Pro Bono clinic vs no pro bone clinic

[outdoorsygirl97]

Hello! For those of you who are going to schools that dont have pro bono clinics, do you still feel as though you get adequate hands on experience outside of clinicals? For those of you who are going to schools that do have pro bono clinics, do you think it makes an adequate difference in your learning?

I am a pre PT student who has been accepted to a school that I love. They have a pro bono clinic that you get to practice in once a week and also have patient simulations a few times a year where they hire actors to come in and act as patients. I have been waitlisted at a school that i also like but they dont have a pro bono clinic. I like the city that that school is in better. Im trying to figure out what I would choose if I got off of the waitlist. Any insight would be appreciated! =)

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[ya1]

You may not have time to go to a pro bono clinic, especially every week, while in PT school, In theory, it sounds like something very helpful. In reality, you will practice and "act" with your classmates. Not sure how actors can help since they are not that familiar with real life health conditions. Your classmates will be better than actors.
I do not think pro bono clinic is something that should be a factor while choosing a school.
My school did not have pro bono clinic and i did not feel like I had enough hands on experience. But that's what clinicals are for.

 

[PT703]

Hello! For those of you who are going to schools that dont have pro bono clinics, do you still feel as though you get adequate hands on experience outside of clinicals? For those of you who are going to schools that do have pro bono clinics, do you think it makes an adequate difference in your learning?

I am a pre PT student who has been accepted to a school that I love. They have a pro bono clinic that you get to practice in once a week and also have patient simulations a few times a year where they hire actors to come in and act as patients. I have been waitlisted at a school that i also like but they dont have a pro bono clinic. I like the city that that school is in better. Im trying to figure out what I would choose if I got off of the waitlist. Any insight would be appreciated! =)

I went to our pro bono clinic on weeks where we didn’t have exams and the material wasn’t getting dense yet. It’s a great environment to practice the basics .

 

[topher031888]

I really enjoyed our pro bono clinic. Ours was student run and I was on our board of directors. I was constantly involved which was great most of the time and incredibly stressful at others. As someone mentioned, you will often be so busy with classwork that you might struggle finding time to get in the clinic. That being said, I would still consider cost over whether or not a program has a pro bono clinic. If you are looking at comparable programs in terms of cost (including cost of living for the area), I would definitely look at clinical/leadership opportunities like a pro bono clinic.

 

[Bluecase]

Honestly I think it is a non factor. The school I attended had one, I went for an hour for six weeks and it didn’t affect my performance at clinicals at all. I went during the first year/ pretty sure it took me 45 minutes to do an upper quarter screen.....

IMO shouldn’t make or break a decision between schools. Cost, curriculum, clinicals, etc... should be factored in way more.

 

[Buster_PT]

Hello! For those of you who are going to schools that dont have pro bono clinics, do you still feel as though you get adequate hands on experience outside of clinicals? For those of you who are going to schools that do have pro bono clinics, do you think it makes an adequate difference in your learning?

I am a pre PT student who has been accepted to a school that I love. They have a pro bono clinic that you get to practice in once a week and also have patient simulations a few times a year where they hire actors to come in and act as patients. I have been waitlisted at a school that i also like but they dont have a pro bono clinic. I like the city that that school is in better. Im trying to figure out what I would choose if I got off of the waitlist. Any insight would be appreciated! =)

Sounds like SMU in the Bay Area, did you end up going there? How is it so far?