how to prove that you have volunteered to med school?

[vincikai]

How does medical school know how many Volunteer's hours I have? I mean do I get some kind certificate to prove that I have volunteered? Or is it is depends how I fill out the AAMC application?

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[Cirrus83]

lol just don't lie, you don't need some double stamped seal or anything. But if they call up the hospital and the hospital has never heard of you that would get ugly.

 

[BigRedPremed]

I agree with the above advice. Don't get your admissions rescinded because you decided to list 200 hours instead of 100 hours on your AMCAS app. While med schools probably don't verify EC's very frequently, the volunteer director at the hospital I volunteered at did inform me that sometimes they do call to verify (and, yes, some students have gotten in trouble for lying on their app.).

 

[Tired Pigeon]

As mentioned above, they do sometimes check. Also be aware that if you claim an inordinate amount of hours, that's something that is more likely to be verified. If you tell me you're volunteering 20 hours a week while taking a full course load while doing serious research while holding down a part-time job, I'm going to start wondering ... and very likely call your volunteer organization to verify your seemingly superhuman abilities.

However, as long as you've actually done the hours you're claiming, just put it on the AMCAS & don't worry about it.

 

[Ersatzious]

AMCAS/most secondaries do not ask for a total of volunteer hours but rather your weekly average and the dates spanned. Schools care more about your overall semester load than the absolute numbers.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

How does medical school know how many Volunteer's hours I have? I mean do I get some kind certificate to prove that I have volunteered? Or is it is depends how I fill out the AAMC application?

I've heard stories of med schools checking and students getting screwed.

This is by no means the norm (there's no way they could check everyone of course; but they may spot-check...).

Its not worth the risk.

On the AMCAS you list how many hours you participate in a given activity per week.

Since my hours fluctuated for some activities that I did over 4 years, I talked to the people in charge and told them if my hours/week was accurate in their eyes, just to make sure. Maybe Im a little anal.

 

[Auron]

How does medical school know how many Volunteer's hours I have? I mean do I get some kind certificate to prove that I have volunteered? Or is it is depends how I fill out the AAMC application?

No you don't need any formal proof - just be honest. It's not worth losing admission because of some odd hours.

 

[63768]

no one is going to look at your AMCAS app and go follow up on everything you have done. if you start lying about things, they can probably sniff it out and you will be in big trouble. just don't lie about anything and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[west nile]

I volunteer with someone who got accepted to UCSD, he said 1/3 of his interview was about his volunteering. Could be because he wrote about his experience in his PS though, and becuase he volunteers at Highland Hospital in Oakland. He said interviewers/other interviewees have heard about Highland and how good the volunteering program is, in Pennsylvania.