAs who told me that research experience isn't very valuable to PA programs and that real HCE as a EMT/CNA/MA would be preferred. I am a trained MA, but I am not looking for employment and I haven't found very many places that will trust a "volunteer" with injections and venipuncture. I am certain that I will be able to do hands on work with patients abroad, but then again...I find the research that I am interested in to be very impressive. I would be able to communicate with patients (participants in the research), neurosurgeons,  and other health professionals on staff. Although I'd be communicating with patients, it would just be through assessments rather than actual "back-office" work. Also, there'd be a pretty big commute from where I'm staying to the hospital, so I don't know how much I'd really contribute to the research with the few hours that I have available. 

 

Any input? 

[Guest MedLib42]

It's true - research isn't particularly useful on a P.A. school application. Most accepted P.A. applicants go in with several thousand hours HCE (typically paid) and several hundred hours volunteer work, but research really doesn't count for much, even if you're talking to patients.

 

You might try looking for underserved or free clinics - they sometimes run off of all-volunteer staff, so I've come across a couple that will allow M.A. volunteers to do things like injections. Many organizations and clinics have legal requirements that prohibit volunteers from touching patients, regardless of certification (although of course there are exceptions, such as volunteer EMTs), so it can be very difficult to find good hands-on volunteer work.

 

However, keep in mind that volunteer work (even if it's medical in nature and has direct care duties) very often doesn't count as direct care HCE. Many P.A. programs will only consider HCE if it comes from paid employment, although some will allow it, at least as partial HCE. I would definitely take the volunteer work over the research, no question (even if there's not much patient contact involved - it will still count toward volunteer/community service). But I would highly recommend contacting the schools you want to apply to and checking to see if volunteer work will count as HCE, or if it specifically needs to be paid.