is my nonclinical volunteering 'weak' or do I check the box?

[tropicalevergreen]

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hi! i am an mdphd applicant with good stats + research + clinical etc. I want to be competitive for top programs, and I think the rest of my profile is, but I don't know if I did enough nonclinical volunteering, or how much that's valued relative to research + clinical.

here's what I list under that category:

• 200 hrs fundraising for supplies, helping make health & hygiene kits, and donating them to homeless shelters in my area. through a club + exec position.
• 200 hrs science olympiad, organizing invis for inner city middle schools to get kids interested in stem (free + provided transportation), and generally wrote exams + ran events at regional & state levels. also through club + exec position.

i'm worried because I try to frame these as "nonclinical underserved" but I don't know if that's too much of a stretch or not. also, a lot of my work was organizational/leadership rather than directly working with the involved populations. will this hold me back anywhere??

 

[MedSchoolPilot]

The health/hygiene kit work clearly connects to underserved communities. You can just make sure the description matches your actual role if most of the work was organizing, fundraising, and coordination rather than direct interaction. The Science Olympiad work is also meaningful service through STEM access and education, even though it’s a different type of impact. Leadership and behind-the-scenes work can still be valuable since many programs depend on people who organize and sustain these efforts.
Rather than focusing only on hitting a certain number of hours, you can highlight your motivation, specific contributions, and how these experiences fit into your overall story. For MD-PhD programs, research is typically a major part of the application, so this section can help show engagement and interests outside the lab.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

hi! i am an mdphd applicant with good stats + research + clinical etc. I want to be competitive for top programs, and I think the rest of my profile is, but I don't know if I did enough nonclinical volunteering, or how much that's valued relative to research + clinical.

here's what I list under that category:

• 200 hrs fundraising for supplies, helping make health & hygiene kits, and donating them to homeless shelters in my area. through a club + exec position.
• 200 hrs science olympiad, organizing invis for inner city middle schools to get kids interested in stem (free + provided transportation), and generally wrote exams + ran events at regional & state levels. also through club + exec position.

i'm worried because I try to frame these as "nonclinical underserved" but I don't know if that's too much of a stretch or not. also, a lot of my work was organizational/leadership rather than directly working with the involved populations. will this hold me back anywhere??

What do you mean by "top programs"? Do you have a strong record of research accomplishments? Have you received competitive scholarships? Any NIH MSTP programs should be considered a "top program." There are also many good non-NIH MD/PhD programs. You should really read the "Fencer's Corner" thread in our Research Scientists forum.

You need enough non-clinical volunteering to be a good fit with the MD program side. I don't consider your science olympiad work to be non-clinical community service as it is support for an academic extracurricular activity among the students at the schools. The responsibilities you have are extensions of teaching or tutoring, so they are academic activities. If you drove all the kids to school and back -- not just to competitions -- I may soften my stance a little bit, but not enough for me to ignore the primary responsibilities are an extension of science education.

I'm okay with the hygiene kits as I would be with food packages to be delivered to shelters, but this position sometimes puts me at odds with my faculty.

 

[tropicalevergreen]

What do you mean by "top programs"? Do you have a strong record of research accomplishments? Have you received competitive scholarships? Any NIH MSTP programs should be considered a "top program." There are also many good non-NIH MD/PhD programs. You should really read the "Fencer's Corner" thread in our Research Scientists forum.

You need enough non-clinical volunteering to be a good fit with the MD program side. I don't consider your science olympiad work to be non-clinical community service as it is support for an academic extracurricular activity among the students at the schools. The responsibilities you have are extensions of teaching or tutoring, so they are academic activities. If you drove all the kids to school and back -- not just to competitions -- I may soften my stance a little bit, but not enough for me to ignore the primary responsibilities are an extension of science education.

I'm okay with the hygiene kits as I would be with food packages to be delivered to shelters, but this position sometimes puts me at odds with my faculty.

hi, thanks for the response! i'm referring to T10s or T20s. I do have a strong research record, strong enough for these programs. I've been told I have a good profile overall, but have recently grown concerned over the nonclinical volunteering.

I see your point about science olympiad, I just classified it as nonclinical volunteering since I didn't know what other category to put it under. good to hear the hygiene kits count somewhat. I guess my question is whether this will be seen as a weakness of my application, or is it enough to be seen as a good fit with the MD side as you said?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

hi, thanks for the response! i'm referring to T10s or T20s. I do have a strong research record, strong enough for these programs. I've been told I have a good profile overall, but have recently grown concerned over the nonclinical volunteering.

I see your point about science olympiad, I just classified it as nonclinical volunteering since I didn't know what other category to put it under. good to hear the hygiene kits count somewhat. I guess my question is whether this will be seen as a weakness of my application, or is it enough to be seen as a good fit with the MD side as you said?

You can classify it as non-clinical volunteering, extracurricular, or other on AMCAS. On the admissions committee side, Science Olympiad coaching or facilitating is likely viewed more as an extension of your science competency.