What counts as clinical experience?

[sanantone]

It depends on the program. In Washington state, the public college RN programs require volunteer hours in either a hospital or skilled nursing facility. These specifically state that any paid hours do not count towards the requirement. There are actually organizations that people (mostly parents) are paying to coordinate better volunteer assignments for hopeful students.

---

For the programs that accept paid experience, scribe seems to be the popular choice here.

Interesting. I guess PA and nursing programs are different. I saw several PA programs that wanted paid experience. Many PA programs require more than 1,000 hours, so it would be a bit unreasonable to expect people to do those unpaid anyway. 

University of Florida has a specific list of what counts as direct patient care. I thought it was odd how optician experience counts up to 3/4 credit, but counseling only counts up to 1/2 credit. Most opticians spend most of their time doing sales, looking at insurance, and fitting glasses. Some opticians do lab work with eyewear, but I don't see how this is worthy of clinical experience. Clinical psychology counts for full credit. 

https://pap.med.ufl.edu/admissions/prere...xperience/