We have premedical students who work as patient transporters, trained phlebotomists (taking blood samples) and as patient care assistants for medical clinics in NWA.

The Northwest Free Health and Dental clinic and the Community Clinic at St. Francis House provides free health care for uninsured individuals and rely on premedical student volunteers to assist the doctors, dentists, and nurses in the clinic.

You can approach physicians either in the community where you are going to school or back at home during winter or summer breaks. Shadowing can be as short as an afternoon or day, or as long as a week or more. Even if you have an idea of the medical specialty you would like to practice is is still a good idea to shadow physicians from a variety of specialties such as Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics, Radiology, or Surgery. Picking more than one area of medicine can provide you with very different views of a physician's daily routine.

Many physicians who are on faculty at a medical school or work at the National Institutes of Health have an active research program in addition to patient care. Summer research programs are funded through the federal government to give undergraduates experience doing laboratory work. Look for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) section of the National Science Foundation web site.