Deciding on Volunteer Activity

[Eshamoon]

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Hello, I hope everyone is doing well! I was hoping for some input on what would be a next type of volunteer work

Previous volunteer work done in the following for 1-2 year in duration:
-cleaning up local river as president of club during undergrad
-coordinated donation drives for homeless shelter
-collaborated with local newspaper to donate supplies/old & mistyped newspapers to local animal shelter for animal cage liners

it's all non-clinical, but I have a lot of hours shadowing a physician. I have two options for different non-clinical volunteer work either with a local church or a hospital guiding patients to their destination.

Should I pursue these options or would it be more beneficial to try and find clinical volunteer work? I want to find a place where I can become emotionally invested in the job and people, so I can be committed to them for an extended period of time. Its also important to me that I'm not overdoing one type of volunteer work, while neglecting another type that is needed on my application.

I hope I explained the question well, please let me know if I can clarify anything and thank you for your thoughts everyone!

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well! I was hoping for some input on what would be a next type of volunteer work

Previous volunteer work done in the following for 1-2 year in duration:
-cleaning up local river as president of club during undergrad
-coordinated donation drives for homeless shelter
-collaborated with local newspaper to donate supplies/old & mistyped newspapers to local animal shelter for animal cage liners

it's all non-clinical, but I have a lot of hours shadowing a physician. I have two options for different non-clinical volunteer work either with a local church or a hospital guiding patients to their destination.

Should I pursue these options or would it be more beneficial to try and find clinical volunteer work? I want to find a place where I can become emotionally invested in the job and people, so I can be committed to them for an extended period of time. Its also important to me that I'm not overdoing one type of volunteer work, while neglecting another type that is needed on my application.

I hope I explained the question well, please let me know if I can clarify anything and thank you for your thoughts everyone!

Serving as a greeter at a hospital counts as clinical volunteering in my opinion.

 

[Catalystik]

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well! I was hoping for some input on what would be a next type of volunteer work

Previous volunteer work done in the following for 1-2 year in duration:
-cleaning up local river as president of club during undergrad
-coordinated donation drives for homeless shelter
-collaborated with local newspaper to donate supplies/old & mistyped newspapers to local animal shelter for animal cage liners

it's all non-clinical, but I have a lot of hours shadowing a physician. I have two options for different non-clinical volunteer work either with a local church or a hospital guiding patients to their destination.

Should I pursue these options or would it be more beneficial to try and find clinical volunteer work? I want to find a place where I can become emotionally invested in the job and people, so I can be committed to them for an extended period of time. Its also important to me that I'm not overdoing one type of volunteer work, while neglecting another type that is needed on my application.

I hope I explained the question well, please let me know if I can clarify anything and thank you for your thoughts everyone!

Besides getting in active clinical exposure through volunteering or work where you interact with patients, I'd like to see nonclinical community service where you interact directly with the folks in need to whom you give your time. Try to get out of your comfort zone. Help people who are unlike yourself.

 

[candbgirl]

You only need around 50 hours of shadowing and shadowing =/=clinical experience. So find clinical experience, can be volunteer or paid, as long as you are face to face with the sick, injured and dying. How are you going to know if you really want to spend the next 35+ years dealing with these people.
Nonclinical volunteering is supposed to focus on the unserved/underserved in your community. As @Catalystik said get out of your comfort zone. Get off campus and volunteer where you are dealing with people unlike yourself. Medicine is a service profession and you need to be comfortable dealing with all types of people. The activities you have done seem more n the line of leadership,IMO. And that’s just fine but you have to start getting up close to patients and the disadvantaged.
And from the way your described your activities, it seems like you are doing something and then checking it off. So be careful how you complete your applications. You don’t want reviewers to think you are just doing things to get them done. Good luck.

 

[deleted462159]

Volunteer in what you're passionate about - communities you want to serve, whether kids or the elderly, the sick or immigrants or LGBTQ, etc. - and be prepared to write/talk about why. Like @candbgirl said above, you don't want to sound like you're just checking off a box.