does voluntary service at hospital or research facilities (non-paid) really influences (positively) when applying to med schools? If so, how many hours should be considered as good enough? I currently have 50 at a hospital but i took them because i needed them for one of my bio classes, but i could also include it as work experience in my apps right?
voluntary service...
- Thread starter randyam29
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Definitely.
As many quality hours as possible.
Yes.
There's a lot of info about this that already exists on these forums.
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You are way way at the low end of applicants with only 50 volunteer hours. I would suggest picking up weekly clinical and non-clinical volunteer activities. And I'm not talking about research. I'm talking about real volunteer stuff
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Most applicants have over 100 hours. Average is probably around 200-300 and some of us have in excess of 1000 QUALITY hours. The more you have and, more importantly, the higher the quality of those hours, the better you will be able to answer interview questions.
For instance, try this question from a top school I interviewed at on for size:
Old-timer Physician Interviewer: "In your opinion, music2doc, what are the top 3 most important qualities in a physician?" (subtext to question: and why should I recommend you based on those qualities?)
Me: "Well, as I mentioned before, I believe a physician's ability to empathetic and sensitive is crucial to building trust as well as approaching the patient as a whole person. Through my experiences as a tech on X Unit and Y Residential Center, I learned... [Example of a difficult patient and case]. I also believe critical thinking is important, which is a skill I demonstrate through my job tutoring... [Story using critical thinking to solve problems beyond my known level of expertise by thinking critically]. Finally, I suspect one of the most important skills for a physician to develop is a keen sense of intuition... [Reasons why this is important, followed by a story]. This is something I am learning myself. Recently, at the clinic, a new patient came in with nondescript symptoms... [story about responding quickly and appropriately to a true emergency via intuition]."
Does that make sense? You want to be able to give depth to your answers. At least that's what I've noticed and my interviewers have all responded quite well to that approach.
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Yea, I noticed in my interviews that because I had such well-rounded volunteer and work experiences I was able to give really well rounded answers to tough questions. But yea to answer your questions, having not only depth in your programs but breadth of experiences is really important.
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Maybe this is a dumb question, but can someone elaborate on what quality hours are?
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I would consider high quality hours as direct care of patients while working with the patient care team. These bring about events that will be of interest in your interviews. Stocking shelves, filing paperwork, etc., while important and something that is probably good for a pre-med to do to get a taste of the real world and of what the techs, CNAs, etc. do on their floors when they become physicians, aren't really high yield for good interview fodder, nor do they give you any real indication of whether or not medicine is right for you.
For example...
Good Hours:
- First response at events (either as a certified First Responder or EMT-B)
- Working in a free clinic
- Good: in an eligibility or administrative role with lots of patient contact
- Better: Prescription assistance, case management, or assistant volunteer coordinator role with lots of patient contact and teaching/counseling of patients
- Best: as medical support staff (i.e., an MA/nursing role)
- Mediocre: Administrative roles such as reception (although sometimes these may lead to more interactive roles, so don't discount these in a free clinic -- they have MUCH more potential than their equivalent roles in a hospital setting)
- Roles involving playing with sick patients in pediatrics (NOT the patients' children)
- Advocacy positions on various floors (i.e., go and meet with patients one on one and advocate for their needs, help them find resources, etc.)
- Patient transport (of course, if you're going to do this, why not just get a paid position?)
Poor Hours:
- Stocking shelves (assuming nominal patient interaction)
- Slightly better (but still mediocre): Being the gopher and getting water, blankets, etc. for patients without any interaction beyond this
- Hospital reception/info desk/welcome desk
- Administrative assistant/clerical duties not involving significant patient interaction (note: patient access positions and scribe positions in the ED are technically "clerical" but generally involve A LOT of patient interaction and are actually more comparable to the quality of experience of an ER Tech in terms of pre-medical experience value)
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