Ineligible to volunteer and questions about my clincal ECs

[Anathema]

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So I just found out I might possibly have an active strain of a disease. If I find out I need to take the drug treatments this may make me ineligible to volunteer for up to 6 months aka the rest of my last and senior year and before I apply in June. If this is the case, I might have to depend on my past clinical ECs, but I'm wondering if they're "clinical enough."

I worked at a primary care practice and did the following:
-Entered in patient and lab information
-Talked to patients about accessing their health records and results
-Greeted patients and told them where to check in and when they were ready to come in
-Re-stocked supplies and ran around equipment among the appointments
-Helped wheel some patients in

As mentioned in a previous thread, there's a stigma to volunteering with people that aren't close to dead or dying. Sure I might not be able to talk about how my life was changed as I looked into the eyes of a dying patient, but I've had enough encounters with death and the close family. I was wondering if those experiences would still count as clinical? I did that for around 4 months in the summer and got over 200 hours from it and I'll be doing it again in the winter for another month (although I'd probably be assigned to more paper work).

Also, if this is too short term (despite having alot of hours from it) will med schools acknowledge the fact that I had TB that prevented me from volunteering or would they grill me about not volunteering earlier (I was worried about grades and had plenty of non-clinical volunteering).

Thanks guys!

 

[mcloaf]

That could be adequate depending on your other ECs. Do you have ample shadowing? Good research (published?)? Compelling non-clinical volunteerism or other things?

I applied with only around 50 hrs of ED volunteering (ongoing) and I'm doing fine with research ECs and high stats (plus a fair amount of shadowing). Your mileage will depend on your overall app, IMO.

Realistically I don't think they'll hold TB against you, just make sure you're active in other things in the mean time.

 

[Anathema]

Yeah I've been doing alot of teaching for close to three years now and I've been doing assistance to elderly and the poor projects for over a year along with other things. I recently stopped doing research but I was active for two years and did an SURP so I hope that's sufficient.

Numbers wise I'm a little above the average matriculant but not by too much.

 

[sector9]

So no shadowing then?

 

[Anathema]

So no shadowing then?

Sorry I missed that part. I solidly shadowed the PCP (as in non-volunteered related) for 30 hours. I'm seeing that the average is 50 and its recommended to check out some specialties. I'm guessing that this whole TB fiasco will probably hamper some shadowing opportunities?

 

[sector9]

I think you're fine then. Not ideal but good enough to get in IMO

 

[sinombre]

Interesting, how do you think you contracted TB? Have you traveled anywhere recently?

 

[Anathema]

Well I had the BCG virus as a kid and whenever redness came up in past TB shots they'd discount it because of that. But this was the first time I took a 2 step TB test and they said I should get a CXR.

I did visit India and went to some hospitals so that might be a big contributor to it, if not maybe I had it all along?

 

[theseeker4]

So I just found out I might possibly have an active form of TB. If I find out I need to take the drug treatments this may make me ineligible to volunteer for up to 6 months aka the rest of my last and senior year and before I apply in June. If this is the case, I might have to depend on my past clinical ECs, but I'm wondering if they're "clinical enough."

I worked at a primary care practice and did the following:
-Entered in patient and lab information
-Talked to patients about accessing their health records and results
-Greeted patients and told them where to check in and when they were ready to come in
-Re-stocked supplies and ran around equipment among the appointments
-Helped wheel some patients in

As mentioned in a previous thread, there's a stigma to volunteering with people that aren't close to dead or dying. Sure I might not be able to talk about how my life was changed as I looked into the eyes of a dying patient, but I've had enough encounters with death and the close family. I was wondering if those experiences would still count as clinical? I did that for around 4 months in the summer and got over 200 hours from it and I'll be doing it again in the winter for another month (although I'd probably be assigned to more paper work).

Also, if this is too short term (despite having alot of hours from it) will med schools acknowledge the fact that I had TB that prevented me from volunteering or would they grill me about not volunteering earlier (I was worried about grades and had plenty of non-clinical volunteering).

Thanks guys!

Where does the bolded part above come from? I have never heard anyone say there is any kind of "stigma" attached to volunteering helping non-critical patients. I also doubt you would be rejected because you couldn't talk about "looking into the eyes of a dying patient." Clinical volunteering is clinical volunteering, and while some experiences can be more impactful than others, what you get out of it and how you describe what you learned is more important than the severity of the cases of the patients you met.

 

[Anathema]

Where does the bolded part above come from? I have never heard anyone say there is any kind of "stigma" attached to volunteering helping non-critical patients. I also doubt you would be rejected because you couldn't talk about "looking into the eyes of a dying patient." Clinical volunteering is clinical volunteering, and while some experiences can be more impactful than others, what you get out of it and how you describe what you learned is more important than the severity of the cases of the patients you met.

I was referring to this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=957491&highlight=hospital+volunteering

But reading over other threads and posts alot of people bring up the argument, "Without having clinical exp or seeing sick and dying people how do you know you want to be a doctor?" I've never seen someone say, "Without wheeling a patient or signing them in at a hospital, how do you know you want to be a doctor?" It's just general sentiments like those that make me worry. I have alot to talk about with the experiences but I'm also worried with how adcomms will look at the duration of those activities and how I won't be able to change the situation.

 

[mcloaf]

If you can't change it don't stress about it.

Besides, it's hardly like there's a box to check on AMCAS for "watched someone die." SDNers have a lot of varying clinical experiences so inevitably many of us have seen death, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. As long as you have dealt with patients in some setting that's allowed you to help and see the physician patient relationship from the non patient perspective, you should be ok. This of course assuming that you enjoyed and learned from these experiences and that you can (most importantly) talk about them with genuine insight and enthusiasm.

Just my 2 cents, others may differ.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I was referring to this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=957491&highlight=hospital+volunteering

But reading over other threads and posts alot of people bring up the argument, "Without having clinical exp or seeing sick and dying people how do you know you want to be a doctor?" I've never seen someone say, "Without wheeling a patient or signing them in at a hospital, how do you know you want to be a doctor?" It's just general sentiments like those that make me worry. I have alot to talk about with the experiences but I'm also worried with how adcomms will look at the duration of those activities and how I won't be able to change the situation.

You misunderstood that thread. What people were saying was that hospital volunteering is bad because your responsibilities are so pointless and trivial, and you're not really getting any clinical experience from it. The reason they suggested hospice volunteering is because that almost always puts you into direct, significant contact with patients.

What matters isn't how sick the people are that you interact with, but what you get out of it.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I think you're fine then. Not ideal but good enough to get in IMO

Yes, I'd probably say the same thing OP.

 

[Druggernaut]

Also, if this is too short term (despite having alot of hours from it) will med schools acknowledge the fact that I had TB that prevented me from volunteering or would they grill me about not volunteering earlier (I was worried about grades and had plenty of non-clinical volunteering).

Only on SDN would someone's biggest concern about having tuberculosis be how admissions comittees would view its impact on volunteer hours.

200 hours of volunteering is more than adequate, you should be fine on the shadowing and research as well, and by your own evaluation you're above average on GPA and MCAT. Go get that CXR and stop being so neurotic.

 

[dancingparadox]

Only on SDN would someone's biggest concern about having tuberculosis be how admissions comittees would view its impact on volunteer hours.

200 hours of volunteering is more than adequate, you should be fine on the shadowing and research as well, and by your own evaluation you're above average on GPA and MCAT. Go get that CXR and stop being so neurotic.

This.

Seriously this should be the least of your concerns - Take care of yourself first! But in any case, hopefully you'll have a clear chest x-ray, and then you can usually submit that as proof that you just have latent TB to volunteering organizations, and indicate that you are on the course of medication and I don't think you'll have a problem.

 

[Anathema]

Hopefully so. They actually said I have to get some sputum tests to be sure if its latent or not. I was just getting bummed because I'm already taking a year off and I'd hate for this to lead to more problems than it already is. It probably came off as super neurotic, but at least this guy is treatable compared to other diseases.

 

[pkwraith]

Okay, you clearly are jumping the gun here.

With the BCG, you really should get used to it. Otherwise, you're going to be freaking out every freaking year.

You haven't even gotten a chest x-ray yet and you're posting this? That's pretty standard fair for most everyone who's had BCG with TB test. Get used to it. Chest xray will be good for two years, generally.

And in the future, ask for a Quantiferon-Gold instead of a skin test.

 

[Anathema]

Okay, you clearly are jumping the gun here.

With the BCG, you really should get used to it. Otherwise, you're going to be freaking out every freaking year.

You haven't even gotten a chest x-ray yet and you're posting this? That's pretty standard fair for most everyone who's had BCG with TB test. Get used to it. Chest xray will be good for two years, generally.

And in the future, ask for a Quantiferon-Gold instead of a skin test.

The doctor who saw me was Indian and actually shot down my BCG explanation in less than a second. I did get a chest xray (forgot to post that) and that's why they want me to make a specialized appointment now.