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. It is highly recommended that all Pre-Health students at UWB seek as much shadowing experience as needed to gain exposure and build your confidence in healthcare settings. | Volunteering: in a hospital, clinic, pharmacy, or nursing home. It is highly recommended that all Pre-Health students at UWB complete volunteer activities that develop and deepen your skills and demonstrate your passion for healthcare. |
| 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 which you can obtain through local community colleges and private institutions such as www.HealthCareerCerts.org.) |
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-Health students during school breaks. Atlantis offers significant partial need-based scholarships to attend their programs and will provide information about those scholarships during their application and enrollment process. If you are interested, you can learn more by completing an application here.
- Clinical Education Network – Free Virtual Clinical Shadowing
- Hearts for Health – Virtual Shadowing
- Swedish Hospital – Nursing & Allied Health Job Shadows
- UW Medical Center Observations
- Bloodworks Northwest (Various locations)
- Evergreen Health (Kirkland)
- Harborview Medical Center (UW Medicine – Seattle)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- Volunteer with Homeward Pet Adoption Center in Woodinville.
- Volunteer with PAWS, which includes a Companion Animal Shelter in Lynnwood as well as a Wildlife Center in Snohomish.
- Volunteer with Seattle Humane animal shelter in Bellevue.
- Husky Cache Student Research Repository (UW NetID login required)
- 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
- AAMC’s Medical Pathways & Enrichment Opportunities Database
- Allen Institute’s Summer Intern and Post-Bac Roles – Applications for Summer 2025 are due by January 7, 2025.
- CENEU Medical Spanish Immersion
- INSIGHT Summer Research Program – at Harborview Medical Center – Applications are due by January 20, 2025.
- Neurological Surgery Summer Student Program – at UW Medicine. Applications for the 2025 program are due by January 1, 2025.
- 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.
- NIH Summer Internship Program
- Project Horseshoe Farm – Gap Year Community Health Fellowship (one year) for graduates and 1-6 month Community Health Internships for undergraduate students.
- SCRI Summer Scholars Program – at Seattle Children’s – Applications for Summer 2025 are open through January 15, 2025.
- 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. Applications for 2025 close at 11:59 EST (8:59 Pacific time) on February 5, 2025.
- Stanford Medicine Medical Scribe Fellowship – Post-Baccalaureate Internship Program
- STEM and Healthcare Summer Research Opportunities Guide
- Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) – at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center – The online 2025 SURP application is now live! Click here to apply! The deadline to submit an application is by midnight (PST) Friday, January 10, 2025 and letters of recommendation are due by midnight (PST) Friday, January 17, 2025.
- Connected Huskies – Experiential Learning Opportunities Database
- Food Lifeline
- Union Gospel Mission
- Volunteer Match
- Volunteers of America
- Being a Medical Scribe
- Pacific Medical Training – online training
- ProScribe
- 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.