Non-clinical volunteering - multiple activities with ~70-100 hours each?

[Doctoscope]

With COVID restrictions ramping down, I'm finally able to find non-clinical volunteering opportunities. I have found 3-4 activities I find meaningful, and would like to do them once a week (2 of them are very flexible with when I can do them). I'm planning on applying next cycle, which gives me about 46-48 weeks to get my non-clinical hours. Is it OK if my non-clinical hours are composed of 3-4 activities that are around 70-100 hours each? The ideal scenario would have been doing 1-2 activities over 2+ years, but with COVID that was not possible.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LizzyM]

If they are meaningful activities that you enjoy and you have the time to spare, do them. Continue with at least some of them during the application year, just in case you have to reapply. The only thing tht would look bad would be doing it only through June 2022 and then quitting.

 

[KnightDoc]

With COVID restrictions ramping down, I'm finally able to find non-clinical volunteering opportunities. I have found 3-4 activities I find meaningful, and would like to do them once a week (2 of them are very flexible with when I can do them). I'm planning on applying next cycle, which gives me about 46-48 weeks to get my non-clinical hours. Is it OK if my non-clinical hours are composed of 3-4 activities that are around 70-100 hours each? The ideal scenario would have been doing 1-2 activities over 2+ years, but with COVID that was not possible.

You are correct about what would have been ideal, but it's not like schools are not aware that EVERYONE in your class confronted the same situation!

If 1-2 activities over 2+ years would be ideal, why do you think doubling the number of activities over half the period of time will mitigate? As you point out, due to time constraints and other commitments, you are going to have less than 100 hours in each of them. I would stick to the plan and find 1 or 2 meaningful activities and not worry about the hours I lost due to the pandemic.

Again, EVERYONE lost hours from 2020-21 because of this. You are not alone. I would not waste my time doing 3-4 things, each for less than 2 hours per week over the course of a year, in some sort of attempt to make up for lost time. So few hours in so many activities over such a short period of time is actually going to signal that none of them are really that meaningful to you.

 

[LizzyM]

You are correct about what would have been ideal, but it's not like schools are not aware that EVERYONE in your class confronted the same situation!

If 1-2 activities over 2+ years would be ideal, why do you think doubling the number of activities over half the period of time will mitigate? As you point out, due to time constraints and other commitments, you are going to have less than 100 hours in each of them. I would stick to the plan and find 1 or 2 meaningful activities and not worry about the hours I lost due to the pandemic.

Again, EVERYONE lost hours from 2020-21 because of this. You are not alone. I would not waste my time doing 3-4 things, each for less than 2 hours per week over the course of a year, in some sort of attempt to make up for lost time. So few hours in so many activities over such a short period of time is actually going to signal that none of them are really that meaningful to you.

I disagree. Sometimes activities are only slated for 2 hours once a week by the sponsoring organization. Someone who has 8 hours per week for service activities and finds meaning in tutoring math, teaching health eating to kids, distribuing bags of food at a pantry and being a friendly visitor to the eldelry can certainly do all four and say that working with little kids, teens, adults and elders is meaningful; there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[candbgirl]

And I’ll add to @KnightDoc ’s reply, you really don’t know if any are meaningful. At this point they are interesting. So pick two and go for it. If you can spend 4 hours a week at each activity those hours will add up quickly .

 

[KnightDoc]

I disagree. Sometimes activities are only slated for 2 hours once a week by the sponsoring organization. Someone who has 8 hours per week for service activities and finds meaning in tutoring math, teaching health eating to kids, distribuing bags of food at a pantry and being a friendly visitor to the eldelry can certainly do all four and say that working with little kids, teens, adults and elders is meaningful; there is nothing wrong with that.

Okay, but's not how I was reading it.

TBH, I have not done anything over the past 4 years where I was limited to one 2 hour shift per week by the sponsoring organization, rather than by my own schedule, so I'm not sure that applies. What I read was that OP was trying to make up for not being able to participate in 1-2 things for 2+ years due to the pandemic by racing around to find 3-4 things to do in the next year, each for less than 100 hours total, in order to try to mitigate.

I think it's great if you would view it differently, seeing as how you are on an adcom and I am not , but, to me as an applicant, it seems as though 8 hours per week in one activity would show more meaning and commitment than checking 4 boxes for 2 hours each per week while simultaneously trying to sell you on how meaningful they each are. Would you really be more impressed with 4 activities with 75 hours each than one with 300, or two with 150?

 

[LizzyM]

I'm looking at if from my own pre-pandemic experience where I participated in a program for kids that was limited to 2 hours session once a week. If it were possible to do more hours at fewer places, that would be great but that isn't always what an organization needs.

 

[Doctoscope]

Thank you for the replies. @LizzyM , would you say working with 2 different organizations addressing food insecurities in my community (SoCal, which I personally find meaningful), and 1 online emotional support/listening volunteering are sufficient? All 3 of these are things I actually want to do. I'd be working with each org 2 hours a week, so 6 hours a week total, for about 46-47 weeks (a little less than a year).

Also, if anyone else is in a similar situation, I don't think it's actually all that realistic to expect more than 4 hours a week from an organization when it comes to non-clinical volunteering. A lot of their volunteer opportunities are weekly event based (e.g. handing out free groceries every Monday for 3 hours), and they just don't need you for the other days. Also, it looks like there is such a thing as "too much free help" for orgs, especially when everyone wants to help out. It can be logistical nightmares.

 

[LizzyM]

I concur with @DoctoOcto. I've been in situations with too many volunteers and it is almost worse than having too few.

The point, if you say that you are interested in medicine because you want to help people, is to use the skills you have now to help people because that's what motivates you to act.