Non-medical volunteering: essential or optional?

[student1799]

Hi, I'm a 45-year-old nontrad with kids. I worked on Wall St. for 20 yrs., then quit my job and went into a full-time postbacc program 2 yrs. ago. I started volunteering in a hospital a few months before starting school, and did so 8 hrs/wk while taking a full postbacc course load, so I've racked up about 550 clinical hours. (These were high-quality hours, most of which were in clinical research, and I got a strong LOR from the MD who supervised me.) But when I showed my AMCAS app to a former adcom, she told me point-blank that I was unlikely to get into med school without NON-medical volunteer work as well, i.e. community service such as working in a soup kitchen.

I was kind of alarmed to hear this, because I obviously wasn't able to do anything about this before filing my app (which I did on Friday). During school, there was no way I could have volunteered more than I did, considering my course load and 2 kids. (I actually thought 8 hours a week was pretty good!) I am planning to resume volunteer work in the fall, and could certainly do comm. service then, but I doubt that will be soon enough to make much of a difference in my interview chances.

My question is, do others here have the same impression that non-medical volunteer hours are essential? Thanks for your feedback.

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[DrMidlife]

I disagree with the comments from the former adcom. In a young student you want to see community involvement. You have a family; that's community involvement (unless you live in a compound behind barbed wire).

On your secondary apps, mention all the PTA meetings you've been to, and anything like organizing soccer games or doing phone work to support the stuff your kids do. Coaching and the like are community volunteering.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Law2Doc]

I disagree with the comments from the former adcom.

I certainly came across one interviewer who wanted to see both medical and non-medical volunteering, even in a nontrad. Some schools, particularly those with an emphasis on serving the needs of the underserved, place importance on this kind of "giving back" to the community. So yeah, you will come across this. It's not nearly as pervasive as needing to have clinical experience, which I would basically regard as a prerequisite for any med school.

 

[lexrageorge]

I wouldn't worry about it. You already have strong clinical volunteer experience; many applicants do this "double dipping", and very few have perfect applications. Just be prepared to discuss (and talk up) any non-clinical volunteer activities your planning to do come interview time.

Your experience just goes to show how much of a crapshoot this process can be. Some folks will simply zero in on what's missing and make a conclusion right then and there; others will be a little more understanding of your own personal circumstances, etc. Then again, with 10 times as many applicants as spots at your typical school, it's easy to understand why this happens.

 

[Mobius1985]

Whether or not you need non-clinical volunteerism included is likely to be school specific. While I did volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, I didn't list it on my AMCAS application, as it didn't seem very relevant to being a doctor. I was not yet an SDN fan at the time, so I didn't know any better. But I still got accepted with just the clinical stuff I had mentioned.

 

[nabeel76]

Although I personally think you'll be fine and wouldn't worry about it too much, I did hear a similiar thing in talking to an adcom at my undergraduate university.

What I was told however was geared specifically towards older applicants, more so than trad applicants, and the type of volunteering did not matter, whether community or clinical etc. I was told that with older applicants they like to see volunteering (any type) prior to their intention to pursue their dream of becoming a doctor. I was specifically told that if your an older applicant and truly have a desire to help humanity, then it shouldn't take the realization that you want to be a doctor to suddenly make you want to start volunteering. Plenty of adults with no intention of ever going to medical school manage to find a multitude of volunteering within the community, why did you wait until you all of a sudden had a desire to go into medicine to start? What exactly is your motivation, if it was to truly help the community, then you could of starting volunteering long before your goal of medical school - as many adults do.

That is pretty much what I was told in a nutshell, that's the ideal older applicant but by far not the norm, so don't worry too much about it. I am sure if everything else is working in your app it won't be a problem.

 

[Nasem]

non-medical volunteering can be REALLY a fun activity...but you have to do something your naturally good at

I personally LOVE to work with habitate for humanity... I am very good with tools / my hands because I did alot of construction type work when I was a teenager, so this stuff comes very natural to me... everytime I join up a HFH session, they always give me a team of 4-5 guys and I end up leading them... its such a fun activity, and great way to meet new people and make new friends.... I try to do this once a month for a 8 hour shift (sometimes 2 times a month if I have the time)

I also volunteer at a hospital and every couple months I switch my role, I started off with a "paper pusher" type (ya know, office junke who does the type of paper work that NO ONE enjoys to do hehe), and now trying to switch to a more patient oriented service.