Extracurriculars for non-traditional applicants?

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PhysioMD

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I volunteer at the animal shelter, American Cancer Society, and several annual events for kids interested in science.
 
The health care work is always good, but you do need to show us your altruism and humanism. we do, after all, need to know that you'll make a good doctor, and not merely a good medical student.

Check with your local houses of worship or volunteering opportunities.

Merry Xmas, y'all!

Hello fellow nontrads/mature students; what types of activities are you involved in for ECs? Any suggestions? I have limited time due to a busy work schedule. How important is "volunteering" at this stage, or shadowing, if you work in health care already??
 
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The health care work is always good, but you do need to show us your altruism and humanism. we do, after all, need to know that you'll make a good doctor, and not merely a good medical student.

Check with your local houses of worship or volunteering opportunities.

Merry Xmas, y'all!

utilitarianism :nod:?
 
I was accepted with virtually no ECs. I had like, less than one hundred volunteer hours at one place, maybe 50 hours of shadowing, and that was about it. My jobs over the years were more than enough to get me accepted at a few places.

If you are gunning for MD, you might want to add more volunteer hours. A job in direct patient care is priceless though.
 
I volunteer at the major medical center (that just so happens to be affiliated with my top-choice university!), I volunteer with a local animal rescue group, I own and operate an import and sales business for show jumpers and compete seriously as well, I am in the process of getting my pilot's license, and I tutor middle and high schoolers in the sciences.
 
I have done a lot of volunteering work in the past years. However, none of them were healthcare related though, and I'm not sure if it will be a problem when I apply :(.
 
I was accepted with virtually no ECs. I had like, less than one hundred volunteer hours at one place, maybe 50 hours of shadowing, and that was about it. My jobs over the years were more than enough to get me accepted at a few places.

If you are gunning for MD, you might want to add more volunteer hours. A job in direct patient care is priceless though.

Can I ask what jobs you held that diminished the need for ECs?
 
Thanks guys! I do some volunteering in a health care setting but not very regularly; I also do some yearly volunteering with some social justice issues in my city. I'm not religious so places of worship are out in terms of volunteering. I guess I am mainly wondering how many volunteer hours are acceptable?
Thanks for the feedback!!

n=1, but I've been accepted MD with <50 hrs of volunteering, all of which was non-clinical, from ~5 years ago, and mentioned only in passing on my application. I had tens of thousands of hours of patient contact as a paramedic, though, so at least in my case, work experience in healthcare was sufficient.
 
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I have a friend who is a non-traditional student. He studied IR and global politics, undergrad and masters. He applied to, and got into two prestigious Phd programs before deciding medicine. Can this be included in the activities sections?
 
I have a friend who is a non-traditional student. He studied IR and global politics, undergrad and masters. He applied to, and got into two prestigious Phd programs before deciding medicine. Can this be included in the activities sections?
Can getting accepted to PhD programs, but not matriculating, be counted as an EC? Is that the question?
No. That's not an activity for AMCAS.
If he actually matriculated to one of the PhD programs, then that would show up in the education section, bu still not an activity.
If he had a serious time commitment to something involving IR & politics (i.e. coaching junior UN, publications on the topic, a job in the field, etc.) than that thing would go in activities.

Also, why are you necrobumping threads only tangentially related to your question?
 
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