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I agree that technically the elderly population is not underserved, but they have their own significant challenges with their health and the healthcare infrastructure. I won't say it hinders your application regarding service orientation, but I would need details to confirm.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
I agree that technically the elderly population is not underserved, but they have their own significant challenges with their health and the healthcare infrastructure. I won't say it hinders your application regarding service orientation, but I would need details to confirm.
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GoSpursGo said:
No, this isn't an underserved population. But that doesn't mean it's a bad activity--it's clearly working with a vulnerable population, so if you enjoy it I think you can .
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Some adcoms will LOVE the idea of a pre-med who is interested in geriatrics or a practice in (almost) any specialty with a focus on older adults. Embrace it. You are walking the walk by putting in the hours in a service role with that population. Most retirement communities are high SES (correct me if I'm wrong about the one where you volunteer) and, as you might have guessed, some adcoms (and some in the peanut gallery) put an emphasis on helping people of lower SES including the homeless. If you can add a little something that would serve the poor (either elderly or not), that would be another box checked but either way, having a cohesive narrative about your interest in being a physician for older adults would stand out (not as common as seeing people interested in pediatrics or reproductive health).
 
Patrick-Star said:
What kind of details would you like? I can DM you.
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@LizzyM's comments describe the specifics that would clarify your involvement in the activity and the context of the people you are helping.

Patrick-Star said:
So is having non-clinical volunteer hours with a underserved population not a must (in this context)? I was reading some previous posts and it sounded like having it was almost a requirement to show that you are caring, etc.
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Carefully read how service orientation competency is defined. It does not require you to work with underserved populations. However, working with underserved populations may help you more with cultural competency, and we know that many clinical experiences should give you that perspective.

Patrick-Star said:
In other words would not having any involvement with underserved populations be a red flag/hole in my application since my app is all focused around caring for the elderly population and I want to go into geriatrics?
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That's all well and good, but the elderly need more help than just health. You probably have other experiences where you are working with delivering food/groceries or helping them fill out their taxes or government forms for social security. If you have that, your narrative will be strong. If you work in hospice, that would be awesome.
Patrick-Star said:
Do admissions even care about a "cohesive" narrative and my interest in going into geriatrics?
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Trying to paint all adcoms with one brush, the answer is that our goal is to find students that we can propel them to be the types of physicians we want to train and they want to be. The cohesive narrative helps us align your application against our mission and resources to know that there are no issues with getting you to graduate and excel in the next phase of your career. If you are interested in geriatrics, your experiences should be able to demonstrate how deep your commitment is to that path, and all you need to do is properly communicate it.
 
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