COVID-19 has affected thousands of pre-meds’ plans, including in-person clinicals, shadowing experiences and certain extracurriculars. While the pandemic has limited pre-meds in these ways, new opportunities have also sprung up as a result that will allow them to continue to participate in their experiences virtually.
- Virtual shadowing
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Because in-person clinical shadowing became very limited as a result of the pandemic, many people and organizations have developed their own programs for shadowing where you may speak and listen to physicians directly while in the comfort and safety of their own homes. One such organization is Virtual Shadowing. Every Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. EST, Virtual Shadowing hosts a Zoom meeting in which different physicians discuss various topics about healthcare and their clinical experiences, from rural medicine and trauma surgery to the path of medicine by an immigrant. These meetings tend to last from 1.5 to 2 hours, and you may receive a certificate of completion for participating after passing a short examination.
While Virtual Shadowing does not yet technically count as healthcare experience, you may enter these virtual sessions under the “Healthcare Activities/Experiences” category for most college and graduate program applications and in your resume. Since this program is relatively new, it might not count as literal “shadowing” hours for now. You can find out more information about how to join its sessions and what it’s discussing each week on their Instagram@virtualshadowing or their website virtualshadowing.com.
- Volunteering with Crisis Text Line
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Crisis Text Line is a free, 24/7 text line for people in crisis in the United States and is primarily run by volunteer crisis counselors who work remotely — all they need is a computer and a secure internet connection. As a counselor, you have the opportunity to answer texts from people in crisis and help them with the situation they’re in through active listening, collaborative problem solving, and safety planning. Before you can start working, however, you must go through a 30-hour long training session that would teach you valuable skills such as reflective listening and crisis management (which may even help you with your relationships, as well). Additionally, you must also commit to volunteering four hours per week until 200 hours are reached.
Some benefits of being a crisis counselor include volunteer leadership positions, internships and job openings. Moreover, this is the perfect opportunity for pre-meds to hone their skills in communication, counseling and intervention while making meaningful experiences with the people they talk to. Becoming a counselor is a great way to practice empathy and listening skills, both of which are valuable assets to have as a successful doctor. You can find out more about how to apply for a crisis counselor position on their website here.
- DeepScribe
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If you’re looking for clinical opportunities through scribing but don’t have the chance to do it in person, DeepScribe is an AI-powered medical scribe that produces comprehensive clinical documentation, simply by listening to the natural patient conversation. DeepScribe often looks to hire pre-health and pre-med students for medical scribe positions. They offer flexible scheduling, a medical scribe accreditation and $8.50 per hour—and even better, you don’t even need any experience in scribing to attain a position! All you need to do is to commit a minimum of 15 hours per week. You can check out their website here.
- Virtual tutoring
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If you’re looking for non-medical-related experience to add to your resume, love teaching and enjoy interacting with kids, virtual tutoring is a great way for you to indulge in all three at once! There are many opportunities for virtual tutoring if you know where to look. For starters, try looking into which student organizations at your school offer virtual tutoring. Gators for Refugee Medical Relief at UF, for example, is one such organization that offers virtual tutoring opportunities in which its members teach its students through Zoom in reading and writing skills.
You may also do virtual tutoring through the Community of Volunteer Educators (COVE). The organization is a volunteer-run public service organization dedicated to providing tutoring services and educational enrichment experiences for K-12 students in communities in need across New York City. Formed by Columbia University, its vision is to support communities by developing innovative academic programming to reduce educational inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tutors may specialize in a wide variety of subjects, from science and math to social studies and foreign languages. You can check out its Instagram @coveducators or their website here.
While the pandemic has held many pre-med students back, there is no shortage of alternative opportunities to participate in while remaining safe and healthy. Rather than viewing the pandemic as a setback, start looking at it as an opportunity to make the best out of the situation and come up with creative solutions so that you may still gain meaningful experiences out of it.