Enough Volunteer Work?

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I am curious how much volunteer work is needed. I recently "shadowed"a DO for two weeks and had a great time. I also volunteered at a hospital back in the '80's, but that hospital closed in the early '90's so it would be hard to verify (so I am not going to bother listing it on my application). So, do I need to get some further experience, or will the current volunteering at his office be enough.

I wouldn't mind doing more volunteering, but at the moment it's just difficult to coordinate. We only have one vehicle, I work full time, my wife works full time, we both are in school, and our 12 year old needs rides to and from school. So please, no comments about "why don't you want to volunteer more" as I do, but I can't afford to take off of work very often (like I did to do the recent shadowing).

Anyway, any thoughts on if just listing the recent shadowing will be enough or not would be appreciated!

Thanks, Bamish

I think having more volunteer experience would be wise, but I also think it depends on how high your stats are. Low stats can be boosted quite high if your EC's are good.

Originally Posted by sookie

I think having more volunteer experience would be wise, but I also think it depends on how high your stats are. Low stats can be boosted quite high if your EC's are good.

MY GPA is currently a 3.5 (well, 3.4999) and my science GPA is 3.59. I do have some non-medical related volunteer work from a few years back when things weren't quite so hectic--working with special needs children at a few local schools.

I'm preparing for the MCAT and I seem to be averaging around a 30. So I would expect around that (perhaps a few points lower due to nerves) on the real one.

Thanks for the reply and thoughts!

Originally Posted by Bamish

I am curious how much volunteer work is needed. I recently "shadowed"a DO for two weeks and had a great time. I also worked at a hospital back in the '80's, but that hospital closed in the early '90's so it would be hard to verify (so I am not going to bother listing it on my application). So, do I need to get some further experience, or will the current volunteering at his office be enough.

Thanks, Bamish

Hey man, I would list that experience if I were you. Especially if you worked there for any substantial time period. Just because it closed down doesn't mean you dont have experience working in a hospital setting.

Originally Posted by DoktorB

Hey man, I would list that experience if I were you. Especially if you worked there for any substantial time period. Just because it closed down doesn't mean you dont have experience working in a hospital setting.

I volunteered there for two full summers (I had hundreds of hours) when I was younger, it was actually a DO teaching hospital and I really enjoyed myself. I just assumed that they would only want to know about verifiable experiences, so I wasn't going to bother listing it at all. Perhpas I will though, any other thoughts?

Anyway, thanks for the response, it's appreciated!

I agree that the OP should def list the hospital emloyment on his app. It certainly won't hurt to mention.

As far as the volunteer work...is 150 hours between transport and shadowing enough? my uGPA is 3.37 and sGPA at a dismal 3.19.

Originally Posted by Phenol312

I agree that the OP should def list the hospital emloyment on his app. It certainly won't hurt to mention.

As far as the volunteer work...is 150 hours between transport and shadowing enough? my uGPA is 3.37 and sGPA at a dismal 3.19.

I just realized that I put "worked" in my original post. My error, it was actually a volunteer position and not a paid position. Sorry for the error on my part. But thank you for inadvertently pointing out my error, it's appreciated! I thought I should mention this correction though as it may make a difference in peoples opinions.

Thanks again

Don't worry about the volunteer work. You're a grown man with grown man responsibilities. Spend that time with your family when you aren't working or studying.

I'm not sure if Bob was being sarcastic or not, it sounded to me as though he was, which was uncalled for. If you weren't being sarcastic Bob, then sorry.

I would list the stuff from years ago. You said you volunteered for a few summers, which is a lot of time put in. Between that and your recent shadowing, I think you will be just fine.

I understand and appreciate your question though. I am a non-trad myself and it can be hard to find time during undergrad to get some things done, especially with a family. I'm sure you are trying to work as much as possible and save as much as possible now since you won't be able to really work during med. school--good idea. If you come into some free time then sure, go ahead and do some more volunteer work, but you've been there and know what to expect, which is what I really think the schools you will be applying to want to see.

Good luck and welcome to SDN.

No, I wasn't being sarcastic, and I am not quite sure what could be interpretted as sarcasm in my post.

Originally Posted by Phenol312

I agree that the OP should def list the hospital emloyment on his app. It certainly won't hurt to mention.

As far as the volunteer work...is 150 hours between transport and shadowing enough? my uGPA is 3.37 and sGPA at a dismal 3.19.

How many of the hours were shadowing? I really think you get more from shadowing than from transport. But in general yeah, 150 hours is probably good. I think your uGPA is about right for the DO schools, and your MCAT is pretty solid. I would give you the same advice I gave the OP. If you have some extra time at this point then by all means do some more volunteering, but if you don't, the don't. I mean I doubt there is such a thing as too much volunteer work, but at the same time you don't have to go overboard and stretch other areas of your life too thin just to do some volunteering.

Originally Posted by BobBarker

No, I wasn't being sarcastic, and I am not quite sure what could be interpretted as sarcasm in my post.

Well, I apologized in advance in case I was wrong, now didn't I Bob!
Seriously, I'm just in kind of a pissy mood so I'm sure I just read it in a negative way. My apologies, no offense intended.

Originally Posted by BobBarker

Don't worry about the volunteer work. You're a grown man with grown man responsibilities. Spend that time with your family when you aren't working or studying.

This is kind of my view. I have so little free time as it is, and I'm sure I'll be just as busy in med school--I want to try and spend the little bit of extra time I do have with my wife and daughter. But I also want to make sure I have enough volunteer experience, if all of that made sense.

Originally Posted by Barts

I'm not sure if Bob was being sarcastic or not, it sounded to me as though he was, which was uncalled for. If you weren't being sarcastic Bob, then sorry.

I would list the stuff from years ago. You said you volunteered for a few summers, which is a lot of time put in. Between that and your recent shadowing, I think you will be just fine.

I understand and appreciate your question though. I am a non-trad myself and it can be hard to find time during undergrad to get some things done, especially with a family. I'm sure you are trying to work as much as possible and save as much as possible now since you won't be able to really work during med. school--good idea. If you come into some free time then sure, go ahead and do some more volunteer work, but you've been there and know what to expect, which is what I really think the schools you will be applying to want to see.

Good luck and welcome to SDN.

Thanks, I think I will list my volunteer work from the hospital. It was about 20 years ago, but I did put in a lot of time and effort. If they want to verify it, I'm sure they can with enough effort.

That is exactly what I'm doing. I have a low paying job so I sometimes work as much as 55 hours a week trying to make enough to pay our bills, buy food, you know what I mean. I am trying to put up a little bit of money from each paycheck as you said to "save as much as possible now".

Thanks for all the replies everyone!