What is the difference between Hands-on and Observerships?
Hands-On Clerkships are internships where you will be an active part of the team, presenting patients during morning rounds, informing your senior about updates. Basically, you are acting like a responsible medical professional.
Clinical Observerships are internships where you will be part of the team but as if you are not there! The only thing that you can do is OBSERVE! You will not be responsible for any patients and you are not allowed to touch any patient.
Observerships are easier to find, cheaper and less tiring. You are more or less invisible to the team and they won’t be asking about you. Hands-on clerkship are harder to find, they need certain requirement, including being a medical student (not an MD yet) and perhaps having step 1 score.
To apply for clerkships, you should contact the hospitals or check their website under the tab “visiting medical student”.
If you don’t want to tire yourself looking for clerkships, there is a website that can provide a clerkship for you for a decent price. The website is http://www.amoworldwide.org/ and you can choose which specialty and the place.