How to get PCE hours in undergraduate
Patient care experience (PCE) is one of the most important parts of a strong application to medical school, PA school, nursing programs, and other health professions tracks. The good news: you can start earning meaningful hours while you are still an undergraduate — often with little or no certification required.
What counts as patient care experience?
PCE means you were responsible for providing the patient's care — performing procedures, treatments, or hands-on care, not watching someone else do it. CASPA names nurse, paramedic, EMT, CNA, phlebotomist, physical therapist, and dental hygienist as examples.
- EMT or paramedic — assessing patients, taking vitals, treating, transporting, emergency care
- CNA or patient care technician — bathing, transferring, feeding, mobility, hands-on bedside care
- Medical assistant — vitals, injections, EKGs, assisting procedures, collecting specimens (depending on duties)
- Phlebotomist — drawing blood directly from patients
- Nurse or LPN
- Physical therapy roles involving hands-on patient treatment
- Respiratory therapist
- Surgical or OR tech when directly involved in patient care
- Any position where you personally perform procedures or actively provide care
The job title alone does not decide the category — the duties do. CASPA notes that CNA and medical assistant work can land in different categories depending on the job description, and individual programs can classify the same experience differently. That is why Scrubs.Health asks you to record what you actually did during those hours, not just the title.
PCE — Direct Patient Care
You provide the care: procedures, treatments, hands-on work.
HCE — Healthcare Experience
You work in healthcare but are not responsible for the patient's care — scribing, front desk, pharmacy, lab, transport.
Shadowing — Observation
You follow a physician or PA and observe. Never counted as PCE.
Volunteer — Service
Unpaid service, clinical or non-clinical.
Research — Research Experience
Clinical or bench research, listed separately from care hours.
Where to start your journey as an undergrad
You do not need a white coat or a hospital job to start. Many of the best early experiences come from local, low-barrier opportunities.
Shadowing
Start with your own network: family friends who are clinicians, your university's pre-health advisor, alumni associations, or local clinics. Send a short, polite email explaining that you are a pre-health student and would like to observe for a few half-days. Many providers are happy to mentor students when asked respectfully.
Volunteering
Hospital volunteer offices, hospice organizations, free clinics, and community health fairs need reliable help. Even non-clinical roles can lead to shadowing introductions and references. Consistency matters more than prestige — 4 hours a week for a year beats a one-time summer placement.
Medical scribing
Scribe companies often hire undergraduates and train them. You will sit in on patient encounters, learn medical terminology, and see how documentation works. Most programs count scribing as healthcare experience (HCE), not PCE, because you are not responsible for the patient's care — but it is still valuable preparation and a strong reference source.
Certified roles
A CNA or EMT certification takes weeks to a few months and can unlock paid, high-quality PCE during evenings, weekends, or summers. These roles give you direct responsibility for patients and are viewed very favorably by admissions committees.
Shadowing vs. direct patient care
Both matter, but they serve different purposes. Shadowing shows you understand the day-to-day realities of a profession. Direct patient care shows you can interact with patients under pressure, follow protocols, and work as part of a care team.
| Role | What you do | Category |
|---|---|---|
| EMT / paramedic, CNA, phlebotomist, nurse, PT aide, respiratory therapist | Provide hands-on care and perform procedures | PCE — direct patient care |
| Medical assistant, surgical / OR tech | Depends on duties — vitals, injections, EKGs, assisting procedures | PCE if you provide care, otherwise HCE |
| Scribe, front desk, pharmacy, lab, patient transport | Work in healthcare without responsibility for the patient's care | HCE — healthcare experience |
| Following a physician or PA | Observe only | Shadowing — never PCE |
| Hospital or hospice volunteer | Unpaid service near patients | Volunteer — service |
How to document your hours correctly
Admissions committees and application services may ask for verification. A credible hour log should include:
- Date, start time, and end time for every session
- The name and credentials of the supervising provider
- The site or institution where the hours took place
- A brief description of what you did
- A signature from the supervisor on an attestation form
- A scanned or photographed copy of the signed form
Tip: upload the signed copy as soon as you receive it. Paper forms get lost, and supervisors retire or change practices. A digital copy protects your record.
Track every hour in one place
Scrubs.Health helps you search every US hospital, clinic, and provider, log shadowing and direct patient care hours, print a signature-ready PDF, and store the signed document — all private to your student account.
- National provider search by name, city, or NPI
- Automatic duration calculation
- Signature-ready attestation PDFs
- Signed-copy upload and storage
- Goal tracking and CSV export
No credit card required.
Frequently asked questions
- How many PCE hours do I need?
- Requirements vary widely. PA programs often report 1,000–3,000+ hours of direct patient care. Medical schools typically do not set a minimum, but competitive applicants often have hundreds of hours of shadowing and clinical exposure. Nursing and other programs publish their own targets.
- Can I count high school experience?
- Most programs want experience completed during or after college. High school volunteering can be mentioned in personal statements, but it usually does not count toward formal PCE requirements.
- Do I need a certification to get PCE hours?
- Not necessarily. Many roles — including medical assistant, hospital volunteering, and shadowing — do not require certification. Keep in mind that shadowing is observation and generally does not count as official PCE. Certified roles like CNA, EMT, or phlebotomy require training, but they usually provide stronger, paid direct patient care experience.
- When should I start tracking hours?
- Immediately. It is much easier to log hours as you earn them than to reconstruct dates, supervisors, and contact information months or years later.