Do you need a contact for validating volunteer hours?

[NeuroticButCute]

I did a few years of volunteering in a hospital working closely with one particular supervisor, but took a year off from volunteering and when I returned to that hospital I was told the woman I worked with had gone to work for a different hospital. I have seen on several threads that AMCAS will contact your volunteer "boss" or whomever was in charge during your volunteer position, but I do not know what to do as far as contacting her because I did not ever think to get her personal cell number or personal email address.
Would I still be able to include any of those hours if I explain the situation, and maybe add a contact who wasn't my direct supervisor, or should I just leave those hours off altogether to avoid confusion?
Thank you in advance for your help!

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[HomeSkool]

I did a few years of volunteering in a hospital working closely with one particular supervisor, but took a year off from volunteering and when I returned to that hospital I was told the woman I worked with had gone to work for a different hospital. I have seen on several threads that AMCAS will contact your volunteer "boss" or whomever was in charge during your volunteer position, but I do not know what to do as far as contacting her because I did not ever think to get her personal cell number or personal email address.
Would I still be able to include any of those hours if I explain the situation, and maybe add a contact who wasn't my direct supervisor, or should I just leave those hours off altogether to avoid confusion?
Thank you in advance for your help!

Yes, you can use those hours. Your career isn't going to be canceled because someone else decided to move. See if you can get her new contact info; if not, try to put her old supervisor or someone else who was a point of contact for you.

My primary volunteer "boss" was a man who lived in South America and spoke no English. You'll be fine.

 

[NeuroticButCute]

Yes, you can use those hours. Your career isn't going to be canceled because someone else decided to move. See if you can get her new contact info; if not, try to put her old supervisor or someone else who was a point of contact for you.

My primary volunteer "boss" was a man who lived in South America and spoke no English. You'll be fine.

That makes me feel much better, thank you for your response!

 

[ZukosRedemption]

My primary volunteer "boss" was a man who lived in South America and spoke no English. You'll be fine.

Lmao if the adcoms did ask to call him, must've been an interesting discussion

 

[HomeSkool]

Lmao if the adcoms did ask to call him, must've been an interesting discussion

Que?

 

[Planes2Doc]

The hours should be in a log of some sort regardless of who the administrator is.

 

[freedoctor17]

The supervisor for my volunteer program retired but we logged hours in a computer system. It broke down sometimes but the majority of the hours are at least there. They didn't have you do that at your hospital?

 

[Catalystik]

I did a few years of volunteering in a hospital working closely with one particular supervisor, but took a year off from volunteering and when I returned to that hospital I was told the woman I worked with had gone to work for a different hospital. I have seen on several threads that AMCAS will contact your volunteer "boss" or whomever was in charge during your volunteer position, but I do not know what to do as far as contacting her because I did not ever think to get her personal cell number or personal email address.
Would I still be able to include any of those hours if I explain the situation, and maybe add a contact who wasn't my direct supervisor, or should I just leave those hours off altogether to avoid confusion?
Thank you in advance for your help!

There is not reason not to use someone who wasn't your direct supervisor, as all they'd be asked to attest to is timeframe of involvement and total hours. They will not be asked for a reference or commentary on your performance.

Can't the volunteer office confirm your service through their records?

 

[NeuroticButCute]

There is not reason not to use someone who wasn't your direct supervisor, as all they'd be asked to attest to is timeframe of involvement and total hours. They will not be asked for a reference or commentary on your performance.

Can't the volunteer office confirm your service through their records?

I know they can confirm some aspects, like during the formal summer volunteer sessions I had to log hours. But I also helped out with an ongoing flu season outreach project over a couple years that I didn't have a formal hour log for, so I am not sure if my boss had any records of those hours. But you are right, I would guess that the volunteer coordinator at least can give an idea of the timeframe!

 

[masnerj]

@Catalystik @HomeSkool

I actually had a similar question to this (and don't want to waste an entire new post/discussion on it). I am currently a senior but between part of my freshmen year and into my junior year, I volunteered at various departments in a local hospital. Because of this, I had several direct "supervisors" and no 1 supervisor or 1 log of my entire time there. Considering that I don't want to waste multiple entries on my upcoming AMCAS application listing separate departments of the same hospital I volunteered in, would it be acceptable for me to add up the numbers under one entry and then contact the most major supervisor I had and let them know about my other department work and that I included it in my application?

My primary concern comes from the fact that logs at this hospital are in paper and there has been several different changes in the volunteering department administratively and I have no idea how many of the hours I worked are actually in a log that can be referenced. What is the likelihood that an Adcom checks for volunteer hours that appear normal (I don't have like 300-400 or anything but a decent amount, less than 150)? Otherwise my best hope will come from the fact that whichever person I email at the volunteer department can trust me on what I say regarding my total hours and relay that to any medical school that might inquire.

 

[NeuroticButCute]

@Catalystik @HomeSkool

I actually had a similar question to this (and don't want to waste an entire new post/discussion on it). I am currently a senior but between part of my freshmen year and into my junior year, I volunteered at various departments in a local hospital. Because of this, I had several direct "supervisors" and no 1 supervisor or 1 log of my entire time there. Considering that I don't want to waste multiple entries on my upcoming AMCAS application listing separate departments of the same hospital I volunteered in, would it be acceptable for me to add up the numbers under one entry and then contact the most major supervisor I had and let them know about my other department work and that I included it in my application?

My primary concern comes from the fact that logs at this hospital are in paper and there has been several different changes in the volunteering department administratively and I have no idea how many of the hours I worked are actually in a log that can be referenced. What is the likelihood that an Adcom checks for volunteer hours that appear normal (I don't have like 300-400 or anything but a decent amount, less than 150)? Otherwise my best hope will come from the fact that whichever person I email at the volunteer department can trust me on what I say regarding my total hours and relay that to any medical school that might inquire.

Are you a senior in HS or undergrad? If these hours are just HS, then it isn't too much to worry about because most HS activities can't be included on the application anyway. If you're in undergrad, or they're a HS activity you continued into undergrad, then that's a different story, but from what people have been telling me since I posted this is that as long as there is one supervisor who they can call and will verify that they know who you are and that roundabout number of hours sounds close to correct, you should be alright.

 

[masnerj]

Are you a senior in HS or undergrad? If these hours are just HS, then it isn't too much to worry about because most HS activities can't be included on the application anyway. If you're in undergrad, or they're a HS activity you continued into undergrad, then that's a different story, but from what people have been telling me since I posted this is that as long as there is one supervisor who they can call and will verify that they know who you are and that roundabout number of hours sounds close to correct, you should be alright.

Haha, I am a senior in college and will be applying during the next cycle. I meant that I did my clinical volunteering in my first three years of undergrad.

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik @HomeSkool

I had several direct "supervisors" and no 1 supervisor or 1 log of my entire time there. Considering that I don't want to waste multiple entries on my upcoming AMCAS application listing separate departments of the same hospital I volunteered in, would it be acceptable for me to add up the numbers under one entry and then contact the most major supervisor I had and let them know about my other department work and that I included it in my application?

Yes, this approach is acceptable. Be sure he or she is in agreement with your timeframe and rough, good-faith estimate of your volunteer hours.

 

[sweatytshirt]

Similar question here: So I did a significant amount of volunteering the summer between HS and college in a surgery department. This was 5 years ago. The supervisor I had moved, and the only email I had for her was her hospital email. Also, the hospital name has changed (maybe they are under new management). I was going to just call them some time next semester to see if they still had my information, but is it okay if I use these hours? I'm not sure if it seems too sketchy that the supervisor and hospital name changed.

 

[freedoctor17]

Similar question here: So I did a significant amount of volunteering the summer between HS and college in a surgery department. This was 5 years ago. The supervisor I had moved, and the only email I had for her was her hospital email. Also, the hospital name has changed (maybe they are under new management). I was going to just call them some time next semester to see if they still had my information, but is it okay if I use these hours? I'm not sure if it seems too sketchy that the supervisor and hospital name changed.

I think that might be common. The hospital I volunteer at also changed its name last year. We had to get new badges and everything. I'm still at the same place though so it's probably easier for me but I think you'll be fine. Contact the volunteer office there, tell them you've volunteered before all these changes, and ask who in the office you can list as a reference. I've had two different "supervisors" and just put down the main volunteer office coordinator down and neither of the supervisors.

 

[begoood95]

Just make sure you have someone listed that can vouch for your hours; that's it. In all likelihood, they probably won't get contacted but still, ya can't put a fake contact—probably grounds for rescinding an acceptance. Pretty straightforward!

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Have reviewed 100's of applications. Only time I have checked was when the numbers seem fishy (1600 hours over a 3 month period, 2000 over 4 months, etc). I think there's a good faith agreement that people don't lie...

 

[freedoctor17]

This is a little off topic but for things other than volunteering that aren't logged, is it ok to just estimate? I've been doing a rough estimate (ex: club sport- 5 hours weekly for about 14 to 15 week so I'd go with around 70-75). I've done this for pretty much all my activities except shadowing and clinical volunteering because those I have specific logs of.

 

[Catalystik]

This is a little off topic but for things other than volunteering that aren't logged, is it ok to just estimate? I've been doing a rough estimate (ex: club sport- 5 hours weekly for about 14 to 15 week so I'd go with around 70-75). I've done this for pretty much all my activities except shadowing and clinical volunteering because those I have specific logs of.

Yes, it's OK to estimate. Keep in mind that for an Extracurricular listing, you need an official Contact. For an activity designated under Hobbies, you don't.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The hours should be in a log of some sort regardless of who the administrator is.

None of my hours for any of my volunteer experiences were logged by anyone but me. They’re in the write up for my volunteer award (yes, we have those in the military lol), but for a couple of them, someone calling would likely get someone on the phone with no way of verifying my hours.