Online volunteering....?

[nintendodds]

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Hello everyone. I hope many of you reading this are safe and feeling well.

This question is mainly for admissions committees and those who may be affiliated: how do you feel about online volunteering? As you may know, since volunteering cannot be accomplished due to the limitations that COVID-19 has provided (food pantries, donation centers etc have all declined volunteering service in my city for the time being), can virtual volunteering count toward community service? or is it mainly restricted to physical community service i.e. food charities, cooking houses, homeless shelters, etc?

For example, in a facebook group, someone mentioned a website called 7Cups as an opportunity to gain some volunteering experience in the safety of your home. A little background on 7Cups: "7 Cups is a website which provides online therapy and free support to people experiencing emotional distress by connecting them with trained listeners. The listener, trained in active listening, interacts with the person seeking help via an anonymous and confidential chat." They went on to mention how being a part of this virtual community service can "strengthen your listening skills, and be more adaptive to understanding others- a trait that will help tremendously throughout your dental career." This website also offers certifications and does indeed track the amount of hours that you have been actively participating (no, you cannot just stay on a page, leave your laptop open, and expect to get 12+ hours of activity in just one sitting). As stated previously, one can participate in an internship under a mentor and can become certified with “x” amount of hours participated as an intern.

I was just wondering if admissions committees favor physical community service over virtual CS in unusual times like this COVID pandemic. I know it is a bit hard to go out and find some actual community service opportunities, but I would rather do something than not do anything at all, right?

Thank you for reading! I definitely wanted a second opinion on this, since this is a pretty awkward time to be in.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Have you considered volunteering over the phone? There’s plenty of need for people to help suicide hotlines and sexual assault hotlines. They usually take a week or two of training in person to handle calls which might throw a wrench into your plans.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Obviously many people serving on admissions committees are unaware of this type of service, which I would equate to current text-based crisis hotlines.

As a responsible member of an admissions committee, I'd look up the website to see how legitimate it is, the rigor of training and guidance, and the credentials of the people running the site. Having done this for 7 Cups and given current circumstances, I don't see there is any serious concerns with this volunteering opportunity. If you were premed, I would want to think about it as a "clinical" patient-facing opportunity with my other colleagues, but for community service/volunteering purposes (predental or general prehealth), I think this would be fine. Good job finding this!

 

[laundry]

Obviously many people serving on admissions committees are unaware of this type of service, which I would equate to current text-based crisis hotlines.

As a responsible member of an admissions committee, I'd look up the website to see how legitimate it is, the rigor of training and guidance, and the credentials of the people running the site. Having done this for 7 Cups and given current circumstances, I don't see there is any serious concerns with this volunteering opportunity. If you were premed, I would want to think about it as a "clinical" patient-facing opportunity with my other colleagues, but for community service/volunteering purposes (predental or general prehealth), I think this would be fine. Good job finding this!

I second this!

 

[nintendodds]

Have you considered volunteering over the phone? There’s plenty of need for people to help suicide hotlines and sexual assault hotlines. They usually take a week or two of training in person to handle calls which might throw a wrench into your plans.

This is also a pretty good idea that I might have to consider! thanks!

 

[nintendodds]

Obviously many people serving on admissions committees are unaware of this type of service, which I would equate to current text-based crisis hotlines.

As a responsible member of an admissions committee, I'd look up the website to see how legitimate it is, the rigor of training and guidance, and the credentials of the people running the site. Having done this for 7 Cups and given current circumstances, I don't see there is any serious concerns with this volunteering opportunity. If you were premed, I would want to think about it as a "clinical" patient-facing opportunity with my other colleagues, but for community service/volunteering purposes (predental or general prehealth), I think this would be fine. Good job finding this!

Hello! Thank you! I appreciate this feedback. Do you think it would be wise of me to email or contact the schools that i am interested in and ask them if this (7Cups) type of community service/ volunteering opportunity would be acceptable, given that I provide them the same description as I did for this post? 🙂

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Hello! Thank you! I appreciate this feedback. Do you think it would be wise of me to email or contact the schools that i am interested in and ask them if this (7Cups) type of community service/ volunteering opportunity would be acceptable, given that I provide them the same description as I did for this post? 🙂

You can email them with links to the organization's website for feedback. I don't know of any objections to what you have described, but let them reaffirm that this is fine.

 

[nintendodds]

You can email them with links to the organization's website for feedback. I don't know of any objections to what you have described, but let them reaffirm that this is fine.

Will do. Thank you again. I appreciate your time and your feedback. Stay safe!

 

[cdholli]

Will do. Thank you again. I appreciate your time and your feedback. Stay safe!

Could you post school responses when they follow-up?

 

[medicaldoctor041815]

Will do. Thank you again. I appreciate your time and your feedback. Stay safe!

Hey, have you contacted any schools? If so, what feedback did they provide on this activity.