Experience and Opportunities

Pre-Health Clubs

Major Related Clubs

Honors Organizations

Volunteering can come in many different forms, either within clubs and organizations or at different locations such as hospitals or clinics. Volunteers are often for the benefit of private organizations. Health professional fields look for volunteer work in their applicants and take into consideration the different types of volunteering their applicants participate in.

Ongoing Clinical Experience

Ongoing Non-Clinical Experience

Other Volunteer Experience – Hawaii State

Other Volunteer Experience – Out-of-State

Community service is unpaid, voluntary work for the benefit of the community (as opposed to volunteering, which benefits private organizations). Health professional schools seek applications who demonstrate a commitment to community service. The following are examples of government and non-profit organizations that offer opportunities to serve the community.

For more community service opportunities, please refer to UH Mānoa’s Civic and Community Engagement page.

Enrichment opportunities allow students to further enhance their learning and overall knowledge of a particular field of interest. There is a variety of different enrichment opportunities available, both in the United States and abroad. National experiences can provide professional development and show health professional schools that a student is committed to their chosen career path. When these experiences are done abroad, students are able to develop their professional skills as well as enhance their understanding of another culture.

For current enrichment opportunities, click here.

National Enrichment Opportunities

Professional development opportunities allow students to learn about a professional school and the fields of study that they offer. These programs often have a fee but are great opportunities to learn more about a particular school and the field you are interested in. Be sure to double check with each program for deadlines and application requirements.

National Student Exchange (NSE) is a program that allows UH Mānoa students to study at another American university for a fall semester or a full academic year while paying UH Mānoa tuition. Many other universities across the country offer stimulating classes for pre-health students. For more information on NSE, click here.

International Enrichment Opportunities

Study abroad is a valuable cultural enrichment experience for students to broaden their horizons by experiencing different cultures. Cultural competence, or the ability to serve the social, linguistic, and cultural needs of a wide variety of individuals, is becoming an increasingly important quality of a well-rounded health professional. Studying abroad can assist students in cultural immersion and help them to acquire the skills to become excellent healthcare professionals.

The University of Hawai‘i Mānoa Study Abroad Center (UHM SAC) provides study abroad opportunities to countries across the globe. The courses taken at these international universities can be used to fulfill various UH Mānoa requirements, including core major requirements or language requirements.

The universities listed offer courses for students interested in health professions. For more information on other study abroad opportunities, click here.

The Mānoa International Exchange (MIX) also provides study abroad opportunities for UH Mānoa undergraduate and graduate students to experience different cultures.

The universities listed offer courses for students interested in health professions. For more information on other study abroad opportunities, click here.

Most health professional schools require applicants to take an entrance exam. The entrance exam depends on the field of health (e.g. MCAT for medicine, PCAT for pharmacy, DAT for dentistry). Entrance exam scores are used by schools in their admission process. A study period of 6 to 12 months is highly recommended. Refer to our entrance exam preparation webpage for more information.

Below are two award opportunities that helps fund entrance exam preparation:

ASUH Graduate Test Prep Award

Description: This scholarship provides full-time, classified, undergraduate students of Junior standing or higher (60+ credits) with financial assistance for graduate test preparation costs, including the costs of test preparation books, classes, and/or registration fees. It is available every Fall and Spring semester.

Amount: Depending on your application, you may be awarded up to $750.

Please click here for more information on the ASUH Graduate Test Prep Award.

Gold Standard MCAT Prep Crash Course Scholarship

Applications are being accepted for PAC’s Gold Standard MCAT Prep Crash Course Scholarship from current students in the University of Hawaiʻi System.

To apply: Compose an essay (5,300 characters max.) on why you are interested in applying to your chosen health professional school. E-mail your essay to Dr. Kiana Shiroma (kianak@hawaii.edu) as a PDF by the appropriate deadline.

Deadline: May 1st, 2022

An internship or fellowships is a position within an organization (e.g. hospital, research center, or company) to gain work experience. They may be paid or unpaid, may have different time commitments (e.g. summer or year-long), and may also have different settings (e.g. research vs. clinical). Students seeking to gain work experience should read program descriptions carefully.

Professional development programs differ in that students gain experience related to their desired health profession rather than direct work experience (e.g. shadowing, patient care, simulations, and workshops).

Internships and Fellowships:

Professional Development Programs:

Some programs such as Physician Assistants (PA), Physical Therapists (PT), or Occupational Therapists (OT) require hands-on direct patient contact experience for entrance into their program. This type of experience can come from being a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), or Medical Assistant. CNA, EMT, and Medical Assistant positions require training. The links in the following table lead to the site of training available in Hawaiʻi.

Gaining experience as a CNA, EMT, Medical Assistant, Scribe, or any healthcare team position could lead to exposure to the professions you may want to pursue in the future. Obtaining experience in non-healthcare-related jobs can lead to providing proof of professionalism, building character, and acquiring other skills that may be relevant for your future careers.

The Mānoa Career Center (MCC) has a lot of great resources such as career counseling, mock interviews, and workshops. The Student Employment and Cooperative Education (SECE) webpage is a page for UH system students to find on-campus jobs and other related opportunities.

Certain health professional schools are beginning to look for candidates with research experience. Students who are interested in applying to a research-oriented program (e.g. MD-PhD) must pursue long-term and meaningful research experiences.

Research Programs (In-State):

Research Programs (Out-of-State):

University of Hawaii at Manoa Funding Opportunities:

Many health professional fields want to know if you understand the field that you are interested in and that type of knowledge can come from shadowing a professional in the field. For example, the 2015 data analysis of matriculating medical school students show that 94% have shadowed a physician or other healthcare professional. Shadowing opportunities can also be found in community service, internships, and volunteer opportunities. Students should double check in those areas when looking for shadowing opportunities.

For pre-health shadowing opportunities, click here.

Getting Started:

Think about what kind of professional you want to shadow and why you want to shadow them. Some possible outcomes of a shadowing experience include gaining clinical experience or getting a different perspective on your professional field of interest.

The following are considerations for those who are interested in shadowing a health professional. Be prepared for professionals to not allow you to shadow them. Some may not allow shadowing or others may believe there is too much legal risk. Keep trying!

The Ask:

The following are some considerations when asking a professional if you can shadow them:

• Be sure to:
  • Research the professional before shadowing and ask about location, parking, or any other logistics you would need to know before going to shadow the professional.
• Who to:
  • Try asking your family practitioner first.
  • Checking the phonebook or yellow pages may be a good place to start finding professionals.
  • Googling/Searching online hospital directories is also a good place to start finding professionals.
• How to:
  • Have a high degree of professionalism when asking
  • Giving an updated resume or curriculum vitae (CV) to the professional is suggested when requesting to shadow a health professional.
  • Call or visit the professional. Sometimes emails may get lost or marked as spam.
  • State your career goals and why you would like to shadow them.

During the Shadowing Experience:

While you are shadowing a health care professional, here are some considerations:

• Arrive 15 minutes early.
• Have a high degree of professionalism in appearance, hygiene, clothing, and communication.
  • Some places may instruct you on what to wear, for example, if you need to wear scrubs.
  • Business attire is appropriate in most medical office settings.
  • Asking what the dress code beforehand may be helpful as well.
• Keep a notepad or composition book.
  • Take notes during the shadowing experience.
  • Be sure to document the day, number of hours, facility, and any other important information so you can reflect on it later when applying for professional school.
• Be ready to ask questions.
  • Think of some questions you would like to ask the health professional and try not to ask question you can simply find online.
  • Suggested Questions:
    • “What is your day to day routine like?”
    • “Why did you decide to pursue this field?”
• Patient privacy is really important and may even be a reason you won’t be able to shadow some professionals.
  • Be sure to respect patient’s privacy.
  • Possibly educate yourself beforehand on privacy laws and HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act).

After Shadowing:

Some considerations for after you shadowed a health care professional:

• Be sure to write a “thank you” note.
• If you have a good relationship with a professional you shadowed, possibly asking them for a letter of recommendation (LOR) is good for some professional schools require or recommend a LOR from a professional in that field.

Resources for Shadowing: