Best way to get clinical hours

[angie.19]

Hi,

I have 3 different opportunities and was wondering which one would look best and count for clinical hours for PA school. There is a position as a volunteer at a hospice, working as a medical scribe and working as a caregiver. Thanks for the advice!

 

 

[beattie228]

This all depends on the schools you're applying to. Most programs want paid patient contact. Some schools will not accept scribe. For the best of both worlds, I would recommend working as a caregiver (as long as it's paid patient contact) and volunteer at hospice in your free time. A competitive PA applicant will have volunteer hours serving their community in addition to meeting all of the requirements. Hospice volunteer is a wonderful way to fulfill this while also exposing you to a unique and rewarding subset population of the medical community.

[Jdabrowski]

I work as a scribe and was a hospice volunteer and it depends on what you get out of the job. I do more than normal scribes because my MD knows I am working towards PA school so I assist in minor procedures, etc. Definitely volunteer for hospice in your free time!

[clapperjoe]

Is there any way to do more than just one of those options? I know most PA schools don't accept scribing as actual clinical hours; however, the experience and knowledge you gain will set you apart from others once you're finally in PA school. Also, most scribing positions are part time, so this would give you time throughout the week to pursue either of the other two options you have. 

[SERENITY NOW]

Agreed that nothing is going to replace hands on patient experience, but also agree that between those options you listed, scribe is probably the most valuable experience.  At my new job we are offered scribes during the busy shifts, and I've been pretty impressed with them.  They are absolute whizzes of the electronic medical records, which honestly is a skill that should probably be taught in school... I find myself staying after shifts sometimes 1 to 2 hours late to catch up on charting when its a busy shift.  If I knew all of the tips and tricks and optimization techniques they do, I feel like that would be a huge plus.  Not only that, you will get exposed to practical clinical decision making and get a sense for how things present in real life, which will help give you context when you learn about disease states and medications in didactics - I'd imagine this would be very helpful.