First you need to see if the program you are applying to has a minimum number of required hours. For example, Stony Brook's PA Program wants 1,000 hours of health-related experience. That's a lot of hours! If you are applying for medical school and dental school, you will have an easier time of it than if you wanted to be in Stony Brook's PA Program. Easier in this sense: You might have 1,000 hours of health-related experience by the time you apply to medical school, but it won't be because med schools demand it. Yet, the question still remains unanswered: How much health related experience do I need?

Once we go beyond the different health professions programs (PA, PT, OT, Nursing) that will ask for a specific number of health-related hours, you should start changing your mind-set. Think in terms of semesters and years of experience rather than hours. Here are a few more points.

• A long term-commitment to getting health-related experience shows how serious you are about your goal!
• Evaluate your experience by fitting it into this sentence: "I know that medicine (or dentistry, whatever) is right for me because I ________ for ______ and saw what the profession is really like."
  Now, let's fill in those those blanks: I say to you, "I know that medicine is right for me because I alphabetized some files at the ER for one afternoon and saw what the profession is really like."
  Do you believe me? Do you believe that I can know medicine is right for me on the basis of one afternoon shuffling paper? Of course not.
  Let;'s try again: I tell you, "I know that medicine is right for me because I volunteered in neonatal intensive care once a week for a year and because I helped out with clinical research at the Emergency Room every week for two years and saw what the profession is really like." Okay, so now we're starting to get someplace. Do you see how it works?
• Remember that the quality of the experience is important, too.What is quality health-related experience? It is seeing healthcare being provided. You might just be watching. Maybe as an EMT you would be helping an injured patient. The most important thing is to gain exposure to the health care field over time.
• Get relevant experience: If you know without a doubt that you want to become a podiatrist, why volunteer at a dentist's office? You should get experience at a podiatrist's office.
• Don't get too relevant! Do not specialize until you get out of med school, dental, school, etc. So, if you say to yourself, "I only want to volunteer or work for a dermatologist because I know I want to go into dermatology."--if you say that, you are probably being too restrictive. Get some experience at the ER or in pediatric psychiatry, too.