is clinical volunteering necessary?

[bajoneswadup]

hey guys sorry i know there's a million of questions similar to this.... my advisor and a couple of friends told me that clinical volunteering really isn't necessary. obviously it isn't required but from all the app's i've been reading from successful applicants i get the feeling i should.

would volunteering @ a nursing home over the summer be sufficient clinical volunteering for my app? is that even clincal? thanks for any help!

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[unhappytnt]

hey guys sorry i know there's a million of questions similar to this.... my advisor and a couple of friends told me that clinical volunteering really isn't necessary. obviously it isn't required but from all the app's i've been reading from successful applicants i get the feeling i should.

would volunteering @ a nursing home over the summer be sufficient clinical volunteering for my app? is that even clincal? thanks for any help!

As long as you get patient contact, volunteering at a nursing home is fine. The thing is that volunteering only over the summer is probably not gonna cut it: You need to show the admission committees that you are committed, so most schools expect the applicants to have volunteered for at least a year in the same clinical setting.

 

[LizzyM]

Medicine is about service to others and so you will want to show that you have done volunteer work to help those in need.

Medicine is mostly about treating the sick and injured and providing services that keep people from getting sick. So, you should have some experience that demonstrates that you have "smelled patients" in other words, that you've been in close proximity to them and seen physicians at work such that you have some knowledge of the work load, environment, roles of different members of the team and so forth.

Some people will combine volunteerism with clincal exposure by volunteering in a health care setting. Others will have work experience or extensive shadowing and life experience that covers clinical and then do something non-clinical in service to others.