Volunteer hours quandary

[13962Girl]

I am about to start my junior year of undergrad with hopes of applying to med school next cycle. I am a US citizen attending undergrad in Montreal, Quebec. Unfortunately most -if not all- volunteer opportunities in Montreal that offer patient interaction require you to be bilingual (English/French) which I am not. I have very heavy research experience (2 publications, including 1 first author and a 3rd publication in the pipeline). My only clinical experience was in high school, approx 150 hours. I know I need to get some sort of volunteer experience before applying and was wondering if I am unable to get something with patient interaction because of the language barrier, what might be the next best thing? And is this the type of situation that might best be addressed in my personal statement when the time for applications comes?

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[claduva94]

Adcoms don't want excuses. Especially not in the PS. Try hospices, free clinics, EMT, etc. You really do need clinical experience to be competitive.

 

[13962Girl]

I am doing my best to find an organization that will allow me some patient contact even though I don't speak French. So far it has proven difficult, understandably. There are other types of volunteers opportunities for non-French speakers thru my university since it is an English speaking university such as tutoring, mentoring new students. Obviously these are not health related, so I am not sure how useful they would be for my med school application.

 

[claduva94]

You need to show altruism for medical school. Any kind of volunteering shows that. But clinical experience shows you know what you are getting into and that you can work with sick people. I'm not saying this to be mean but if you have no clinical experience you will likely be very uncompetitive. I understand that it is difficult but it is in your best interest to seek out clinical hours.

 

[13962Girl]

I will have some shadowing hours and like I mentioned in my first post, do have significant clinical hours from high school, where I was directly involved with patients such as feeding changing beds, transporting patients around the hospital for various procedures. However it is my understanding that this experience cannot or should not be included in my medical school applications. I am pursuing a couple of possibilities, one being volunteering in a senior care facility, and the other a "best buddies" program at my university where I would be paired up with an adult with intellectual disabilities. The best buddies program would entail just seeing my buddy once a week for coffee, just being their friend. The senior care Center would have more of a patient like environment, though it is a senior home facility and not a hospital. I am not sure which one of these would be preferable. I am most interested in neurology so both of these volunteer opportunities would be working with people with neurological deficits.

And of course I don't think you're being mean! I very much appreciate your insight and advice!

 

[Planes2Doc]

You can use high school if you continued it into college. Unfortunately, there is quite a gap between high school and junior year of college. Oh boy... This is a tough situation... What was different about high school where there was no French-speaking requirement? Do entry-level clinical jobs require you to know French? I'm guessing they might, but if there is some chance that they don't, I would recommend doing one along with non-clinical volunteering in order to make sure that your boxes are checked off. Yes, this is pretty much the only time anyone will see me recommend an entry-level clinical job.

Sorry that you're going through a rough patch here. The laws can be pretty crazy: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/0...da-for-not-being-able-to-order-7up-in-french/

 

[claduva94]

I will have some shadowing hours and like I mentioned in my first post, do have significant clinical hours from high school, where I was directly involved with patients such as feeding changing beds, transporting patients around the hospital for various procedures. However it is my understanding that this experience cannot or should not be included in my medical school applications. I am pursuing a couple of possibilities, one being volunteering in a senior care facility, and the other a "best buddies" program at my university where I would be paired up with an adult with intellectual disabilities. The best buddies program would entail just seeing my buddy once a week for coffee, just being their friend. The senior care Center would have more of a patient like environment, though it is a senior home facility and not a hospital. I am not sure which one of these would be preferable. I am most interested in neurology so both of these volunteer opportunities would be working with people with neurological deficits.

And of course I don't think you're being mean! I very much appreciate your insight and advice!

Unfortunately hours from high school don't mean much unless you continue the activity into college. Shadowing is good. Not in itself sufficient but definitely essential. And nursing homes count. The senior home facility seems to be along those lines. It doesn't have to be a hospital. Anywhere that you interact with sick people is fair game! So while those two activities aren't conventional hospital volunteering they are definitely better than nothing!

 

[idm6]

Have you applied for these local volunteer opportunities and been rejected, or are you not applying because you don't meet the stated standards? If the latter, you might as well go ahead and apply and see if you can get them to bend. No harm in pushing the issue a bit. Sometimes things that are presented as hard standards are actually negotiable if you bother to ask.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Have you applied for these local volunteer opportunities and been rejected, or are you not applying because you don't meet the stated standards? If the latter, you might as well go ahead and apply and see if you can get them to bend. No harm in pushing the issue a bit. Sometimes things that are presented as hard standards are actually negotiable if you bother to ask.

If Canada has the same pre-med volunteer situation as the United States, then it's unlikely that they will bend, because they will have a line of willing [qualified] pre-med volunteers out the door eager to check those boxes and rack up those hours!

The OP's best bet is to venture far away from campus. I had a much easier time finding a volunteer gig in suburbia far away from any college as a post-bacc. But then again, I'm sure the language laws will apply there too. It's a different situation than most of us are used to. This will involve some creativity or a gap year.

OP, how good is your French? Maybe try Rosetta Stone or something.

 

[13962Girl]

I went to high school in the states where here was no language issue to contend with! I do speak Spanish, and took one year of French in high school but have found it to not be enough of a foundation to function here in Quebec as I had hoped. It is a different type of French here, and the locals are not inclined to allow you to practice your French when speaking with them. They automatically revert to English, so my French capability remains at the very very very minimal level.

I have spent my freshman and sophomore year doing research, and my EC's in that area are very good. So it is not like I have not been involved in doing anything other then attending classes for the last two years. However I know I now must absolutely get some volunteer/clinical hours. My thoughts are that perhaps the best I can do at this point is something along the lines of the senior care facility, coupled with some shadowing and hope for the best. If it does not prove to be enough, then I suppose I will be looking at moving back to the states after I graduate and spending my gap year gaining the clinical experience.

 

[13962Girl]

And planes2doc your link sums up the language situation here in Quebec perfectly! It is not a good one…

 

[xffan624]

I am about to start my junior year of undergrad with hopes of applying to med school next cycle. I am a US citizen attending undergrad in Montreal, Quebec. Unfortunately most -if not all- volunteer opportunities in Montreal that offer patient interaction require you to be bilingual (English/French) which I am not. I have very heavy research experience (2 publications, including 1 first author and a 3rd publication in the pipeline). My only clinical experience was in high school, approx 150 hours. I know I need to get some sort of volunteer experience before applying and was wondering if I am unable to get something with patient interaction because of the language barrier, what might be the next best thing? And is this the type of situation that might best be addressed in my personal statement when the time for applications comes?

Can you stay with relatives in another area and volunteer over the summer?

 

[Planes2Doc]

Can you stay with relatives in another area and volunteer over the summer?

This is a pretty good idea, but as stand-alone volunteering, it would definitely come off as box-checking to the ADCOMs. This can definitely work if the OP engages in consistent non-clinical volunteering of any sort, and piggy-backs the clinical volunteering on top of it as a check-list item. I'm guessing it is far easier to score a non-clinical volunteering gig without the language requirement.

 

[13962Girl]

I'd like to avoid leaving Montreal next summer if at all possible since I do wish to continue my research and will have to continue paying rent whether I am here or not in order to keep my apt for my final year. I could live with my parents in the states fir the summer, of course, but that being said there is no guarantee I could line up a decent gig from 3000 miles away and one which I would only be available to do for 3 months or so. Many of the decent clinical opportunities want a minimum commitment of 6 months, and quite a few want one year. I feel that volunteering at the senior center for a continuous period of time, coupled with shadowing, might be preferable than a short summer stint back in the states, even if it had a stronger patient component. However, I simply don't know..

 

[13962Girl]

That's what I am afraid of, looking too much like "check the box"

 

[xffan624]

That's what I am afraid of, looking too much like "check the box"

Better a box checked, than it be blank. Either that or apply with what you've got and be prepared to take a gap year and address that shortcoming during that time.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I'd like to avoid leaving Montreal next summer if at all possible since I do wish to continue my research and will have to continue paying rent whether I am here or not in order to keep my apt for my final year. I could live with my parents in the states fir the summer, of course, but that being said there is no guarantee I could line up a decent gig from 3000 miles away and one which I would only be available to do for 3 months or so. Many of the decent clinical opportunities want a minimum commitment of 6 months, and quite a few want one year. I feel that volunteering at the senior center for a continuous period of time, coupled with shadowing, might be preferable than a short summer stint back in the states, even if it had a stronger patient component. However, I simply don't know..

That's a fine plan, but are you looking to apply to research-heavy schools? If your application is focused around research and you have stellar scores (I'm talking nearly 4.0 and close to 40 MCAT), you can likely get away with checking the boxes for volunteering. But if you have average stats and those research-heavy top schools are a reach, then it might be time to call it a day with the research, and focus on the volunteering and clinical experience, which at this point will likely be more important than research (which isn't even a requirement at a lot of schools). Think out your strategy out wisely...

 

[Doudline]

PM me if you need help with your French, OP.

Have you thought of volunteering in "less official" places, like nursing homes, free clinics, etc? I know there are a few in Montréal specifically for allophones/immigrants (so not speaking French wouldn't be a big problem). You could even offer your service to your school's health clinic.

Bonne chance.

 

[Holmwood]

I am about to start my junior year of undergrad with hopes of applying to med school next cycle. I am a US citizen attending undergrad in Montreal, Quebec. Unfortunately most -if not all- volunteer opportunities in Montreal that offer patient interaction require you to be bilingual (English/French) which I am not. I have very heavy research experience (2 publications, including 1 first author and a 3rd publication in the pipeline). My only clinical experience was in high school, approx 150 hours. I know I need to get some sort of volunteer experience before applying and was wondering if I am unable to get something with patient interaction because of the language barrier, what might be the next best thing? And is this the type of situation that might best be addressed in my personal statement when the time for applications comes?

Just keep trying OP.
Just check every single hospital in Montreal (via wiki) and ask the volunteer coordinator if there are opportunities for non-french speakers.
The other option is doing an internship in less Frenchy areas of Canada over the summer.

It's still better to have experience working with patients even with the language barrier... because if you want to practice in the states, that's probably your every-day hurdle. And it looks good on your application if you showed that you were able to work with these patients despite language barriers. Equal access to care and whatnot.

 

[13962Girl]

I really appreciate the support and suggestions everyone has provided. I do realize I am in a bit of a bind, not one for which there are no solutions, but a challenging one nonetheless. I have reached out to the volunteer coordinators at a few hospitals but obviously need to wide my scope. I should clarify that the senior facility I an focusing on at the moment, is a "long term care" facility, and all the residents are ill with one condition or the other, mostly Alzheimer's, dementia, stroke, etc. It is not a retirement home, but more of a nursing home. So perhaps this might qualify as clinical after all?

 

[Holmwood]

I really appreciate the support and suggestions everyone has provided. I do realize I am in a bit of a bind, not one for which there are no solutions, but a challenging one nonetheless. I have reached out to the volunteer coordinators at a few hospitals but obviously need to wide my scope. I should clarify that the senior facility I an focusing on at the moment, is a "long term care" facility, and all the residents are ill with one condition or the other, mostly Alzheimer's, dementia, stroke, etc. It is not a retirement home, but more of a nursing home. So perhaps this might qualify as clinical after all?

Someone wise once said... if you can smell your patients, it's clinical experience. : )