As a nontrad, how did you fulfill your volunteering requirements?

[crazyotter]

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What are some volunteering opportunities that are accessible for nontraditional applicants that are no longer part of a traditional university curriculum?

Any ideas on how a nontrad applicant can volunteer and still have a relatively competitive application?

 

[deleted1168269]

I am not fully sure what being a nontrad has to do with getting volunteer experience, or why it would be easier/harder as a nontrad

 

[crazyotter]

I am not fully sure what being a nontrad has to do with getting volunteer experience, or why it would be easier/harder as a nontrad

I would think for being someone in the workforce in an unrelated job, you would have a harder time finding clinical-related volunteering opportunities that are relevant to a medical school application.

 

[Cornfed101]

Either apply for a clinical job or contact hospitals/clinics directly for volunteer opportunities

 

[crazyotter]

Either apply for a clinical job or contact hospitals/clinics directly for volunteer opportunities

What about research opportunities? As an unrelated nontrad working in an unrelated field, I would think those are pretty much closed off

 

[deleted1168269]

I would think for being someone in the workforce in an unrelated job, you would have a harder time finding clinical-related volunteering opportunities that are relevant to a medical school application.

As a non-trad myself, it wasn't a problem. There are several hospice and nursing volunteer positions you can sign up for during the weekend. Even 2-3 hours every week adds up over time. I would also take a 1 week vacation from work to crunch in about 30-40 hours at some point before applying.

When you are in 4th year of medical school like I am, you will have to balance taking Step 2 with auditions, applying to residency, and doing all your interviews. It's very chaotic and stressful. But you get through it day by day by learning to be flexible and getting your stuff done when you can. Better to learn that skill now rather than later.

 

[gyngyn]

What about research opportunities?

Research (for an applicant) is not needed for most schools.

 

[KaiBuzz]

As a non-trad with a full-time job, I volunteered at an urban shelter serving meals every Sunday.

 

[crazyotter]

As a non-trad with a full-time job, I volunteered at an urban shelter serving meals every Sunday.

That's great to hear. Did you do any clinical-oriented volunteering as well? Or did any research?

Was your application just the serving meals at shelter?

 

[KaiBuzz]

That's great to hear. Did you do any clinical-oriented volunteering as well? Or did any research?

Was your application just the serving meals at shelter?

I also volunteered at a free clinic one summer during undergrad and a local hospital once a week during undergrad. I then worked full-time as a CRC for two years.

 

[crazyotter]

I also volunteered at a free clinic one summer during undergrad and a local hospital once a week during undergrad. I then worked full-time as a CRC for two years.

Interesting. So I take it your clinical volunteering experience would be your CRC experience, and your non-clinical volunteering would be the urban shelter meal delivery?

Thanks for the data point. I'm trying to get ideas on how a guy outside the system can somehow get clinical volunteering experience (and/or research, but an earlier comment said that's not necessary for applicants)

 

[wholeheartedly]

C

Interesting. So I take it your clinical volunteering experience would be your CRC experience, and your non-clinical volunteering would be the urban shelter meal delivery?

Thanks for the data point. I'm trying to get ideas on how a guy outside the system can somehow get clinical volunteering experience (and/or research, but an earlier comment said that's not necessary for applicants)

Clinical volunteering shouldn’t be too hard if you have a hospital nearby. Just go to the hospital website and search for volunteering or call and ask to speak to someone about volunteering. Just pick something that puts you in contact with patients.

Be polite and respectful to everyone in every role that you meet, do your job well, and that can potentially open doors to shadowing opps after you’ve been there a few months.

Research is trickier and depends on your background. Nice to have but not your highest priority.

 

[Dral]

To make it easier on the process, get it out of your head that you are somehow 'outside of the system'. Unless one is at an undergrad institution with a local associated medical school/hospital with contacts to said health system, we are all sort of 'outside of the system'. When I was an undergrad, I drove to the hospital, went to the volunteer office, and asked what opportunities they had. Just like you could do.

 

[mddo2022]

What are some volunteering opportunities that are accessible for nontraditional applicants that are no longer part of a traditional university curriculum?

Any ideas on how a nontrad applicant can volunteer and still have a relatively competitive application?

Non-trad here. I did not have a work permit until I got my greencard. All my experiences - clinical, non-clinical, research were volunteering positions. For clinical and non clinical volunteering, as others have suggested, hospital and soup kitchen are the best places to gain some good experience. Majority of the hospitals usually are welcoming. For research (benchwork basic science research), I emailed every possible PI in universities at a commutable distance. Once I received my work permit, I got paid positions as a CRC and later as a research tech. While I was doing all this, I was enrolled in DIY post-bacc. So, according to your definition I was "outside" the system and not part of any university per se.

You could also take an online hobby class at a community college (check if your employer gives tuition reimbursement) and be considered "inside" the system.

 

[SAK08540]

Non-trad here. I did not have a work permit until I got my greencard. All my experiences - clinical, non-clinical, research were volunteering positions. For clinical and non clinical volunteering, as others have suggested, hospital and soup kitchen are the best places to gain some good experience. Majority of the hospitals usually are welcoming. For research (benchwork basic science research), I emailed every possible PI in universities at a commutable distance. Once I received my work permit, I got paid positions as a CRC and later as a research tech. While I was doing all this, I was enrolled in DIY post-bacc. So, according to your definition I was "outside" the system and not part of any university per se.

You could also take an online hobby class at a community college (check if your employer gives tuition reimbursement) and be considered "inside" the system.

apologies if this is basic, but did you self record your clinical and non-clinical volunteership? did you get those hours somehow signed up from the director?

 

[mddo2022]

apologies if this is basic, but did you self record your clinical and non-clinical volunteership? did you get those hours somehow signed up from the director?

Not at all! For clinical volunteering position, the hospital recorded our hours. I requested my supervisors to share it with me. For non-clinical, I volunteered in soup kitchens and food banks in many cities as we kept moving for my spouse's job. Some food banks recorded the hours and others didn't. So I only recorded an average number of hours including the projected hours.

 

[Justify2018]

I was lucky enough to get a volunteer position at a local hospital. I spent two years over my prerequisites and then took another year to study for the MCAT, volunteer and shadow and that worked to round out my application. It worked and I have an acceptance early in the cycle and feel really happy about it.

 

[esob]

I literally got on SDN, followed Goro's advice, and started doing hospice and Habitat for Humanity 😀

Here's why I think those things worked for me. Hospice was uber flexible, so I could go whenever I had free time. Habitat was basically the same thing. So, my 1st semester back, I wanted to get my sea legs under me, so I signed up for these things but did very little. Then, as the holidays hit and in between semesters, I would crank out the hours. Hence, I might have something like 50 hrs in a year and I would put on my application something like "1 hr per week avg." This was a true statement, but in reality, it was more like 8 hrs per week on ~ 6 different weeks in the year. The other 46 weeks, I spent my time doing the most important thing for your app, which is cranking out A's.