Suspicious Volunteering Hours?

[ahembearr]

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So my biggest problem is that my nonclinical volunteering hours are super low (~40).

After 9 months of irregular ED hours during weekdays/weekends/holidays, my scribe company has assigned me to a PCP office where I’ll finally work regular hours. So I’m taking the opportunity to volunteer at my favorite food pantry organization whenever possible. I estimated that I would probably rack up 50 hours in the month of May.

The question is.. Since I’m planning to submit my application in June this year, would these hours look suspicious? Especially since the majority of the hours will be completed a month before I submit my application?

(I know I should’ve started earlier to show commitment, but I ended up focusing too much on clinical volunteering and research during college:/)

 

[907914]

So my biggest problem is that my nonclinical volunteering hours are super low (~40).

After 9 months of irregular ED hours during weekdays/weekends/holidays, my scribe company has assigned me to a PCP office where I’ll finally work regular hours. So I’m taking the opportunity to volunteer at my favorite food pantry organization whenever possible. I estimated that I would probably rack up 50 hours in the month of May.

The question is.. Since I’m planning to submit my application in June this year, would these hours look suspicious? Especially since the majority of the hours will be completed a month before I submit my application?

(I know I should’ve started earlier to show commitment, but I ended up focusing too much on clinical volunteering and research during college:/)

“Ended up focusing on clinical volunteering...” you good. If your clinical volunteering is long and sustained you don’t really need the last minute non-clinical stuff.

The rule of thumb put on SDN of 150 hours of each clinical and non-clinical volunteering is meh and loosely ‘enforced.’ If you have 300 hours of all clinical volunteering with a leadership role thrown in there then you good.

 

[ahembearr]

“Ended up focusing on clinical volunteering...” you good. If your clinical volunteering is long and sustained you don’t really need the last minute non-clinical stuff.

The rule of thumb put on SDN of 150 hours of each clinical and non-clinical volunteering is meh and loosely ‘enforced.’ If you have 300 hours of all clinical volunteering with a leadership role thrown in there then you good.

Thank you! I have ~250 hours of clinical volunteering over a 2 year span, and scribe training is as close to a leadership role as I can get.
Glad to have the reassurance! I’ll go ahead and volunteer at the food pantry since I enjoy it, but I won’t make too big of a fuss about getting alot of hours. Really appreciate your help!

 

[907914]

Thank you! I have ~250 hours of clinical volunteering over a 2 year span, and scribe training is as close to a leadership role as I can get.
Glad to have the reassurance! I’ll go ahead and volunteer at the food pantry since I enjoy it, but I won’t make too big of a fuss about getting alot of hours. Really appreciate your help!

Get the hours that you can while comfortably fitting it in your schedule. But 30 last minute hours will not be what makes or breaks your application.

 

[Catalystik]

So my biggest problem is that my nonclinical volunteering hours are super low (~40).

After 9 months of irregular ED hours during weekdays/weekends/holidays, my scribe company has assigned me to a PCP office where I’ll finally work regular hours. So I’m taking the opportunity to volunteer at my favorite food pantry organization whenever possible. I estimated that I would probably rack up 50 hours in the month of May.

The question is.. Since I’m planning to submit my application in June this year, would these hours look suspicious? Especially since the majority of the hours will be completed a month before I submit my application?

(I know I should’ve started earlier to show commitment, but I ended up focusing too much on clinical volunteering and research during college:/)

When did you start at the food pantry? Are all those 40 hours of volunteering from that site?

 

[ahembearr]

When did you start at the food pantry? Are all those 40 hours of volunteering from that site?

About 10 hours are from the same food pantry that I randomly completed through college. The other 30 hours were from various local organizations that try to combat hunger and poverty in my city.

 

[965978]

“Ended up focusing on clinical volunteering...” you good. If your clinical volunteering is long and sustained you don’t really need the last minute non-clinical stuff.

The rule of thumb put on SDN of 150 hours of each clinical and non-clinical volunteering is meh and loosely ‘enforced.’ If you have 300 hours of all clinical volunteering with a leadership role thrown in there then you good.

High clinical volunteering doesn’t make up for low non clinical volunteering.

Much like the same why a high GPA doesn’t make up for a poor MCAT.

 

[907914]

High clinical volunteering doesn’t make up for low non clinical volunteering.

Much like the same why a high GPA doesn’t make up for a poor MCAT.

The advice I have been given is that you just need volunteering. Clinical or non-clinical. 150 hours in each shows well roundedness, but a long commitment to one shows dedication to a given area, which is arguable more important.

The GPA/MCAT metaphor doesn't really stick as those are solid statistics that are supposed to be objective measures.

 

[965978]

The advice I have been given is that you just need volunteering. Clinical or non-clinical. 150 hours in each shows well roundedness, but a long commitment to one shows dedication to a given area, which is arguable more important.

The GPA/MCAT metaphor doesn't really stick as those are solid statistics that are supposed to be objective measures.

I don’t think that’s how it works. Clinical and non-clinical volunteering are very different from each other. But we can agree to disagree.

 

[Peter Pan.]

High clinical volunteering doesn’t make up for low non clinical volunteering.

Much like the same why a high GPA doesn’t make up for a poor MCAT.

Yeah I agree. You need both. And if you've had a job in a clinical setting sometimes schools want to see more nonclinical volunteering since you have that clinical experience with your job. But it also depends on the school and their mission. You might not get much success from schools with a mission towards underserved populations whereas some schools care more about research.

 

[965978]

Yeah I agree. You need both. And if you've had a job in a clinical setting sometimes schools want to see more nonclinical volunteering since you have that clinical experience with your job. But it also depends on the school and their mission. You might not get much success from schools with a mission towards underserved populations whereas some schools care more about research.

Yeah. Clinical countering and non-clinical volunteering each have their own purposes and learning experience.

 

[907914]

Yeah I agree. You need both. And if you've had a job in a clinical setting sometimes schools want to see more nonclinical volunteering since you have that clinical experience with your job. But it also depends on the school and their mission. You might not get much success from schools with a mission towards underserved populations whereas some schools care more about research.

Maybe the advice given to me was just skewed to account for my application having significant other areas. Okeydoke.

 

[Peter Pan.]

Maybe the advice given to me was just skewed to account for my application having significant other areas. Okeydoke.

Yeah it really depends on the school and their mission. Some schools like Rush University care A LOT about both clinical and nonclinical volunteering. Some applicants to that school have 1,000+ volunteering hours. Then there are schools like Florida State who care a lot about nonclinical volunteering. How many nonclinical volunteering hours do you have?

 

[Catalystik]

About 10 hours are from the same food pantry that I randomly completed through college. The other 30 hours were from various local organizations that try to combat hunger and poverty in my city.

Since you started giving time to that site long ago, adding a lot of hours during the last month won't be readily apparent on the application, so it won't look "suspicious."

 

[ahembearr]

Since you started giving time to that site long ago, adding a lot of hours during the last month won't be readily apparent on the application, so it won't look "suspicious."

Thanks for being straightforward and answering my question!

 

[mwsapphire]

Ehhh... commitment to service in clinical setting should be enough. One of our advisors ( genuinely brilliant guy, knows about app process) said that long commitment to clinical is enough. Especially if it's "special" clinical exposure, such as nursing home/hospice/sick kids in hospital/etc.