When and how do I find clinical experience after graduating?
Whatever your full-time glide year experience is, we recommend keeping a foot in the healthcare realm--it'll show your commitment to learning more about your future profession and give you some good, recent stories to tell at interviews! Once you know where you'll be in your glide year, start seeking clinical opportunities that will complement the clinical experience you already have. If you've done a lot of hospital volunteering or EMT'ing, focus on shadowing to learn more about the day-to-day work of physicians. If you've never spent time caring for sick people, do the opposite and look for hospital, clinic, or hospice volunteer opportunities. If your job is patient-facing, you're probably gaining sufficient experience, but follow your curiosity--the more clinical experience you have, the more nuanced your understanding of the profession and readiness to hit the ground running in medical school.
Start looking early: it can take time to secure opportunities, and many may want a year-long commitment. If you're taking a job previously held by a premed alum, ask them for recommendations. Check premed advising websites at local schools to see what they recommend for their premed students (but you can apply to volunteer as an adult once you've graduated, so you may find a wider range of options).
QOTW 2024: The Cost of Applying to Medical School
QOTW 2023: C- in a Prerequisite