Non Clinical Experience?

[ashBKD*]

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Greetings everyone! I am new here (literally just created my account less than an hour ago) and I have a silly question that needs clarification.
What types of things fall into "non clinical experience", for example, can volunteering at a homeless shelter, or volunteer tutoring for kids or something be non clinical or does non clinical still have to be somewhat medical related but not direct patient contact. Such as a gift shop volunteer at a hospital or whatever, I hope my question is clear I'm sorry if it's not! Thanks again for the responses, I've been an avid lurker on SDN for awhile now and finally made a profile so I could stop being a stalker.

 

[aldol16]

Non-clinical = everything else that isn't clinical. Anything that doesn't have direct patient interaction is non-clinical. That could be volunteering at the gift shop or saving kangaroos in Australia. (if you have the choice, always choose the latter. It's more interesting.)

 

[JeSuisUnDoc]

U should probably do something that will show your interest in helping people and I don’t think the gift shop is that. Tutoring disadvantaged kids and homeless shelter are definitely good!


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[LizzyM]

The ideal non-clinical volunteering will be something you do to provide face-to-face help to people who cannot afford to pay for the help you provide: tutoring or mentoring kids, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless shelter-- you get the idea. There are varying opinions about volunteering in nursing homes -- is it clinical or non-clinical. I think that it is non-clinical if the people are "residents" and you interact in a non-clinical services such as providing recreation and enterainment (e.g. playing the piano, setting up bingo games) or friendly visiting.

Other non-clinical volunteering would include environmental and animal welfare causes, fundraising for a non-profit, retail sales for a non-profit (e.g. hospital gift shop, charity thrift shop). Those are okay but not considered as great as direct service to the poor.

 

[Goro]

Greetings everyone! I am new here (literally just created my account less than an hour ago) and I have a silly question that needs clarification.
What types of things fall into "non clinical experience", for example, can volunteering at a homeless shelter, or volunteer tutoring for kids or something be non clinical or does non clinical still have to be somewhat medical related but not direct patient contact. Such as a gift shop volunteer at a hospital or whatever, I hope my question is clear I'm sorry if it's not! Thanks again for the responses, I've been an avid lurker on SDN for awhile now and finally made a profile so I could stop being a stalker.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

 

[ashBKD*]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I really appreciate the help! 🙂

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Meals on Wheels

I just want to plug Meals on Wheels. I did it for about a year. It was awesome. Definitely check it out if you have a car.

 

[WedgeDawg]

I think non-clinical volunteering is the coolest part of the application because it really allows you to commit your time to a cause (ANY cause) that you think is important. From an application standpoint you’re showcasing your altruism, but you aren’t pidgeonholed into anything and can really explore an outside interest.