Career Services

Getting Experience

Clinical exposure – time spent interacting with patients and health professionals – is important to understand the career you are pursuing, and to determine how you will use your unique strengths in this space.

Clinical exposure can be viewed as Professional-Facing Time and Patient-Facing Time.

Professional-FacingPatient-Facing
Shadowing: Following healthcare practitioners during their day. It is highly recommended that all Pre-Health students at 56勛圖厙B seek as much shadowing experience as needed to gain exposure and build your confidence in healthcare settings.Volunteering: in a hospital, clinic, pharmacy, or nursing home. It is highly recommended that all Pre-Health students at 56勛圖厙B complete volunteer activities that develop and deepen your skills and demonstrate your passion for healthcare.
Medical Scribing: work with a doctor or team of doctors to take notes for them.Paid Employment: common jobs include CNA, EMT, Medical Assistant, Phlebotomist, Pharm Tech, PT Aid (Some of these require specific certifications which you can obtain through local community colleges and private institutions such as .)
A chart displaying the difference between professional- and patient-facing experiences with examples.

You can find opportunities using the following list of some local hospitals and clinics that have volunteer and shadowing programs. Keep in mind this list is only a starting place. There are many other facilities that will allow students to participate in clinical experience.

Some organizations require up-to-date vaccines, including for COVID-19. Many require background checks before you can begin working with patients. Keep in mind that these basic requirements for working in healthcare are meant to prioritize the health and safety of everyone in the environment.

  • – observe physicians and learn about healthcare outside the US
    • Atlantis is a hospital shadowing program that runs in Europe for Pre-Health students during school breaks. Atlantis offers significant partial need-based scholarships to attend their programs and will provide information about those scholarships during their application and enrollment process. If you are interested, you can
  • – Free Virtual Clinical Shadowing
  • – Featuring live virtual shadowing sessions where you can interact with and learn directly from professionals across a wide range of healthcare fields; free resources such as access to recorded sessions, certificates of completion, and educational materials; and networking opportunities where you’ll gain exposure to a global network of peers and mentors in healthcare.
  • – Virtual Shadowing
  • – Nursing & Allied Health Job Shadows
  • (Various locations)
  • (Kirkland)
  • (56勛圖厙 Medicine – Seattle)
  • (56勛圖厙 Medicine – North Seattle)
  • (Kirkland)
  • (Various locations)
  • (Various locations)
  • (Various locations)
  • (56勛圖厙 Medicine – Various locations)
  • (56勛圖厙 Medicine – Various locations)
  • (56勛圖厙 Medicine – Renton)
  • (Various locations)
  • (Various locations)
  • (Swedish Medical Center – First Hill & Cherry Hill)
  • – through Kaiser Permanente Washington
  • HEROs (Health Educators Reaching Out) – Peer health educators under the Health and Wellness Resource Center (HaWRC) who conduct health promotion and prevention programming on campus. These are paid positions and hiring takes place every year in the spring.
  • – Medical and dental volunteer opportunities
  • – 4 day clinic providing dental, medical and vision care
  • – a student-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that donates video-enabled devices to community health clinics and VA hospitals for patients in need to gain crucial access to virtual healthcare
  • – Opportunities for gaining medical and dental experience abroad
  • – Mentoring program and list of physicians to shadow
  • – Mobile Dental Program, domestic and international opportunities
  • – Mobile dental services for children in underserved communities (Delta Dental)

in Washington state – This is one of the best ways to gain pharmacy experience.

  • – Volunteer at local events or organize projects & campaigns.
  • (Lynnwood, WA) – Volunteer opportunities are available. Contact: volunteer@feralcatproject.org
  • is a free service for Vet and Pet Care Job seekers. You can register, browse, and apply online. Even if you’re not ready to apply for jobs, you can see job postings to get a sense of the job market. They also have blog posts about veterinary careers that you might find interesting.
  • in Woodinville.
  • , which includes a Companion Animal Shelter in Lynnwood as well as a Wildlife Center in Snohomish.
  • animal shelter in Bellevue.
  • (56勛圖厙 NetID login required)
  • In partnership with the , this program supports multidisciplinary teams of students to work on real-world population health challenges. This program is open to junior or senior status undergraduate students and graduate students from all 56勛圖厙 campuses!
  • 56勛圖厙 Bothell Office of Undergraduate Research – Connect to a database of research opportunities available at 56勛圖厙 Bothell.
  • – Applications for Summer 2025 due date have closed.
  • – at Harborview Medical Center – Applications for Summer 2025 due date have closed.
  • – at 56勛圖厙 Medicine. Applications for Summer 2025 due date have closed.
  •  – The eight-month program provides scholars with dedicated mentors, professional development opportunities, hands-on experience conducting health research, and the opportunity to participate in the All of Us Researchers Convention.
  • – (one year) for graduates and 1-6 month for undergraduate students.
  • – at Seattle Children’s – Applications for Summer 2025 due date have closed.
  • (Summer Health Professions Education Program) Review to check your eligibility. SHPEP is a FREE six-week transformative summer experience for college freshman and sophomore students interested in the health professions. SHPEP scholars have a legacy of success: over 65% of scholars who apply to medical and dental school are accepted. Applications for 2025 have closed.
  • – Post-Baccalaureate Internship Program
  • – at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center – Applications for Summer 2025 due date have closed.
  • – Experiential Learning Opportunities Database

Find volunteering, shadowing and working opportunities in Washington State at the and use Handshake to find current job and internship opportunities.