There are a variety of clinical experiences that medical schools like to see in your W&A section because they inform your understanding of a medical career and the day-to-day work it entails.
They include:
Medical Scribe: This is one of our favorite types of clinical experience. Working as a scribe allows you to see doctor patient interactions up close; you'll expand your medical vocabulary, read about things touched on in appointments (there's that intellectual curiosity!), and be a valuable part of a medical team. You can scribe at a top hospital or a CityMD clinic. What matters is exposure. Don't just describe the job to the school (they know what it is); share a meaningful story.
EMT: You'll learn basic life support (BLS) and work in high-pressure scenarios. We had a client who worked as an EMT, and performed CPR on a patient, tag teaming with an experienced colleague so neither would become too fatigued and lag in compressions. Their persistence paid off; their patient survived. As an EMT, you'll have opportunities to help people and maybe even save lives. You can learn a lot from your colleagues, too. They've seen it all.
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): This job will require a 4-to-16-week state-approved training program at a local community college or through the Red Cross. It will also involve major grunt work. You'll be responsible for multiple patients, taking their vitals, making sure they're moving, eating, and drinking water. You'll work closely with a medical team. You don't have to work full-time, and the hours are flexible. It's also a paid gig, and actual clinical jobs can look more impressive than volunteering.
Free Clinic Volunteer: You'll interact with patients, doctors, and other medical professionals while providing care essential to your community. You'll meet patients with a variety of medical needs, and your entry about working at the free clinic should be about direct patient interaction. (You need at least one patient-interaction in your W&A.) Runner up for the best entry focus is a learning experience you had with a staff member. Showing yourself as a problem-solver is great.
Research Jobs with Clinical Exposure: A twofer! You'll learn about one area of medicine in-depth and get to know patients. As a hospital research coordinator, one client became a passionate advocate for sickle cell disease (SCD) patients' health and dignity. Through surveying patients at every appointment, he developed strong bonds with them and their families. He learned about the daily trials of the disease and the stigma surrounding its most common treatment: opioids. Hospital staff often treated patients in extreme pain as drug-seekers. One 19-year-old told our client: "I just want to be respected." It affected our client deeply. His involvement in this clinical research project spurred him to join two studies investigating new SCD drug treatments.
Shadowing: Shadowing is great introductory clinical exposure and prevalent among applicants—88% of Johns Hopkins' 2018 accepted students had shadowing experience. But to med schools, shadowing weighs less than volunteering at free clinics, doing clinical research, or working as a medical scribe, etc. That's because it typically doesn't lead to significant patient interactions. Still, shadowing someone in a field you're very interested in is informative, and you can have poignant experiences.
Since patient interaction isn't common in these scenarios, you want to emphasize how else a shadowing experience helped you build clinical skills or expanded your knowledge of a medical specialty, preferably one you're interested in pursuing after medical school. If these things don't apply to your shadowing experience, here are some other things to consider: What did you see—and how did it affect you? Did a doctor calmly handle an angry patient? Did you seek more information on any condition a physician diagnosed in front of you? Did you learn something about a doctor's day-to-day life that you didn't know before? Unless you had one incredible experience or really need to fill up your W&A, grouping your shadowing experiences in one entry is a great idea.
Related:
Your Pre-Med Priorities: Gain Clinical Experiences
Your Pre-Med Priorities: Finding Clinical Experiences as an Undergraduate
Your Pre-Med Priorities: How to Find Clinical Experiences for Your Gap Year(s)