More volunteering questions – does it have to be medical?

[binko]

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I am trying to find volunteer opportunities that I'm interested in, and so far the places that have responded to me are a place that provides resources for pregnant women to get them ready for the experience of giving birth, and a sexual assault prevention education program. In addition to doing more typical types of volunteering, I also have provided websites for several organizations (one for the sexual assault prevention program, and one for a Jewish worship/social action group I used to belong to). The websites represent a total of about 40 hours of work each, since they include helping the people learn to use them, and providing things like forums, custom layout, graphic design, calendars, blogs, etc. (BTW, my day job is graphic/web design)

Do you think this type of volunteering "counts" in the eyes of adcoms?

 

[ksmi117]

I am trying to find volunteer opportunities that I'm interested in, and so far the places that have responded to me are a place that provides resources for pregnant women to get them ready for the experience of giving birth, and a sexual assault prevention education program. In addition to doing more typical types of volunteering, I also have provided websites for several organizations (one for the sexual assault prevention program, and one for a Jewish worship/social action group I used to belong to). The websites represent a total of about 40 hours of work each, since they include helping the people learn to use them, and providing things like forums, custom layout, graphic design, calendars, blogs, etc. (BTW, my day job is graphic/web design)

Do you think this type of volunteering "counts" in the eyes of adcoms?

Of course it counts as volunteering. Anything you do for no compensation to help out others, esp. established programs, is volunteer work. But you'll still need clinical experience too. Make sure you either volunteer at a hopsital or do a bit of shadowing before you apply.

 

[binko]

I have worked in a hospital and also am doing all the shadowing I possibly can. If I get my "patient smelling" experience there, does that mean it's fine to have non-medical volunteering?

 

[LizzyM]

I have worked in a hospital and also am doing all the shadowing I possibly can. If I get my "patient smelling" experience there, does that mean it's fine to have non-medical volunteering?

Yes, if you have smelled patients, you have the clinical experience covered.

Service to the community is a separate issue and the opportunities you've described sound good.