Lots of clinical experience, clinical volunteering, but little hours on non-clinical volunteering

[sonder88]

Hi all, I currently have 1000 hours as a PCT and 200-300 hours in clinical volunteering. However, I have a lil under 100 hours in non-clinical volunteering: medical supplies organization, stem outreach (only one semester). I am currently looking for things to do as I moved back home for my second gap year. I recently started volunteering at a food bank (but no direct contact with ppl I want to impact and currently looking to adjust to opportunities offered in my hometown I was wanting to know how big of an impact low non-clinical EC hours will have on my app.

In context, from December to May this year I worked on my mcat retake (509 --> 517!) and worked full-time. Pls send advice, what are your thoughts?

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[Goro]

It will hurt, so continue to bulk up on this endeavor.

Check out your local houses of worship for ideas. There's also Meals on Wheels

 

[LizzyM]

Here's how some adcoms think about this. Maybe you say that one of the reasons you want to go into medicine is to help people. You know you need clinical experience so you check two boxes with one experience and do clinical volunteering. Adcoms will say, "people who really want to help people will help people without getting the two-for-one credit provided by clinical volunteering. Show us that you have taken action to help people without getting the "benefit" of clinical experience at the same time."

You have started helping people indirectly through your work with the food bank. That's good. In fact, maybe that's even more altruistic because you don't get the warm fuzzies of having someone say, "Thank you, this means so much to us."

You have some non-clinical volunteering and you are going to keep building on that experience. Do what you can.