How many hours of volunteering?

[nekrogg]

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Okay so I realize that both clinical and research volunteer work is required for med school. My question is how many hours for both is considered a decent amount? What does everyone else have?

I am not really worried about my research: I am raking up 40 hours a week and been doing so since september. My clinical exposure is seriosuly lacking though. I have only 1 year of pushing wheel chairs (which from what I gather isnt enough) and been to 4 sessions of shadowing an oncologist.


BTW: If anyone has suggestions for shadowing doctors in the LA region that would be great. I missed the USC cmv opportunity 😡 cause i found out about it too late.

 

[relentless11]

Okay so I realize that both clinical and research volunteer work is required for med school. My question is how many hours for both is considered a decent amount? What does everyone else have?

I am not really worried about my research: I am raking up 40 hours a week and been doing so since september. My clinical exposure is seriosuly lacking though. I have only 1 year of pushing wheel chairs (which from what I gather isnt enough) and been to 4 sessions of shadowing an oncologist.

First off, clinical and research volunteer work IS NOT REQUIRED. Where did you get that information? Clinical exposure is good since it tells the adcoms you have some idea of what you're getting yourself into. Thats about it.

Research is only REQUIRED if you are doing an MSTP. Therefore, additional clinical or research volunteer work is icing on the cake, and merely a variable in the whole admissions equation. There is no such thing as a decent amount.

I have known people to have a few hours, to thousand of hours. The thing that gets them into med school is the ENTIRE APPLICATION PACKAGE. There IS NO minimum amount. You do it because you LIKE IT, not because you want to meet the criteria....especially when there aren't any criteria to speak of.

I knew a person who did 2 quarters of volunteering in the hospital, no research, but volunteered a lot in the community in non-medical related environments. They ended up going to UCSF. My best friend did 1 quarter of volunteering at a hospital, but did a summer of research. She swam competively for 2 years at the NCAA level. Ultimately, she didn't get into any UC med school, but got into USC. The take home message is, the amount of clinical/research volunteer time is not a big player in getting you into med school.

We can sit here all day comparing the number of hours of EC's we have. If there is no set criteria, than why worry? Use your best judgement, balance it out with school, life, and other EC's. To try to meet standards in this application game will drive one mad. In fact, some applicants will be coming in with EC's that will boggle the mind.

 

[Severus]

Okay so I realize that both clinical and research volunteer work is required for med school. My question is how many hours for both is considered a decent amount? What does everyone else have?

I am not really worried about my research: I am raking up 40 hours a week and been doing so since september. My clinical exposure is seriosuly lacking though. I have only 1 year of pushing wheel chairs (which from what I gather isnt enough) and been to 4 sessions of shadowing an oncologist.


BTW: If anyone has suggestions for shadowing doctors in the LA region that would be great. I missed the USC cmv opportunity 😡 cause i found out about it too late.

I think shadowing doctors is overrated, application filler *puts on flame suit*. Sure, it's great to do it once or twice to get a feel for a particular specialty - and I'm certainly not ripping on your current shadowing - but I think it might be more in your interest to volunteer in something like a free clinic or a migrant health program. You'll get a lot more experience than simply pushing wheelchairs (boring at times, I know), and, at the very least, it will give you something interesting to talk about during interviews. 👍

Then again, if you're dead set on MD/PhD, clinical experience will be much less important.

 

[Arsenic]

I think shadowing doctors is overrated, application filler *puts on flame suit*. Sure, it's great to do it once or twice to get a feel for a particular specialty - and I'm certainly not ripping on your current shadowing - but I think it might be more in your interest to volunteer in something like a free clinic or a migrant health program. You'll get a lot more experience than simply pushing wheelchairs (boring at times, I know), and, at the very least, it will give you something interesting to talk about during interviews. 👍

Then again, if you're dead set on MD/PhD, clinical experience will be much less important.

i actually agree with you sev

 

[Severus]

i actually agree with you sev

Arsenic!!! Well, if I've got a mod on my side... 😉

 

[Law2Doc]

Okay so I realize that both clinical and research volunteer work is required for med school. My question is how many hours for both is considered a decent amount? What does everyone else have?

Agree with relentless. You have fallen into the good credentials trap. There are many ways to be a good med school candidate. While a very few schools specifically want to see some volunteering (often non-medically related), most schools want to see that you have had decent clinical exposure. This can be paid, this can be via shadowing, this can be via volunteering, etc. There is no right way to get that experience, and no minimum or set number of hours. But you need to show that you have seen what doctors do, seen the doctor patient relationship, and can demonstrate in an interview that you have some idea of what doctors actually do for a living, and what you are getting yourself into. While the most common form of clinical experience tends to be volunteering, because it is easy to do with little mandatory time commitment, there is no hospital volunteering prerequisite. Similarly research looks great on an application, especially if it leads to a publication and is something that you can talk inteligently about in an interview. But you will find folks in every school (even the research oriented ones) that have not done a lick of research while in undergrad. So unlike getting some "clinical exposure", research isn't even really a prereq.
As a prior poster indicated, med schools will look at the whole package, and want folks who have impressive ECs that show some interest, committment, leadership or otherwise make the person a more well rounded individual, whatever they are.
That being said, a typical good candidate will have a decent amount of clinical experience (either volunteer, shadowing or paid), some research experience, and perhaps a little non-health volunteering (Big brother big sister, Habitat for Humanity, after school programs etc).

 

[deuist]

Ack... pushing wheelchairs? Find yourself a free clinic and start volunteering. They'll let you get away with anything there. You'll get lots of experience that way. Or... you could get a CNA or EMT license and start getting meaningful (and paid) clinical experience. I hate that pre-meds think that they have to volunteer in a hospital to get into medical school. Yes, volunteering does show a humanistic side of medicine, but you should do something that you like.

 

[nekrogg]

Ack... pushing wheelchairs? Find yourself a free clinic and start volunteering. They'll let you get away with anything there. You'll get lots of experience that way. Or... you could get a CNA or EMT license and start getting meaningful (and paid) clinical experience. I hate that pre-meds think that they have to volunteer in a hospital to get into medical school. Yes, volunteering does show a humanistic side of medicine, but you should do something that you like.

well the reason why i think this is because EVERYONE these days is doing it. the way i see it (Correct me if im wrong) is that your hours is like your GPA, if you dont have enough, just like if ur gpa isnt high enough, you'll get brushed off in the preliminary rounds. maybe im extremely disillusioned and getting way psyched out by mdapplicants.com 😛 but thats how i thought it to be. in any case i do honestly believe that i know what doctors go through and have seen alot through shadowing / volunteering but how do i make adcoms believe that through my app? is it through my PS? or is it still with my numbers ( i think i only have 80 hours total)

thanks for all your help, i appreciate it 🙂

PS: does anyone know any good free clinics in LA?

 

[deuist]

well the reason why i think this is because EVERYONE these days is doing it. the way i see it (Correct me if im wrong) is that your hours is like your GPA, if you dont have enough, just like if ur gpa isnt high enough, you'll get brushed off in the preliminary rounds. maybe im extremely disillusioned and getting way psyched out by mdapplicants.com 😛 but thats how i thought it to be. in any case i do honestly believe that i know what doctors go through and have seen alot through shadowing / volunteering but how do i make adcoms believe that through my app? is it through my PS? or is it still with my numbers ( i think i only have 80 hours total)

thanks for all your help, i appreciate it 🙂

PS: does anyone know any good free clinics in LA?

I don't know of any free clinics in LA, but I can try to answer your other questions. You are correct in stating that volunteering is very popular among pre-meds. However, volunteering takes many forms. Law2Doc and others have mentioned the non-medical routes to community service: Habitat for Humanity, Boy Scouts, various soup kitchens, tutoring disadvantaged children, etc... These often over-looked areas are great ways to get involved because you (the participant) get to do so much. You'll also learn a lot in the process. On the other hand, volunteering in hospitals is a sad state of affairs. Usually the candy canes are delegated to pushing wheelchairs and filing paperwork. Rarely, you'll get lucky and be allowed to take a patient's blood pressure in the emergency department. Hospitals are not going to let you work with sick patients---and for good reason. With concerns of training and malpractice, you'll need to have a medical or nursing license of some kind to work directly with patients.

As far as your concerns of logging volunteering hours: yes, you have been visiting mdapplicants.com too much. Your volunteering hours are not comparable to a GPA. For one, most adcoms are content with 100-200 hours of volunteering as reaching a significant level. As you can see, logging 200 hours over the course of 2 years will be very easy. Second, and more importantly, adcoms want to see that you made a contribution and learned something from community service---not something that can be measured by building time in a hospital's filing office. To show important your volunteering was, first, write about it on your AMCAS' personal statement. That way, adcoms will see that if you're devoting precious space from your personal statement to a particular topic, they'll know that it's important to you (the intrinsic factor). Second, get a letter of recommendation from a superior at your organization. This letter is important is because it shows how others have noticed your work (the extrinsic factor). It should state what your responsibilities were, how your constituents viewed you, and any changes that the staff members have noticed.

As I and others on this board have stated, extracurriculars---particularly volunteering---strengthens your soft skills. You're not volunteering to get good at diagnosing illness. Even as an EMT your clinical skills will not be comparable to a physician's, but you will at least have the personality that shows that you are willing to learn, willing to work in a group, and eager to work with your patients. Good luck with your search.

 

[gary5]

4 hrs/week volunteering in a clinical setting with patients is good. If you're eager and persistent, the residents may take you under their wing. I had one let me help him put stitches in. (I nearly passed out.)

 

[thatguyagain]

Okay so I realize that both clinical and research volunteer work is required for med school. My question is how many hours for both is considered a decent amount? What does everyone else have?

I am not really worried about my research: I am raking up 40 hours a week and been doing so since september. My clinical exposure is seriosuly lacking though. I have only 1 year of pushing wheel chairs (which from what I gather isnt enough) and been to 4 sessions of shadowing an oncologist.


BTW: If anyone has suggestions for shadowing doctors in the LA region that would be great. I missed the USC cmv opportunity 😡 cause i found out about it too late.

If you don't have exactly 227 hours, you don't have a shot.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

If you don't have exactly 227 hours, you don't have a shot.

oh no!! I have 228, am I in trouble??

 

[madonna]

PS: does anyone know any good free clinics in LA?

try cedars sinai. its not a free clinic but their volunteer dep is excellent. they'll work with you to find something that you like and they have some programs where you can shadow a physician and view surgeries.

 

[riceman04]

Okay so I realize that both clinical and research volunteer work is required for med school. My question is how many hours for both is considered a decent amount? What does everyone else have?

I am not really worried about my research: I am raking up 40 hours a week and been doing so since september. My clinical exposure is seriosuly lacking though. I have only 1 year of pushing wheel chairs (which from what I gather isnt enough) and been to 4 sessions of shadowing an oncologist.


BTW: If anyone has suggestions for shadowing doctors in the LA region that would be great. I missed the USC cmv opportunity 😡 cause i found out about it too late.

Se habla espanol?
If so (or even if you do not), I suggest volunteering at Shriners Hospital in the outpatient clinic. You have the opportunity to shadow physicians (orthopods, pedis, etc...) and if you are there long enough you can play a role in one of the research studies that the (mostly UCLA and USC) residents are conducting. I had an awesome time there...much more hands on experience than you would receive at a larger hospital.

Knowing spanish is a plus b/c the majority of the patient base if from Mexico...but spanish is not a requirement.

I highly recommend it!!!!!!! 😀

 

[thatguyagain]

oh no!! I have 228, am I in trouble??

If I were you, I'd lie. Just tell them you "miscalculated" your hours if they find out. That way you won't get axed.

 

[Rafa]

If you don't have exactly 227 hours, you don't have a shot.

He speaks the truth.

 

[Anastasis]

He speaks the truth.

Holy thread resurrection, batman! 😱

What made you drag this one up?

 

[Rafa]

Holy thread resurrection, batman! 😱

What made you drag this one up?

Haha...I was running a search on volunteer hours, and I figured I'd bump one or two for fun. Yes, I'm bored...