Medical Do I have enough volunteering/shadowing hours?

[GoSpursGo]

I am currently a junior in undergrad and am super confused if my activities, volunteering, and clinical experience are enough to apply in June of 2022. This is what I have so far:
- 300 hours of research (250 dry lab/50 wet lab)
- 20 hours of volunteering in a hospital (I just started when the program was shut down due to COVID)
- 2 semesters of being a preceptor for 2 different neuroscience classes (should be around 100 hours, I'll receive class credit for this but my main responsibility was to hold office hours for student questions)
- 320 hours of scribing in an ER (this will be way higher by the time I wanna apply since I am going to keep doing this for a while)
- 20 hours volunteering for Crisis Text Line (projected to be over 100 hours by the time I apply)
- 40 hours of peer mentoring for incoming freshman within my major (also volunteering)
- 100 hours of volunteering for a peer mental health support group on campus
Also, I am doing my thesis paper before graduation so I will also have that. I am just confused on if I need more clinical volunteering, especially since I have the opportunity to start volunteering in the hospital again soon. I spent all 4 years volunteering at a hospital in high school and have over 400 hours of experience. This makes me not want to go back to volunteering at a hospital since I had various positions in the hospital when I volunteered in high school. I also tried to volunteer at a small clinic that would have had more direct patient contact but there were so many volunteers and not enough things to do, so I stopped going since I wasn't doing anything. I also am worried about shadowing hours. I shadowed a family practice physician and in a transplant clinic for 6 months when I was in high school. I like to think that my scribing is also along the lines of shadowing since I've seen many procedures (especially orthopedic procedures) in the ER. Any advice would be appreciated.

Clinically I think you are ok. Don’t put any shadowing hours from HS, and it would be nice to do some shadowing, but it isn’t going to make or break your app.

nonclinically you are low, and really lacking in helping the less fortunate. These are easy to find (soup kitchens, etc) but time consuming and require you to get out of your comfort zone. How much this would hold you back, as always, depends on the overall strength of your application. You seem very busy as is, do not start something new if it’s going to tank your grades or MCAT studying. If your GPA is good you have the makings of a strong app.

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[TheBoneDoctah]

Keep in mind that high school volunteering will not count. If you have 300+ clinical hours that will check that box. How are your non-clinical volunteering hours looking?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I know that they don't count but it is still part of my experience so far and I feel like I wouldn't learn much else from starting to volunteer in a hospital again. My nonclinical hours are pretty good (I think?). I have the hours from Crisis text line and the on-campus mental health support group. So they're both very mental health-oriented but it fits with my major, minor, and senior thesis. I also have peer mentoring but I don't necessarily know if I would include that since I don;t think it was that impactful.

Would work on getting some more hours working with people less fortunate.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Again, you have some hours but it isn’t getting you out of your comfort zone. You’ll need to interact with and care from people from all walks of life in Med school and in practice. Beyond just putting in hours, this is one area where what you’re doing is crucial to actually checking the box.