Getting Experience
Clinical exposure – time spent interacting with patients and health professionals – is important to understand the career you are pursuing, and to determine how you will use your unique strengths in this space.
Clinical exposure can be viewed as Professional-Facing Time and Patient-Facing Time.
| Professional-Facing | Patient-Facing |
|---|---|
| Shadowing: Following healthcare practitioners during their day | Volunteering: in a hospital, clinic, pharmacy, or nursing home |
| Medical Scribing: work with a doctor or team of doctors to take notes for them. | Paid Employment: common jobs include CNA, EMT, Medical Assistant, Phlebotomist, Pharm Tech, PT Aid (Some of these require specific certifications.) |
You can find opportunities using the following list of some local hospitals and clinics that have volunteer and shadowing programs. Keep in mind this list is only a starting place. There are many other facilities that will allow students to participate in clinical experience.
Some organizations require up-to-date vaccines, including for COVID-19. Many require background checks before you can begin working with patients. Keep in mind that these basic requirements for working in healthcare are meant to prioritize the health and safety of everyone in the environment.
- Atlantis University Study Abroad – observe physicians and learn about healthcare outside the US
- Atlantis is a hospital shadowing program that runs in Europe for pre-med students during school breaks. They are now accepting applications for Winter 2023-2024 and Summer 2024, and will be selecting one student who completes their interest form by Nov 1, 2023 to go on a free one-week winter trip. Learn more here.
- Clinical Education Network – Free Virtual Clinical Shadowing
- Hearts for Health – Virtual Shadowing
- Swedish Hospital – Nursing & Allied Health Job Shadows
- UW Medical Center Observations
- WPMG Virtual Rounds College for URM students through Kaiser Permanente
- Bloodworks Northwest (Various locations)
- Evergreen Health (Kirkland)
- Harborview Medical Center (UW Medicine – Seattle)
- Kaiser Permanente (Various locations)
- Northwest Hospital and Medical Center (UW Medicine – North Seattle)
- Overlake Medical Center (Kirkland)
- Sea Mar Community Health Center (Various locations)
- Seattle Children’s Hospital (Various locations)
- Swedish Hospital (Various locations)
- UW Medical Center (UW Medicine – Various locations)
- UW Neighborhood Clinics (UW Medicine – Various locations)
- Valley Medical Center (UW Medicine – Renton)
- Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System (Various locations)
- Virginia Mason (Various locations)
- COPE Health Scholars (Swedish Medical Center – First Hill & Cherry Hill)
- Fred Hutch Cancer Center
- Health Care Career Pathways – through Kaiser Permanente Washington
- HealthPoint – Medical, dental and pharmacy, behavioral health (Bothell and various locations)
- HEROs (Health Educators Reaching Out) – Peer health educators under the Health and Wellness Resource Center (HaWRC) who conduct health promotion and prevention programming on campus. These are paid positions and hiring takes place every year in the spring.
- Introduction to Healthcare Employment & Apprenticeship Programs
- Lahai Health – Medical and dental volunteer opportunities
- Neighborcare Health – Medical and dental care in the Seattle area
- Seattle/King County Health Clinic – 4 day clinic providing dental, medical and vision care
- TeleHealth Access for Seniors – a student-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that donates video-enabled devices to community health clinics and VA hospitals for patients in need to gain crucial access to virtual healthcare
- Volunteers Around the World – Opportunities for gaining medical and dental experience abroad
- Washington Osteopathic Medical Association – Mentoring program and list of physicians to shadow
- ADEA Educational Pathways Internship
- Lahai Health (Lynnwood)
- Medical Teams International – Mobile Dental Program, domestic and international opportunities
- Seattle King County Dental Society
- SmileMobile – Mobile dental services for children in underserved communities (Delta Dental)
- Union Gospel Mission Dental Clinic
Apply to be Pharmacy Assistant in Washington state – This is one of the best ways to gain pharmacy experience.
- Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project (Lynnwood, WA) – Volunteer opportunities are available. Contact: volunteer@feralcatproject.org
- Vet&Pet Jobs Marketplace is a free service for Vet and Pet Care Job seekers. You can register, browse, and apply online. Even if you’re not ready to apply for jobs, you can see job postings to get a sense of the job market. They also have blog posts about veterinary careers that you might find interesting.
- UW Bothell Office of Undergraduate Research – Connect to a database of research opportunities available at UW Bothell.
- UW Seattle’s Undergraduate Research Program’s database
- INSIGHT Summer Research Program – at Harborview Medical Center
- Neurological Surgery Summer Student Program – at UW Medicine
- NIH All of Us Research Scholars Program (RSP) – The eight-month program provides scholars with dedicated mentors, professional development opportunities, hands-on experience conducting health research, and the opportunity to participate in the All of Us Researchers Convention.
- Project Horseshoe Farm – Gap Year Community Health Fellowship (one year) for graduates and 1-6 month Community Health Internships for undergraduate students.
- The program spans from June 2024 to July 2025. The organization provides housing and a monthly educational stipend covering gas, food and leisure activities. There will be two application deadlines for the 2024-25 gap-year Fellowship. The first deadline is on Sunday October 15th, 2023 at 11:59pm and the second deadline is on Sunday February 18th, 2024 at 11:59pm.
- SCRI Summer Scholars Program – at Seattle Children’s – Applications for Summer 2024 open February 1-28, 2024
- SHPEP (Summer Health Professions Education Program) Review program requirements to check your eligibility. SHPEP is a FREE six-week transformative summer experience for college freshman and sophomore students interested in the health professions. SHPEP scholars have a legacy of success: over 65% of scholars who apply to medical and dental school are accepted.
- Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) – at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
- Being a Medical Scribe
- Pacific Medical Training – online training
- Scribe America
- Scribe-X – Recruit@scribe-x.com
Find volunteering, shadowing and working opportunities in Washington State at the Career & Internship Center website and use Handshake to find current job and internship opportunities.