As a member of the Nuclear Medicine Technology program at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and working towards the Physician Assistant track, it is very important that I have an outstanding resume, as both programs are highly competitive. There are several things that a college student can do to make their resume the most attractive to both grad schools, internship sites, and potential employers.
1. Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer!
I believe that most important thing you can do while in college is volunteer. It’s a great thing to put on a resume, but it is also a valuable life experience. This will not only show the admissions committees for your grad school that you enjoy being in a hospital, and are willing to put your time in, but also employers will recognize that you are not just going into a medical profession for the money. I volunteer in two of the local hospitals in La Crosse, one day per week at each location. I also volunteer at a hospital in my hometown over winter and spring break. I have been told from employees at the hospitals that I volunteer at that if you donate enough of your time to a certain hospital, they will reward you when you apply by making you a preferred applicant. Basically, they appreciate the time you donated, and recognize that you already know the hospital’s principles and values, as well as the layout and many of the employees. Because of this, they might choose to hire you, even over the other, potentially-better, applicants.
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2. Volunteer or get an internship over the summer.
Sure summer is a time to relax and enjoy the break from college. However, summer also proves a perfect opportunity to gain experience by volunteering. You can never have too many volunteer hours, so try to find a hospital that will allow you to volunteer a few times a week. I worked full-time over the summer, and volunteered 4 hours every Saturday morning. I ended up getting 50 hours of direct-patient care over the summer by working as an escort at the front desk of my local hospital. Internships are also very valuable, because they give you experience in your intended career field. Many internships are paid as well, although it might prove hard to find a paid-internship without having a college degree in a medical field. One internship-similar job that was suggested to me by a family friend was working as a Medical Scribe. These are paid positions at hospitals throughout the country that assist doctors. This counts as hospital experience, and looks great on a resume!
3. Keep a part-time job.
Sure, the admissions committees will be impressed by your 4.0 and 1000 volunteer hours. However, they will wonder why you weren’t working in college. Even if your parents are paying for your college for you, or if you got a scholarship, it is still valuable to work. Employers will be impressed that you had the time-management skills to juggle volunteering, a job, and great grades all while being a full-time student. The extra pocket money, or the buffer of a savings account filled with cash, will be extremely helpful once and a while. In fact, you can get a job that is medical-related! If you have the time to get a EMT/MA/CNA license early on in your college career, working at a nursing home or hospital with these certifications will look great for grad-school admissions and employers. However, in my college-town, many people got jobs working at adult-care centers, at the red cross, or at Biolife Plasma, a plasma-donation center. All of these are alternative places to work that don’t require a college degree, or any certification, and still give patient care hours.
4. Get good grades.
The most obvious thing that will be an attractive attribute to put on a resume is GPA and courses taken that will make you the best candidate for a certain job. However, many employers don’t care as much about the GPA you achieved in college. The more important things to include are experiences that will help be the best you can be at the specific job. I’m not saying that including the GPA isn’t important, because you should include it, so don’t think that if you have a 1.0 you still have the chance to get into Medical School. If you are a potentially valuable asset to a company, GPA will not have as much weight as you had hoped/dreaded.
5. Join health-related clubs.
Colleges have clubs to help assist you in your path to medicine. I am a member of the Pre-Nuclear Medicine Technology club, and the Pre-Physician Assistant club at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Every college has clubs just like these: Pre-Med, Pre-PA, Pre-Nursing, Pre-Optometry, Pre-Psychiatry, Pre-Physical therapy, Pre-Occupational Therapy. The options of which medical profession you seek to participate in are endless; joining some of these clubs will help you decide. Already decided? Then join the club that is related to your intended-profession, because they will really help you out along the way!
6. Job shadow, even outside of your intended profession.
It is important that you job shadow, not only to put on a resume, but to also guarantee that you will enjoy your intended profession. My adviser told me that although I was majoring in Nuclear Medicine Technology, I should job shadow other medical areas in the hospital as well, to be completely sure that I will be okay in the profession. I also had to job shadow physician assistants, but was encouraged to shadow doctors, surgeons, and nurses as well. However it is even more important to get hours in a hospital for a resume, as the programs and jobs that you will be applying to want to see that you are sure that your chosen profession is, in fact, the right choice.
7. Develop relationships to get great references.
I don't mean date your professor, but developing close relationships with lab instructors, professors, those you job shadow, and those you volunteer with, may pose valuable opportunities to obtain a stellar recommendation letter or reference in the future. I went in to my chemistry lab instructor's office hours each week for the majority of the school year in order to both receive help on challenging lab work, and form a relationship in order to get a reference letter. At the end of the semester, I printed off the necessary documents, my resume, and a short letter explaining what the recommendation letter was for, and asked my lab instructor if she was willing to submit one for me. Because of the time that I put into the lab, she wholeheartedly said yes, and gave me a wonderful recommendation.
8. Go to medical-related opportunities on and off campus.
There are many different opportunities on and off campus that will broaden your horizons in medical knowledge. For example, the student health clinic at my college offered tours of the patient-care facilities that Physician Assistants use to train in. They also offer seminars by different scientists and medical experts throughout the year which are free to the public. All of these different opportunities can be listed on a resume to show that you have interest in the medical field, as well as the dedication to attend different, related opportunities.
9. Get your CNA/EMT/MA certification early.
Many of the people I know that are pre-physician assistant have one of the aforementioned certifications. These easily allow you to get a job in a hospital, nursing home, or other patient-care facility. Having a certification also guarantees you to get a lot of direct-patient care experience that will make you stand out as a more intriguing applicant.
10. Keep track of everything.
It's easy to forget the 4 hours that you volunteered at a nursing home last month, so make sure to write everything that you have done down! Keeping a Microsoft Word or Excel document with every volunteer experience, job-shadow, and internship documented will be very helpful in the long-run. It might also be helpful to keep updated hour totals directly on your resume. For example, every time I volunteer at a local hospital, I go onto my resume document on the computer and change the total hours volunteered, just to keep it updated. This way, if I have an interview, or need to submit my resume, I simply have to print it off and it will be up-to-date.
