Help with volunteering?

[stephenk]

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I've got just a bit left to go in undergrad. I'm not a pre-med major, I'm a business major, but I've got all the requirements for med school. Now, I'd like to get some volunteering in. What sort of volunteering should I look for that might help with applications to med school?

 

[DemenJ]

Starting to volunteer when you are close to graduation might not go too well with some med schools. Therefore, I suggest you volunteer in medical settings, but also in the community. Like...helping to clean a river and stuff. Show that you are want to volunteer in general and not just in the hospital.

 

[Catalystik]

Your first priority is to gain a decent amount of clinical experience, working with sick people. It can be gained by volunteering at a free, family-planning, or private clinic, hospice, hospital, VA, residential home, rehabilitation facility, nursing home, or as a first responder, among others. The advantage of gaining clinical exposure through volunteerism, is that it also is looked on as community service, another unwritten requirement for your application.

Nonmedical/noncampus community service is also desirable to have on an application. Consider Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, soup kitchen, crisis hotline, womens shelter, homeless shelter, or some other cause that is meaningful to you.

 

[CaliGirl14]

quick question: is volunteering at an assisted living place also clinical?

 

[naijaboi]

quick question: is volunteering at an assisted living place also clinical?

Yes it is. LizzyM says: "If you are close enough to smell patients, then it is clinical."

 

[CaliGirl14]

Yes it is. LizzyM says: "If you are close enough to smell patients, then it is clinical."

thank you!

 

[stephenk]

My primary physician has a practice in a family-doctor orientated field where he works within a medical group but has his own office. I wonder if there'd be anything I could do there that would count as clinical experience. He's a really down to earth guy, if you'd see him elsewhere in a different environment, you'd never guess he was a physician. He looks more like a comic, friendly santa claus. I have done some non-medical volunteering before, but I'd like to get some medical hours under my belt.

How/Who does one approach to inquire about a volunteer position?