Clinical externship vs internship

The differences between clinical externships and interns can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a clinical externship, becoming an internship takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a clinical externship has an average salary of $35,831, which is higher than the $35,254 average annual salary of an internship.

The top three skills for a clinical externship include patients, mental health and patient care. The most important skills for an internship are powerpoint, financial statements, and C++.

Clinical externship vs internship overview

	Clinical Externship	Internship
Yearly salary	$35,831	$35,254
Hourly rate	$17.23	$16.95
Growth rate	9%	-5%
Number of jobs	63,061	51,064
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	45	47
Years of experience	4	2

What does a clinical externship do?

A clinical externship is a short medical student program directly mentored by professionals within their chosen career path in healthcare. Clinical externs work in various settings such as hospitals, a doctor's office, or clinics and work directly with patients to apply the knowledge and skills they acquired in the classroom. They will be graded and must pass the program to be able to graduate from medical school. Externs must request a letter of recommendation from their site supervisor when applying for jobs.

What does an internship do?

Interns are trainees who are engaged by a company to work for them for a brief period. Interns usually use this opportunity to gain actual work experience, fulfill university or college requirements, and ensure that they are working towards the right career path for them. They sign on for a fixed amount of time. The responsibilities of interns depend on the company and the department that handles them. They do a variety of tasks that exposes them to the type of work that the company is engaged in and to the different aspects of the professional world.

Clinical externship vs internship salary

Clinical externships and interns have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Clinical Externship	Internship
Average salary	$35,831	$35,254
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $51,000	Between $24,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Alameda, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	Genentech	Qorvo
Best paying industry	Education	Telecommunication

Differences between clinical externship and internship education

There are a few differences between a clinical externship and an internship in terms of educational background:

	Clinical Externship	Internship
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Psychology	Business
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Western Carolina University

Clinical externship vs internship demographics

Here are the differences between clinical externships' and interns' demographics:

	Clinical Externship	Internship
Average age	45	47
Gender ratio	Male, 25.8% Female, 74.2%	Male, 42.0% Female, 58.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 10.3% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	15%	6%

Differences between clinical externship and internship duties and responsibilities

Clinical externship example responsibilities.

Set up and manage new medical transcription department.
Manage large scale TMF inventory/file cleanup projects in preparation for FDA and EMA inspections.
Manage difficult or emotional patient situations, with compassion and professionalism.
Participate in multiple studies managing CTM activities for various therapeutic areas simultaneously including oncology, urology, transplant, and immunology.
Monitor EKG's, assess blood pressure, palpate heart rates, safely progress patients in exercise.
Perform manual data entry in CTMS, TMF, CRF imaging and various departmental databases.

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Internship example responsibilities.

Lead enrollment process efficiently through securing proper registration forms, official transcripts, immunization records, and IEP documentation as needed.
Manage all company financial transactions through QuickBooks.
Design PHP application to automate schedule updating process.
Manage a web-base graphical interface that utilize a SQL database to better track fabrication lab operations.
Organize online recipe content through the blog, design flyers for it and spread the contest word through twitter and blog.
Develop sponsored post strategy for LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Clinical externship vs internship skills

Common clinical externship skills

Patients, 32%
Mental Health, 7%
Patient Care, 5%
Crisis Intervention, 4%
Vital Signs, 4%
Substance Abuse, 4%

Common internship skills

PowerPoint, 10%
Financial Statements, 6%
C++, 5%
Mental Health, 5%
Data Analysis, 4%
Facebook, 4%

Clinical Externship vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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