Patient Care Hours at ACR for Premed Students
“Get yourself hired at ACR Homes!” That’s Dr. Bruce Simat’s standard advice to incoming students who are interested in pursuing a premed program and need patient care hours. Dr. Simat is a professor of biochemistry and human physiology at Northwestern University in Arden Hills, Minnesota. He has over 20 years of teaching experience and is the advisor for premed and pre-professional students. He knows what he’s talking about.
“90% Acceptance Rate”
Students in his department have a phenomenal 90% acceptance rate into professional programs. What’s the key to that high acceptance rate? Obviously, strong grades and entrance exam scores are part of the equation. In addition, professional programs are also looking for patient care hours and experience, which is where Dr. Simat’s advice about ACR Homes comes in.
Gain Patient Care Experience
Dr. Bruce Simat
Over and over, Dr. Simat observes that students who work for ACR gain significant insight and experience in key areas. First, he notes that they gain self-knowledge on the question of whether they like working with people and health problems. That’s important to know before you get too far into a health care degree program. Second, he notes that they learn skills in how to physically care for people and make them comfortable. ACR’s training and its group home settings offer interesting and fun opportunities to develop knowledge and expertise in patient care. Third, they gain solid experience with a wide array of medical concerns as well as med administration, treatments, monitoring outcomes, and maintaining related documentation. Last but not least, they gain experience in how to work with people who have a wide array of attitudes and behaviors. Students gain experience and skill in how to listen and support and seek cooperation.
The result? His students find that the patient care hours and experience they gain at ACR make them stand-out candidates for professional programs. When applying to a professional program they can show specific transferable skills and give unique examples of observations and outcomes. They will have learned from ACR supervisors and coworkers as well as from their own mistakes and successes. Their experience working with ACR will give them memorable material for the one-page personal statement that goes with applications to professional degree programs including a master of nursing, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, medical doctor, physical therapist, occupational therapist, pharmacist, chiropractic, or nutritionist. Dr. Simat is convinced that all of these master and doctoral degrees benefit from experience gained at ACR Homes.