Clinical volunteering for less than a year?

[Fluffyone]

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Hi,
I plan on volunteering in a hospital from this December until August. I plan to get around 200 hours during this time. I'm then going to stop and volunteer at a soup kitchen until next december in which I won't volunteer in a clinical setting until after I apply to medical schools because I'm gonna study for the mcat and take classes. Is it bad that I'm doing clinical volunteering for less than a year?

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[DrHart]

Hi,
I plan on volunteering in a hospital from this December until August. I plan to get around 200 hours during this time. I'm then going to stop and volunteer at a soup kitchen until next december in which I won't volunteer in a clinical setting until after I apply to medical schools because I'm gonna study for the mcat and take classes. Is it bad that I'm doing clinical volunteering for less than a year?

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One year is okay but I would shoot for two if you can. You don't have to continue volunteering the same amount but it'd be nice to stay connected to it in some capacity. Number of hours is not necessarily as important as a sustained, long-term commitment.

 

[Fluffyone]

One year is okay but I would shoot for two if you can. You don't have to continue volunteering the same amount but it'd be nice to stay connected to it in some capacity. Number of hours is not necessarily as important as a sustained, long-term commitment.

Would you say that what I'm doing is considered a year since its going to be 2 semesters or no since its only over 8 months?

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[Goro]

It should be OK, but there is always a risk that you can be seen as "bock checking". In any event, sometime you have to apply with the app you have, warts and all, and see how the app cycle shakes out.

 

[Fluffyone]

It should be OK, but there is always a risk that you can be seen as "bock checking". In any event, sometime you have to apply with the app you have, warts and all, and see how the app cycle shakes out.

Ok thanks

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[DrHart]

Would you say that what I'm doing is considered a year since its going to be 2 semesters or no since its only over 8 months?

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When you fill out AMCAS, you will use actual dates (not semesters). So adcoms will see 8 months, not a year. If you can spare even a few hours every other week to stay committed to clinical volunteering, I would do so. It will only help your application.

 

[Fluffyone]

When you fill out AMCAS, you will use actual dates (not semesters). So adcoms will see 8 months, not a year. If you can spare even a few hours every other week to stay committed to clinical volunteering, I would do so. It will only help your application.

Oh I see. Thanks for your help

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[Planes2Doc]

When you fill out AMCAS, you will use actual dates (not semesters). So adcoms will see 8 months, not a year. If you can spare even a few hours every other week to stay committed to clinical volunteering, I would do so. It will only help your application.

Anyone that volunteers less than a year is a horrible human being. Just kidding.

This is good advice right here. If you can, keep clinical volunteering and see if you can spend time on your shifts studying for school or the MCAT. If you aren't given this luxury, try to find a clinical volunteer site that would give you this opportunity.

In the grand scheme of things, clinical volunteering is fantastic since it kills multiple birds with one stone with minimal commitment. It's best to keep doing this until you at least submit your application. In the above post, you can probably play around with the shifts and as long as you don't get kicked out, you'd be fine.

 

[Fluffyone]

Anyone that volunteers less than a year is a horrible human being. Just kidding.

This is good advice right here. If you can, keep clinical volunteering and see if you can spend time on your shifts studying for school or the MCAT. If you aren't given this luxury, try to find a clinical volunteer site that would give you this opportunity.

In the grand scheme of things, clinical volunteering is fantastic since it kills multiple birds with one stone with minimal commitment. It's best to keep doing this until you at least submit your application. In the above post, you can probably play around with the shifts and as long as you don't get kicked out, you'd be fine.

I think I'll be able to do it from this december until next december now. I reconfigured my schedule lol. But I think from midwinter and on I'm gonna do a soup kitchen. The hospital im going to volunteer in requires that I do atleast 5 hours a week to volunteer so I wont be able to do that when I'm doing the soup kitchen and taking a full course load of classes or else im scared my grades might suffer. I heard that as long as you commit a year it shows commitment. Is that true? Also, I will be able to get around 300 hours this way so I don't think hours will be an issue so it's only not showing commitment that worries me.

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[WedgeDawg]

No it's fine you'll be fine unless this is the major selling point of your app.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I think I'll be able to do it from this december until next december now. I reconfigured my schedule lol. But I think from midwinter and on I'm gonna do a soup kitchen. The hospital im going to volunteer in requires that I do atleast 5 hours a week to volunteer so I wont be able to do that when I'm doing the soup kitchen and taking a full course load of classes or else im scared my grades might suffer. I heard that as long as you commit a year it shows commitment. Is that true? Also, I will be able to get around 300 hours this way so I don't think hours will be an issue so it's only not showing commitment that worries me.

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In my own opinion, I think over a year and having the activity written as being done PRESENTLY on the app will show commitment, rather than reaching 12 months or a nicely rounded number of hours like 300, 400, etc... That's why if you had to choose one over the other for the sake of your application, I would stick to this and not do the soup kitchen. If you genuinely want to work in a soup kitchen, then by all means do it. But if it's close to application time and doesn't have over a year of longevity, I would think it would smell like "box checking."

 

[Fluffyone]

In my own opinion, I think over a year and having the activity written as being done PRESENTLY on the app will show commitment, rather than reaching 12 months or a nicely rounded number of hours like 300, 400, etc... That's why if you had to choose one over the other for the sake of your application, I would stick to this and not do the soup kitchen. If you genuinely want to work in a soup kitchen, then by all means do it. But if it's close to application time and doesn't have over a year of longevity, I would think it would smell like "box checking."

I wanted to volunteer for more than 100 hours in the soup kitchen because volunteering in the hospital is going to be the only extracurricular I have. Do you think it would be better to have like 50 hours of soup kitchen or no hours of the soup kitchen and more clinical volunteering? I know I shouldn't be counting hours but I feel like either way I get to help people so I might as well do the one that gives me a better chance of acceptance.

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[Planes2Doc]

I wanted to volunteer for more than 100 hours in the soup kitchen because volunteering in the hospital is going to be the only extracurricular I have. Do you think it would be better to have like 50 hours of soup kitchen or no hours of the soup kitchen and more clinical volunteering? I know I shouldn't be counting hours but I feel like either way I get to help people so I might as well do the one that gives me a better chance of acceptance.

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Try to get over 100 in the soup kitchen and don't quit it before you do AMCAS.

 

[Biochemistry69]

The average volunteering hours a poster has on SDN =/= reality. Go to r/premed and ask them, or search around. Plenty of students over there who had around 100 hours total. This site breeds neuroticism.