Extracurriculars check and some questions

[beelover]

I’m planning to submit my primary application in spring of 26. I wanted to check a couple things as I plan…

(Redacted)

I have a few other ECs but not sure how to classify them…
(redacted)

Finally, how much non clinical volunteering should I be aiming for? And then, are there any other apparent weak spots as far as ECs? I know I haven’t done any shadowing yet, planning to get on that soon.

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[Goro]

I’m a trad applicant planning to submit my primary application in spring of 26. I wanted to check a couple things as I plan…

Currently, I’m projecting 250 hours clinical volunteering with the elderly. Pending some info, hoping to add another 150 hours in a different position. Will have all my clinical hours be volunteering.
I’m projecting minimum 1000 hours in my current lab. At this point, I have a in university symposia poster from previous lab, and in university symposia oral presentation in current lab.
Have several leadership positions, which will total to 200 hours of mentoring and creating community with my peers. Very similar positions as well. I might also get a tutoring role, which would be another 100 hours.

I have a few other ECs but not sure how to classify them…
1 - I volunteer at a free clinic helping patients navigate finding insurance. I don’t interact with their care at all though. This is nonclinical, right? I hope to hit 50 hours with this.
2 - I am part of a public health club which runs projects that support the local community and work with community based organizations. Can this count as non clinical volunteering?

Finally, how much non clinical volunteering should I be aiming for? And then, are there any other apparent weak spots as far as ECs? I know I haven’t done any shadowing yet, planning to get on that soon.

At least 150+ hrs of nonclinical volunteering. Off campus and out of your comfort zone too.

 

[beelover]

At least 150+ hrs of nonclinical volunteering. Off campus and out of your comfort zone too.

Thanks for the quick reply. Does it make sense if I do the bulk of it over the summer and then continue maybe with a diff org but similar focus area over the school year?

And does the free clinic volunteering reflect poorly - it’s off campus yes but I’m doing it through a school club and the clinic is run through the university affiliate medical school, which I already have a lot of interaction with.

 

[Goro]

Thanks for the quick reply. Does it make sense if I do the bulk of it over the summer and then continue maybe with a diff org but similar focus area over the school year?

And does the free clinic volunteering reflect poorly - it’s off campus yes but I’m doing it through a school club and the clinic is run through the university affiliate medical school, which I already have a lot of interaction with.

As long as you're interacting with patients and get an idea of what you're going to be getting into for the next 40 years, that's okay

 

[beelover]

Wait, so is it clinical? I didn’t think so, since it’s all advising and setting up the patients on getting insurance.

 

[AJS59]

Wait, so is it clinical? I didn’t think so, since it’s all advising and setting up the patients on getting insurance.

They're there for healthcare, yes? If so it's clinical, in the same way that being a meal porter at a hospital or helping wheel around patients is. You're not providing direct healthcare in any of those examples BUT it is still clinical

 

[LizzyM]

If you are engaging with people who are called "patients", I consider it clinical regardless of what you do.

 

[beelover]

Okay, thanks so much for the feedback everyone!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Wait, so is it clinical? I didn’t think so, since it’s all advising and setting up the patients on getting insurance.

It sounds like you are a community health worker.

Community Health Workers

Community health workers promote wellness by helping people in their communities adopt healthy behaviors. They implement programs and advocate for people who may have limited access to health resources and social services.

www.bls.gov

I'm going to differ a little by emphasizing that for clinical experience, I think you need to value opportunities where doctors interact with patients (direct patient exposure). You should know some of the difficulties patients have when it comes to accessing social services and insurance... that is related to health care experience/exposure. But make sure you also observe the doctor-patient relationship. Otherwise, I'm going to wonder why you aren't happy being a CHW or a patient advocate.

Furthermore, I easily discount activities with fewer than 50 hours unless it's shadowing. As @Goro points out, 150 hours is a minimum to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

Focus your efforts after graduation with one of the local non-profits you work with in your community health club. That should help you with non-clinical volunteering.

 

[beelover]

It sounds like you are a community health worker.

Community Health Workers

Community health workers promote wellness by helping people in their communities adopt healthy behaviors. They implement programs and advocate for people who may have limited access to health resources and social services.

www.bls.gov

I'm going to differ a little by emphasizing that for clinical experience, I think you need to value opportunities where doctors interact with patients (direct patient exposure). You should know some of the difficulties patients have when it comes to accessing social services and insurance... that is related to health care experience/exposure. But make sure you also observe the doctor-patient relationship. Otherwise, I'm going to wonder why you aren't happy being a CHW or a patient advocate.

Furthermore, I easily discount activities with fewer than 50 hours unless it's shadowing. As @Goro points out, 150 hours is a minimum to avoid getting screened out at most schools.

Focus your efforts after graduation with one of the local non-profits you work with in your community health club. That should help you with non-clinical volunteering.

Thanks so much for the detailed response!

I’ll keep some of those specifications in mind as I arrange for future opportunities. This is super helpful.

Yes, I think I’ve seen someone post about that before on here. The unfortunate thing about the nature of my insurance volunteering is that it’s a fairly competitive role as far as time where the lead volunteers try to assign the rest of the group equitable amounts of shifts, and doesn’t fit well with my schedule. It is important to me though and the focus of my work with the public health club is also based around access of underserved populations to insurance and social services, which is why I would love to include it and will push as hard as I can to hit 50 hours.

I’ll probably look either this way (as far as insurance and social services access) to find nonclinical volunteering or maybe try a community garden, which just seems like a fun and interesting opportunity, but I wonder if it doesn’t show a commitment to serving the underserved...

It’d be ideal if I could wrap it all into my undergrad years since I go to school out of state and have no clue how I’d keep up with any of my activities without being able to live at my undergrad. At the same time, I know the one thing you pay long and hard to fix is a bad GPA, so if it’s necessary to shunt the hours down the road and tough it out for a year, that’s fine. I started ECs mostly this year so I know longevity is already kind of shaky, but is it possible to fit the nonclinical 150+ in without looking like a complete box-checker? Maybe if I start next semester, then accumulate a lot over the summer, then keep going through junior year?

 

[Goro]

Thanks so much for the detailed response!

I’ll keep some of those specifications in mind as I arrange for future opportunities. This is super helpful.

Yes, I think I’ve seen someone post about that before on here. The unfortunate thing about the nature of my insurance volunteering is that it’s a fairly competitive role as far as time where the lead volunteers try to assign the rest of the group equitable amounts of shifts, and doesn’t fit well with my schedule. It is important to me though and the focus of my work with the public health club is also based around access of underserved populations to insurance and social services, which is why I would love to include it and will push as hard as I can to hit 50 hours.

I’ll probably look either this way (as far as insurance and social services access) to find nonclinical volunteering or maybe try a community garden, which just seems like a fun and interesting opportunity, but I wonder if it doesn’t show a commitment to serving the underserved...

It’d be ideal if I could wrap it all into my undergrad years since I go to school out of state and have no clue how I’d keep up with any of my activities without being able to live at my undergrad. At the same time, I know the one thing you pay long and hard to fix is a bad GPA, so if it’s necessary to shunt the hours down the road and tough it out for a year, that’s fine. I started ECs mostly this year so I know longevity is already kind of shaky, but is it possible to fit the nonclinical 150+ in without looking like a complete box-checker? Maybe if I start next semester, then accumulate a lot over the summer, then keep going through junior year?

Service need not be "unique"; it can be anything that helps people unable to help themselves and that is outside of a patient-care setting. If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.

Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities.

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching literacy or ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Meals on Wheels, mentoring immigrant/refugee adults, being a friendly visitor to shut-ins, adaptive sports program coach or Special Olympics.