extracurriculars

[asdasd12345]

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what kind of volunteer activities are good to get in to med school? ive been considering going down to the hospital to volunteer, doing hospice, getting a patient care tech certificate, are any of these good ideas?

 

[Amy B]

Hi,
Any of those would be good. Do what you like and don't do it just to get into med school. Just get something that gives you clinical patient interactions. Free health clinics are also a great place to be. Here is a link for all the free clinics in the US.

http://freeclinic.net

 

[Dr JPH]

what kind of volunteer activities are good to get in to med school? ive been considering going down to the hospital to volunteer, doing hospice, getting a patient care tech certificate, are any of these good ideas?

Volunteering in the medical field can be fun and challenging, but rewarding. Any volunteer work looks "good" for medical school, but try to do something you are passionate about. You don't need to be in a hospital delivering bedpans or anything like that. You can do anything that you feel strongly about. Suicide hotline, AIDS clinic, afterschool programs...those sorts of things. As long as it is something that interests YOU and you are doing it because you WANT TO. When it comes time to write a personal statement and then interview for medical schools you will be asked to talk about experiences that directed you towards medicine. Make sure that when you speak of those experiences you can talk about them with excitement and passion...not just the "stuff you did". I remember talking about patients I met and things that I saw that made me both want to go into medicine as well as change medicine...at least for my future patients. That is the experience you need...not so much for your application, but for your future as a physician. Don't worry about impressing admissions counselors. If you have the drive (not to mention grades), then you will get there. Make sure you do something that makes you ask questions about yourself.

http://www.volunteermatch.org/
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/
http://www.servenet.org/

Some places you may want to get started are listed above.