Is there a such thing as useless volunteering

[Jfz]

Like if I volunteered at a hospital just running one of the shops, or at a warehouse organizing food to be sent out to people in need, etc

It just doesn't sound as impressive as the volunteering people do where they have 1 on 1 contact with people, like they can tell interviewers how they taught inner city kids and hugely impacted their lives, and can make it sound dramatic and impressive

but the behind the scenes kind of volunteering, is that useless for an application?

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[aggie08]

Like if I volunteered at a hospital just running one of the shops, or at a warehouse organizing food to be sent out to people in need, etc

It just doesn't sound as impressive as the volunteering people do where they have 1 on 1 contact with people, like they can tell interviewers how they taught inner city kids and hugely impacted their lives, and can make it sound dramatic and impressive

but the behind the scenes kind of volunteering, is that useless for an application?

If you get something out of it and feel like you're helping someone, no it's not useless. If you're standing around all day and not doing anything and you leave feeling like you wasted your time, it's useless. Find something to do that your passionate about. Volunteer in an animal shelter or at the local "big brothers big sisters" chapter or something. It doesn't HAVE to be clinical volunteering as long as you get your clinic experience somehow.

And as long as it gives you a fulfilling experience to talk about or you feel like you've helped someone, even secondarily through packing a lunch for the food bank or whatever then it is not useless.

 

[MilkmanAl]

That depends on how you're defining "useless." If you're looking for utility as far as gaining practical experience with how medicine works, most volunteer gigs are going to be useless. If you're talking about building a resume, practically nothing associated with a medical institution will be useless. If you're interested in doing something you enjoy, it's a totally subjective issue.

 

[armybound]

who cares
how impressive
it looks

rumor has it, one would theoretically volunteer because they felt the DESIRE to donate their time. they saw a need that went unfulfilled and decided they would give up their time to help that need be met, regardless of how others viewed it.

 

[ChemEngSoonMD]

Like if I volunteered at a hospital just running one of the shops, or at a warehouse organizing food to be sent out to people in need, etc

It just doesn't sound as impressive as the volunteering people do where they have 1 on 1 contact with people, like they can tell interviewers how they taught inner city kids and hugely impacted their lives, and can make it sound dramatic and impressive

but the behind the scenes kind of volunteering, is that useless for an application?

No, but there is always something BETTER you can do with your time.

1. Getting paid is always better than not getting paid if you are doing the exact same thing.
2. Doing something that relates to your future goals is better.
3. Doing something that is more impressive is better.

Why not hit multiple birds with one stone?

 

[Jfz]

who cares
how impressive
it looks

rumor has it, one would theoretically volunteer because they felt the DESIRE to donate their time. they saw a need that went unfulfilled and decided they would give up their time to help that need be met, regardless of how others viewed it.

I agree with you 🙂

I volunteered before I had aspirations for med school

this thread is merely about how adcoms see different varieties of volunteering

 

[Disinence2]

Yes there is such a thing as "useless volunteering"

Example would be participating in relay for life. You stay up and have fun with all your friends so you can donate what you didn't spend on snacks and alcohol to a charity. Pretty useless in my opinion.

Packing boxes at a homeless shelter may seem "insignificant" but its definitely not useless.

My rules for volunteering

#1 It's something I actually care about
#2 The thing I care about actually benefits in some way

 

[lstone13]

who cares
how impressive
it looks

rumor has it, one would theoretically volunteer because they felt the DESIRE to donate their time. they saw a need that went unfulfilled and decided they would give up their time to help that need be met, regardless of how others viewed it.

I agree here. Whatever happened to the modesty of volunteerism? In my opinion, putting your volunteer work on your application should be an afterthought not a reason. In terms of community service and volunteerism, you should put those activities on your application because you did them: you shouldn't do those activities because you want to put them on your application.

 

[MilkmanAl]

That's pretty idealistic. I wholeheartedly support volunteerism and did a bunch of (non-medical) volunteering of my own accord during college. However, I completely understand if you just plain don't want to volunteer. That's my case now. There's now way in hell I'm going to sacrifice my very rare free time during med school. If you're of the same mind, you don't have a choice but to go out and rack up some volunteering time in something you're not really interested in.

I say the fault lies much more with the medical schools for effectively requiring volunteerism than the pre-meds who satisfy the requirement.

 

[armybound]

That's pretty idealistic. I wholeheartedly support volunteerism and did a bunch of (non-medical) volunteering of my own accord during college. However, I completely understand if you just plain don't want to volunteer. That's my case now. There's now way in hell I'm going to sacrifice my very rare free time during med school. If you're of the same mind, you don't have a choice but to go out and rack up some volunteering time in something you're not really interested in.

I say the fault lies much more with the medical schools for effectively requiring volunteerism than the pre-meds who satisfy the requirement.

Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding.

Med schools are doing it completely wrong. Instead of fostering growth and individualism they're turning admissions into a game that people play.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Just be prepared to answer questions about your volunteer work and the impact it had on you. Adcoms can smell "filler" volunteer activities a mile away.

 

[Moebius]

Like if I volunteered at a hospital just running one of the shops, or at a warehouse organizing food to be sent out to people in need, etc

It just doesn't sound as impressive as the volunteering people do where they have 1 on 1 contact with people, like they can tell interviewers how they taught inner city kids and hugely impacted their lives, and can make it sound dramatic and impressive

but the behind the scenes kind of volunteering, is that useless for an application?

That type of volunteering is completely useless. Get out of it now if you want to be a doctor. If you want to learn to be a shopkeeper, it would be helpful.

 

[Moebius]

That's pretty idealistic. I wholeheartedly support volunteerism and did a bunch of (non-medical) volunteering of my own accord during college. However, I completely understand if you just plain don't want to volunteer. That's my case now. There's now way in hell I'm going to sacrifice my very rare free time during med school. If you're of the same mind, you don't have a choice but to go out and rack up some volunteering time in something you're not really interested in.

I say the fault lies much more with the medical schools for effectively requiring volunteerism than the pre-meds who satisfy the requirement.

*Sigh*