What qualifies as clinical work?

September 23, 2025 •

4 min read

According to pre-med advisors at Johns Hopkins University, gaining direct patient interaction is a critical part of a competitive application. So, what qualifies as clinical work? Generally, clinical work involves hands-on care, testing, and treatment, providing firsthand insight into the realities of the healthcare field.

Quick Summary

Clinical work is defined as any role or experience providing direct patient care, diagnosis, testing, or treatment within a healthcare setting, offering hands-on involvement with patients and their health needs.

Key Points

Direct Patient Contact is Key: Clinical work is fundamentally defined by direct, hands-on interaction with patients in a healthcare setting.
Beyond Observation: While valuable, shadowing is observational; true clinical work involves active participation in a patient's care, whether paid or volunteer.
Diverse Role Examples: Many jobs, including CNA, EMT, MA, and Phlebotomist, provide qualifying clinical experience.
Scribing Can Count: Working as a medical scribe is often considered clinical experience by medical and PA schools because it involves close observation and documentation of patient encounters.
Non-Clinical Roles are Support: Non-clinical jobs, like medical billing or administration, do not involve direct patient care and do not qualify as clinical experience for admissions.
Research Requires Contact: Clinical research only counts as clinical experience if it includes direct patient interaction, such as consenting or collecting data from participants.
Reflection Matters: The quality and reflection on your clinical hours are more important than the quantity alone, demonstrating true understanding and commitment.

Defining Clinical Work: A Hands-On Approach

In the broadest sense, clinical work is defined by a central principle: direct interaction with patients. This differs significantly from administrative or behind-the-scenes duties within a hospital or clinic. For those pursuing a career in healthcare, particularly aspiring medical students or physician assistants, understanding this distinction is crucial for building meaningful experience. Beyond just shadowing, which is observational, clinical experience requires a participatory role where a patient is aware of your presence and sees you as a part of their care team. This can take many forms, from simple actions like taking vital signs to more involved procedures. The key element is the one-on-one, empathetic engagement with individuals who are ill, injured, or seeking medical assistance.

Core Criteria for Clinical Experience

To qualify as clinical work, an experience typically meets several key criteria, centered around direct patient contact and involvement in patient care outcomes. Admissions committees scrutinize not only the quantity of hours but also the quality and depth of engagement in these experiences. A meaningful clinical role allows you to witness the intricacies of the patient-provider relationship and develop the emotional intelligence necessary for a successful career in medicine.

Direct Patient Contact: You must be in direct, hands-on contact with patients. This could be physical, such as assisting with mobility, or communicative, like taking a patient’s health history.
Involvement in Diagnosis or Treatment: Your responsibilities should relate to the patient's diagnosis, treatment, or overall care plan. Simply stocking supplies or filing paperwork in a patient area does not count.
Healthcare Setting: The work must take place within a clinical environment, such as a hospital, clinic, nursing home, or hospice.
Hands-On Learning: The experience should provide insight into what it is like to work in the healthcare field, confronting the realities of illness, injury, and care.

Examples of Paid and Volunteer Clinical Roles

Many different positions provide valuable clinical experience, both paid and volunteer. The most competitive applicants often combine several types of experiences to demonstrate a well-rounded understanding of patient care.

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): Provides direct patient care, including monitoring vital signs, assisting with daily hygiene, and reporting patient conditions to senior nursing staff.
Medical Assistant (MA): Performs both administrative and clinical tasks, such as taking vitals, drawing blood, and reviewing medical histories.
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT): Responds to medical emergencies, providing on-site care and stabilizing patients for transport.
Phlebotomist: Collects blood samples from patients for testing, a very direct and hands-on role.
Medical Scribe: Documents patient-physician encounters in real-time, offering close observation of medical decision-making and patient interaction.
Home Health or Hospice Aide: Assists patients with daily living activities in domestic or hospice settings, offering intimate and compassionate patient contact.
Clinic Volunteer: Roles in free clinics or community health centers that involve direct patient interaction, such as intake or patient navigation.

The Role of Clinical Research

Clinical research can qualify as clinical work, but only if it involves direct patient interaction. Simply working in a lab with no patient contact is typically classified as non-clinical research.

A Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) who interacts with study participants, takes vitals, or obtains consent may count their experience as clinical.
A lab technician who analyzes samples but never meets the patient is performing crucial medical care, but it is not considered clinical work for admissions purposes.

Non-Clinical vs. Clinical Work: A Comparison

To further clarify, here is a breakdown of what separates clinical and non-clinical roles.


Feature	Clinical Roles	Non-Clinical Roles
Patient Interaction	Direct, hands-on, face-to-face interaction.	Indirect or no direct contact with patients.
Primary Goal	To diagnose, treat, or provide direct care to patients.	To support the business or administrative functions of a healthcare facility.
Examples of Roles	Physician, Nurse, PA, MA, EMT, CNA.	Medical Biller, Transcriptionist, Hospital Administrator, IT, HR.
Responsibility	Direct responsibility for the health and well-being of patients.	Administrative or logistical responsibility for the facility or its processes.
In Admissions	Highly valued for demonstrating commitment to patient care.	Provides context but does not replace the need for hands-on experience.

The Importance of Reflection

Regardless of the type of clinical experience you gain, reflection is a critical component. Keeping a journal to document what you observe, the emotional challenges, and the rewarding moments of patient interaction is highly recommended. This practice allows you to articulate your motivations and what you learned from the experience when it comes time to apply for a program or position. Admissions committees value the insight gained from meaningful engagement far more than simply a long list of hours. By reflecting on your experiences, you can demonstrate a deeper understanding of the profession and a stronger commitment to patient care.

Conclusion

Clinical work is not a monolithic concept but rather a set of experiences defined by meaningful, direct patient interaction. It serves as an essential foundation for aspiring healthcare professionals, providing vital context and confirmation of their career path. From paid positions like a medical assistant to volunteer roles in a free clinic, the opportunity to provide hands-on care is paramount. Understanding what qualifies as clinical work empowers you to seek out the right experiences that will not only strengthen your application but also affirm your dedication to serving others.

An excellent source for ethical considerations in medical professions can be found on the American Medical Association's website.

Frequently Asked Questions

No, volunteering in a hospital gift shop or doing other administrative tasks without direct patient interaction does not count as clinical experience.

Yes, for many medical and PA school applications, being a medical scribe is considered clinical work because it involves direct observation of and documentation during patient interactions.

Clinical work involves direct contact with patients for diagnosis, treatment, or care, while non-clinical work involves supporting roles without direct patient care, such as medical billing or administration.

Shadowing is typically considered observational experience, not hands-on clinical experience. While it provides insight, most admissions committees prefer to see direct, hands-on patient contact in addition to shadowing.

Clinical research only counts as clinical work if your role includes direct patient interaction. If you only work with data or in a lab without meeting patients, it is considered non-clinical research.

Hands-on interactions include taking vitals, assisting with daily hygiene, moving patients, and collecting blood samples. The patient must be aware of your presence as part of their care team.

While valuable, caring for a family member may not be considered formal clinical experience by all admissions committees. It is important to supplement this with formal, verifiable experiences to demonstrate commitment.