Clinical Work vs. Volunteering vs. Research for Medical School?

I am a to be a sophomore at UC Berkeley majoring in Genetics and Plant Biology with pre-med ambitions.





I was hoping that each summer I could do volunteering work at my local hospital and over the school year volunteer at an autism center for kids. However, the people in both places have made it very clear that they will not allow us to touch the patients or gain any clinical experience.





I know that clinical experience is very important but I don't know where I can find any. One of my friends who attends UC Davis now says that he is able to work at the UC Davis medical center's ER room and actually take blood pressures and simple tests on the patients. Since UC Berkeley doesn't have a medical school, I really don't know where to look for to gain clinical experience since hospitals don't offer that.





Furthermore, as for Research works. I wanted to do some plant research with a professoer during my junior year. Since my research is not related to medicine. Is it still useful?

Clinical Work vs. Volunteering vs. Research for Medical School?
Most volunteer experience does not involve direct patient care. There are very few health care positions that don't require certification, so the admission committees aren't looking for hands-on volunteer experience. They do want to see that you've been exposed to the realities of the health care environment and have abandoned the Hollywood romanticized version of health care.





It appears that your interests lie in research medicine. The research oriented medical schools prefer to see research activities versus volunteer work. These admission committees want to see that you've been exposed to research methodologies and protocols, so your plant research would fit that bill nicely.





Good luck!