I have never volunteered

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DarkArcher

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I will be entering my 2nd year of college, and I have no volunteering/shadowing/research experience thus far. What would be a reasonable time table to get each in, and how many hours is deemed significant?

Also, what if I can find a job in a "medically-related" area? Perhaps a nursing home. Could I count that as volunteering or not?

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Start now and continue until your application ideally. You don't need to have a medically related job, hospital volunteering is sufficient to get clinical exposure.
 
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No, but you can count it as clinical experience. Volunteering = unpaid by definition.
 
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#1 If you get paid, it is a job, not volunteering.
#2 There is no "number of hours = significant", ECs are about telling adcoms what you do when you aren't focusing on your academics. They are about the ECs, your productivity, your development, your impact on others. Somehow thinking that the number of hours has relevance to an adcom reading your application defies logic.
#3 Treating ECs as checkboxes, especially when starting 'early' ie not playing catchup right before applications is a recipe for wasting your time and getting far less out of your experiences than you should.
 
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Start now and continue until your application ideally. You don't need to have a medically related job, hospital volunteering is sufficient to get clinical exposure.

Any hours per week? And how many months? The reason I ask is because if I want to skip from volunteering to research or shadowing, I don't think it's possible do all at once along with college.
 
Any hours per week? And how many months? The reason I ask is because if I want to skip from volunteering to research or shadowing, I don't think it's possible do all at once along with college.

I mean most people aim for 3-4 hours weekly. You should be able to do research along with that. Shadowing doesn't need to be continuous, and you can do that during your breaks if that is easier.
 
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Any hours per week? And how many months? The reason I ask is because if I want to skip from volunteering to research or shadowing, I don't think it's possible do all at once along with college.

Wow. Your approach to this is horrible. And shadowing takes up hardly any time at all. You can do it over your summers.
 
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#1 If you get paid, it is a job, not volunteering.
#2 There is no "number of hours = significant", ECs are about telling adcoms what you do when you aren't focusing on your academics. They are about the ECs, your productivity, your development, your impact on others. Somehow thinking that the number of hours has relevance to an adcom reading your application defies logic.
#3 Treating ECs as checkboxes, especially when starting 'early' ie not playing catchup right before applications is a recipe for wasting your time and getting far less out of your experiences than you should.

Thanks. It's just browsing at all the EC's members have posted around the years can be somewhat daunting haha.

I was just thinking of the impossible task of college, work, and volunteering. And I don't think I could devote much time to the latter two. So it's okay to get the experience on my own pace?
 
2-4 hrs/wk, every month.
You could focus on research during the summers.
Shadowing can be in chunks, maybe during breaks, maybe combined with research, 40hrs minimum across a range of specialities including outpatient and 1º care
 
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Any hours per week? And how many months? The reason I ask is because if I want to skip from volunteering to research or shadowing, I don't think it's possible do all at once along with college.

You have approximately 120 hours of waking time each week. Assuming that you are a full time student, you have class and are studying each week somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 hours/week. What do you do with the other 80 hours/week? You need to eat, you need to shower, you need to maintain relationships, you need to have fun, you need to do XYZ hobbies etc. When I look at someone's application and look at their ECs, I am trying to answer the question: who is this person when they aren't studying? How do you fill that 80 hours? Nobody is looking for the next mother Teresa. We just want to know if you spend 10% of those 80 hours goofing off, or 90% or somewhere in between.
 
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You don't need research to get into medical school. It helps, but it's not a requirement.

The amount of hours depends on what the hospital/clinic will allow, as well as how much you're willing to commit. One hospital that I volunteered at only let volunteers come in 4 hours/week while a free clinic I volunteered at let me come in whenever after a few weekend shifts.

Your mistake OP was that adcoms look for X amount of hours when they just want to see a commitment of years to service. Doing 3-4 hours a week for 2 years will do great things for you.
 
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I mean most people aim for 3-4 hours weekly. You should be able to do research along with that. Shadowing doesn't need to be continuous, and you can do that during your breaks if that is easier.

2-4 hrs/wk, every month.
You could focus on research during the summers.
Shadowing can be in chunks, maybe during breaks, maybe combined with research, 40hrs minimum across a range of specialities including outpatient and 1º care

Thanks for breaking it down! Sorry, what is outpatient and 1º care?
 
Thanks. It's just browsing at all the EC's members have posted around the years can be somewhat daunting haha.

I was just thinking of the impossible task of college, work, and volunteering. And I don't think I could devote much time to the latter two. So it's okay to get the experience on my own pace?

See my hours comment. Someone that spends 3 hours on personal development per week for an extended period of time is a red-flag. There isn't a hard and fast line about this. Just think about it. We have ~100-200 spots to fill. Plenty of strong academic applicants to fill us to the brim several times over. Would you want to invest your time/energy/spot on someone who goofed off for 77 of those 80 hours a week?
 
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Wow. Your approach to this is horrible. And shadowing takes up hardly any time at all. You can do it over your summers.

Thanks for the honesty! What would be your approach?
 
Thanks for breaking it down! Sorry, what is outpatient and 1º care?
Primary Care is OB, Peds, Family Medicine, etc. Outpatient is one-day visits, like getting stitches or surgeries that get you out that same day.
 
If you are a science major, you may be able to do some research for credit in your jr year. This counts. You can also look into summer research next summer. Some folks will extend that into a senior thesis.
 
Thanks. It's just browsing at all the EC's members have posted around the years can be somewhat daunting haha.

I was just thinking of the impossible task of college, work, and volunteering. And I don't think I could devote much time to the latter two. So it's okay to get the experience on my own pace?

It's definitely possible to do multiple things while balancing school. Do you think you'll spend every waking moment on studying and going to class?
 
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See my hours comment. Someone that spends 3 hours on personal development per week for an extended period of time is a red-flag. There isn't a hard and fast line about this. Just think about it. We have ~100-200 spots to fill. Plenty of strong academic applicants to fill us to the brim several times over. Would you want to invest your time/energy/spot on someone who goofed off for 77 of those 80 hours a week?

So about 2-3 hours of volunteering per week for a year or two would be okay as it shows dedication and continuity? The other hours could be towards studying, social life, hobbies, and maybe work (not sure anyone would employ someone looking to work ~3+ hours a week lol)? Then I can tackle research/shadowing during breaks?

Sorry if I did not comprehend your post. ><
 
It's definitely possible to do multiple things while balancing school. Do you think you'll spend every waking moment on studying and going to class?

No, except test weeks haha. Orgo, Physics 2, Stats, Chem lab and Soc are the classes I'm taking. :(
 
100% concur with my learned colleague.

Here's the deal: You need to show AdComs that you know what you're getting into, and show off your altruistic, humanism side. We need to know that you're going to like being around sick or injured people for the next 40 years.

Here's another way of looking at it: would you buy a new car without test driving it? Buy a new suit or dress without trying it on??
We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.
I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, camps for sick children, or clinics. Check out your local houses of worship for non-clinical volunteer opportunities.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.



#1 If you get paid, it is a job, not volunteering.
#2 There is no "number of hours = significant", ECs are about telling adcoms what you do when you aren't focusing on your academics. They are about the ECs, your productivity, your development, your impact on others. Somehow thinking that the number of hours has relevance to an adcom reading your application defies logic.
#3 Treating ECs as checkboxes, especially when starting 'early' ie not playing catchup right before applications is a recipe for wasting your time and getting far less out of your experiences than you should.
 
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No, except test weeks haha. Orgo, Physics 2, Stats, Chem lab and Soc are the classes I'm taking. :(

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable course load. You should still have a lot of free time outside of class.
 
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No, except test weeks haha. Orgo, Physics 2, Stats, Chem lab and Soc are the classes I'm taking. :(
If you think that is tough, just remind yourself how hard med school will be. Do you have the perseverance to get through it?

Also not to rain on your parade, but this is a pretty light compared to your engineering friends. Manage your time wisely and study hard and it will be okay
 
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Thanks. It's just browsing at all the EC's members have posted around the years can be somewhat daunting haha.

I was just thinking of the impossible task of college, work, and volunteering. And I don't think I could devote much time to the latter two. So it's okay to get the experience on my own pace?

It is more than possible. I've wokred in research 10hrs/wk for 2 years, worked rodeos on weekends for over a year, volunteered weekly for 3 years, compete on a club team, and am an executive in 3 of my organizations. And yes, I still have plenty of fun in college. People who say it's impossible haven't tried.
 
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That sounds like a perfectly reasonable course load. You should still have a lot of free time outside of class.

If you think that is tough, just remind yourself how hard med school will be. Do you have the perseverance to get through it?

Also not to rain on your parade, but this is a pretty light compared to your engineering friends. Manage your time wisely and study hard and it will be okay

It is more than possible. I've wokred in research 10hrs/wk for 2 years, worked rodeos on weekends for over a year, volunteered weekly for 3 years, compete on a club team, and am an executive in 3 of my organizations. And yes, I still have plenty of fun in college. People who say it's impossible haven't tried.

Thanks for the motivation! :)
 
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100% concur with my learned colleague.

Here's the deal: You need to show AdComs that you know what you're getting into, and show off your altruistic, humanism side. We need to know that you're going to like being around sick or injured people for the next 40 years.

Here's another way of looking at it: would you buy a new car without test driving it? Buy a new suit or dress without trying it on??
We're also not looking for merely for good medical students, we're looking for people who will make good doctors, and 4.0 GPA robots are a dime-a-dozen.
I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, camps for sick children, or clinics. Check out your local houses of worship for non-clinical volunteer opportunities.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients.

Great post. I think my problem has been I'm thinking in terms of a robot rather than a human. I usually do need to spend more time studying than the average individual since I don't learn things quickly, but my life feels worthless without helping the community and without working for an income.
 
Plenty of other people manage to balance these things; so can you.

Great post. I think my problem has been I'm thinking in terms of a robot rather than a human. I usually do need to spend more time studying than the average individual since I don't learn things quickly, but my life feels worthless without helping the community and without working for an income.
 
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Thanks for the honesty! What would be your approach?

Just the way you mentioned "skip" from volunteering to something else makes it sound like you think it's a chore. Just find volunteering you enjoy and stick with it. You'll find that it works out so much better that way.
 
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Any hours per week? And how many months? The reason I ask is because if I want to skip from volunteering to research or shadowing, I don't think it's possible do all at once along with college.

Don't want to sound like a harda$$... but It's quite possible to do it all at once. the people you will be competing against for spots in school did it all at once. Just prioritize your life and make the sacrifices you need to in order to accomplish what you want.
 
So about 2-3 hours of volunteering per week for a year or two would be okay as it shows dedication and continuity? The other hours could be towards studying, social life, hobbies, and maybe work (not sure anyone would employ someone looking to work ~3+ hours a week lol)? Then I can tackle research/shadowing during breaks?

Sorry if I did not comprehend your post. ><

Actually, all the major hospitals around my school (and a lot of the volunteer organizations) have a minimum junior year standing for college volunteers since we have so many pre-meds, and if all those people can get in with a little over a year of volunteering then so can you.

To be honest it does sound like you're trying to go down a list, please don't do that you'll get nothing out of your experiences that way. Also, not sure if you're joking but I don't think any employer is going to want someone who is only willing to work 3 hours a week.
 
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