How long does before your volunteering/shadowing hours "expire" ?

[reese07]

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I'm a MD/PhD reapplicant and most of my hours for ECs/volunteering/shadowing came from 2009-2010. I am going to do research for NIH for a year and reapply for the 2013 cycle. Will all my past work be too old by the time I apply again? I will continue to volunteer and such but I want to know if the past hours I did will be considered too old to combine with my new upcoming hours.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Volunteer hours never expire. People put down hours from 5+ years ago in their application if they are relevant.

 

[Astarael]

Volunteer hours never expire. People put down hours from 5+ years ago in their application if they are relevant.

This 👍

The only time that stuff like that 'expires' is when you move into a new phase of your education. So if it was something you did during high school, it wouldn't count (unless you continued it while in college).

 

[nctw]

This 👍

The only time that stuff like that 'expires' is when you move into a new phase of your education. So if it was something you did during high school, it wouldn't count (unless you continued it while in college).

If you go to graduate school, however, that wouldn't eradicate all of your experience as an undergrad though, would it? I'd assume that's still classified as "college"

 

[Astarael]

If you go to graduate school, however, that wouldn't eradicate all of your experience as an undergrad though, would it? I'd assume that's still classified as "college"

I don't think that there are really any explicit rules on stuff like that. All I really know is that medical schools don't care much about what you did during high school and residencies don't care much about what you did during college. My guess would be that if you're getting a master's, everything from undergrad is still applicable, and if you're getting a Ph.D. it won't matter because your experience in that program would trump anything you've done before (at least it would for most people).

 

[Propylene]

I don't think that it would hurt you to continue you to volunteer, though. Just to show that it is important to you, and not something that you checked off a list a couple years ago and then moved on.

 

[TriagePreMed]

If you go to graduate school, however, that wouldn't eradicate all of your experience as an undergrad though, would it? I'd assume that's still classified as "college"

From the day you received that high school diploma to your application of med school is fair game. Some people may have taken a year off from High School to do humanitarian work.

 

[phnerd1105]

From the day you received that high school diploma to your application of med school is fair game. Some people may have taken a year off from High School to do humanitarian work.

This is what you should go by.

 

[ZZZzzzzzzzzzzz]

if you continue something in college from high school, is it better to only put down the hours done in college?

 

[phnerd1105]

if you continue something in college from high school, is it better to only put down the hours done in college?

Not really. I would specify how many hours were done in each high school and college, just so its easier for adcoms to evaluate your commitment. Since you continued the activity, its important for them to see how involved your were in high school as well.

 

[Lil Mick]

For MD/PhD, it's expected that students have had prior clinical experiences at some point. However, the research is the most important extracurricular activity; many of us took time off between college and applications to do a research program to either continue our college research or to delve into a new area. Many of the students in my program had clinical experiences from 1-5 years ago when we applied, and it didn't seem to hinder any of us.