General Question about Clinical Volunteering

[roger1900]

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Hi all,

Texas resident and was planning on applying this upcoming summer. However, I was unsure whether my clinical hours were sufficient. I currently have 100 hours volunteering at two different retirement homes and will have an additional 400 hours volunteering at a camp for physically and mental disadvantaged/disabled children in June and July (will put as future hours on my application if I apply this summer). The rest of my stats are:

GPA: 3.65(cGPA), 3.7(sGPA)
MCAT: 129/127/129/130 (515)

Research: 1800 hrs in bioengineering lipid applications and 200 hrs in clinical endocrinology
Non-Clinical: 300 hrs
Shadowing: 75 hrs (6 different specialties)
Work Experience: 300 hrs (paid math tutor)
Teaching Experience: TA for general chemistry and biochemistry (4 semesters total)

Should I be applying this year or should I wait another year? My main concern is whether the "clinical hours" I have listed are actually clinical volunteering. My MCAT score is still good for two application cycles (for most schools).

Thanks in advance.

 

[freedoctor17]

The camp isn't clinical unless they're actually treating the children at the camp but it's still great volunteering. I don't know about the Retirement/nursing homes though.

 

[roger1900]

The camp isn't clinical unless they're actually treating the children at the camp but it's still great volunteering. I don't know about the Retirement/nursing homes though.

Okay thanks! Yeah not treating the kids for medical issues at the camp, however, we are in charge of their care for that entire week (ie. changing GI tubes, transportation, assisting in daily activities, etc).

 

[freedoctor17]

Okay thanks! Yeah not treating the kids for medical issues at the camp, however, we are in charge of their care for that entire week (ie. changing GI tubes, transportation, assisting in daily activities, etc).

@LizzyM can probably give you a better idea than I would.

 

[goatmed]

Okay thanks! Yeah not treating the kids for medical issues at the camp, however, we are in charge of their care for that entire week (ie. changing GI tubes, transportation, assisting in daily activities, etc).

From the premed advise post:

LizzyM's Clinical Rule: If you are close enough to smell patients, then it is clinical experience

I have a sample size of one to advise from so take me with a big grain of salt, but your stats seem good enough for most TX schools depending on where you hope to go and assuming your personal statement and all else is in order. GPA is close to average for our state's schools (a little bit on the low end for cGPA but not by much) and your MCAT is about the median at BCM and UTSW (the highest in this regard) from MSAR data (which might be slightly outdated but is the best source I know of for these.) Overall I think that puts your GPA/MCAT within the range of most accepted students.

On that vein, if you wanna compare stats with median accepted student at some schools the MSAR is a great — albeit not "hollistic" — tool to use. However, I'd wait until they renew the data before buying it (anyone know what date this happens?)

 

[Catalystik]

Hi all,

Texas resident and was planning on applying this upcoming summer. However, I was unsure whether my clinical hours were sufficient. I currently have 100 hours volunteering at two different retirement homes and will have an additional 400 hours volunteering at a camp for physically and mental disadvantaged/disabled children in June and July (will put as future hours on my application if I apply this summer). The rest of my stats are:

GPA: 3.65(cGPA), 3.7(sGPA)
MCAT: 129/127/129/130 (515)

Research: 1800 hrs in bioengineering lipid applications and 200 hrs in clinical endocrinology
Non-Clinical: 300 hrs
Shadowing: 75 hrs (6 different specialties)
Work Experience: 300 hrs (paid math tutor)
Teaching Experience: TA for general chemistry and biochemistry (4 semesters total)

Should I be applying this year or should I wait another year? My main concern is whether the "clinical hours" I have listed are actually clinical volunteering. My MCAT score is still good for two application cycles (for most schools).

Thanks in advance.

What was your role in the retirement homes? Were they senior living centers where folks have their own apartment and live independently or with some assistance, or a skilled-level nursing home facility?

What was your role in the endocrine research? Did you interact with current patients there?

Yeah not treating the kids for medical issues at the camp, however, we are in charge of their care for that entire week (ie. changing GI tubes, transportation, assisting in daily activities, etc).

Changing G-Tubes is "clinical." So is administering meds or nebulizing treatments, changing dressings or colostomy bags, catheterizing, etc. Dressing, feeding, playing with, teaching, or entertaining kids is NOT clinical, regardless of their mental capabilities.

 

[roger1900]

What was your role in the retirement homes? Were they senior living centers where folks have their own apartment and live independently or with some assistance, or a skilled-level nursing home facility?

What was your role in the endocrine research? Did you interact with current patients there?

Changing G-Tubes is "clinical." So is administering meds or nebulizing treatments, changing dressings or colostomy bags, catheterizing, etc. Dressing, feeding, playing with, teaching, or entertaining kids is NOT clinical, regardless of their mental capabilities.

@Catalystik Thank you for the clarification regarding the activities at the camp. In regards to your other questions:

1) The retirement homes were group housing for residents with dementia or Alzheimer's. The staff were mainly nurses but I didn't perform the tasks they did. I transported the residents to and from their rooms, helped them exercise (sometimes by physically moving their arms or legs) and during slow days played board games or did arts/crafts (I know this part isn't considered clinical).

2) The endocrine research was through the Psychology Dept at my university. The study I was involved in looked at the effects of small doses of testosterone on cognitive performance and mental tasks. It was not done at a hospital and the participants were healthy college students.

 

[Catalystik]

@Catalystik Thank you for the clarification regarding the activities at the camp. In regards to your other questions:

1) The retirement homes were group housing for residents with dementia or Alzheimer's. The staff were mainly nurses but I didn't perform the tasks they did. I transported the residents to and from their rooms, helped them exercise (sometimes by physically moving their arms or legs) and during slow days played board games or did arts/crafts (I know this part isn't considered clinical).

2) The endocrine research was through the Psychology Dept at my university. The study I was involved in looked at the effects of small doses of testosterone on cognitive performance and mental tasks. It was not done at a hospital and the participants were healthy college students.

1) I'd call the much of the care of residential Alzheimer's patients a clinical experience. Even the game playing could be spun as having therapeutic value to a person with memory issues.

2) Not clinical.

 

[number9]

I know you’ve already received clarification about what counts as “clinical”, but your situation is so similar to mine that I feel compelled to chime in! Take everything I say with a grain of salt--this is all just from my personal experience. Also, it's worth noting that I am not a TX resident and have higher "stats" that you (3.9+ GPA, 520+ MCAT), so the schools I applied to might not be the same schools you are planning to apply to.

Anyway, I applied this past summer with no clinical volunteering experience (according to SDN standards). What I did have was ~60 hours of shadowing and thousands of hours working with people with disabilities at a camp that sounds very similar to yours. I was responsible for all aspects of personal care for the campers I was paired with—feeding (sometimes via G-tube), bathing, dressing, changing oxygen equipment, etc. The campers were not patients and were not receiving any treatment at the camp. During the application cycle, I started volunteering at a clinic for underserved patients (a much more typical "clinical volunteering" gig). I did not start this in time to list it on my AMCAS application and was only able to mention it in secondaries/interviews.

I definitely wasn’t held back by this combo of ECs—I applied to 17 schools and received interview invites at 15 of them (and I have been accepted to all 9 that I have heard back from so far). All this to say that in my experience, a lack of "standard" clinical volunteering can be overcome as long as you do have exposure to a clinical setting (which you do through shadowing) and have shown you are comfortable around "sick" people (which you have shown through volunteering at this camp and at a nursing home).