Question Regarding Volunteer Hours

[joe32]

Hi all,

I am planning on applying next cycle but ran into an issue with hours since most of my activities have been canceled and was wondering if anyone could advise me on whether it would still be appropriate to apply, here is my current profile:

Nonclinical: ~350 by time of application
Clinical: ~100 by time of application
Shadowing: ~50 by time of application
Stats: <95th percentile
Research: 1500 hours; 2 presentations, 2 posters, and one publication.

Also, all of my non-clinical volunteer hours are essentially purely in education-focused organizations including both a non-profit and for-profit business I co-found which have both been widely successful. Would this be some sort of issue since they are all tutoring/teaching related? Should I worry about picking up another activity, or is the only important thing my impact? 100% of my nonclinical hours are dedicated to heavily disadvantaged communities and refugees/immigrants.

Lastly, when reporting hours I spent on my non-profit, does this directly count as volunteering? Is there any issue with self-reporting them without some sort of higher authority/external validity besides the other board members/owner (my friends) and myself? It would be ~5-10 hours per week for around 6 months.

 

[Goofy Goober]

I would definitely apply the upcoming cycle, Broseph.

 

[Goofy Goober]

Hi all,

I am planning on applying next cycle but ran into an issue with hours since most of my activities have been canceled and was wondering if anyone could advise me on whether it would still be appropriate to apply, here is my current profile:

Nonclinical: ~350 by time of application
Clinical: ~100 by time of application
Shadowing: ~50 by time of application
Stats: <95th percentile
Research: 1500 hours; 2 presentations, 2 posters, and one publication.

Also, all of my non-clinical volunteer hours are essentially purely in education-focused organizations including both a non-profit and for-profit business I co-found which have both been widely successful. Would this be some sort of issue since they are all tutoring/teaching related? Should I worry about picking up another activity, or is the only important thing my impact? 100% of my nonclinical hours are dedicated to heavily disadvantaged communities and refugees/immigrants.

Lastly, when reporting hours I spent on my non-profit, does this directly count as volunteering? Is there any issue with self-reporting them without some sort of higher authority/external validity besides the other board members/owner (my friends) and myself? It would be ~5-10 hours per week for around 6 months.

And also to provide insight on your other questions... I would say just keep doing what you're doing if it is a meaningful experience which you can discuss further during interviews. No need to pad your resume and check off boxes at this point. Perhaps a little more clinical experience would not hurt, but I don't think it will be held against you considering the current situation.

As for your last question, I could not tell you (not an adcom)

 

[patnic511]

Your clinical hours seem low. Was your research clinical? There's debate about how much latitude you'll get for hours because of the pandemic, but I would def try to find clinical opportunities in the upcoming year to match your high stats!

 

[joe32]

Your clinical hours seem low. Was your research clinical? There's debate about how much latitude you'll get for hours because of the pandemic, but I would def try to find clinical opportunities in the upcoming year to match your high stats!

Yeah, all of my clinical activities were canceled which is why it is so low, and none are coming back on for the foreseeable future. What would be appropriate in an ideal scenario? 200 hours? 300?

Also, my research was all bench lab (chemistry for medical devices). Honestly, I tried clinical research but I'd rather directly help combat healthcare disparities/inequity by volunteering on-site rather than crunching numbers and doing statistical analysis just to figure out they exist and then publish a paper on that (no offense to anyone who does clinical research, I just found it extremely bland/required zero thought on my part). I know other clinical research opportunities exist but then again, just not my cup of tea.

 

[patnic511]

Yeah, all of my clinical activities were canceled which is why it is so low, and none are coming back on for the foreseeable future. What would be appropriate in an ideal scenario? 200 hours? 300?

Also, my research was all bench lab (chemistry for medical devices). Honestly, I tried clinical research but I'd rather directly help combat healthcare disparities/inequity by volunteering on-site rather than crunching numbers and doing statistical analysis just to figure out they exist and then publish a paper on that (no offense to anyone who does clinical research, I just found it extremely bland/required zero thought on my part). I know other clinical research opportunities exist but then again, just not my cup of tea.

I think people say that 200+ is decent. It's definitely tough with the pandemic to get more clinical hours, but it may be better to hold off rather than spend thousands and be a re-applicant.

Also, I don't have clinical research experience lol I've also only done bench research, but it's an option for more clinical exposure! To each his/her own though, and best of luck!