Volunteer/Community Service Hours

[buddymoore]

I have quite a few volunteer activities, but I'm not sure how many hours I will be able to put down for each. Here are a few that I am not sure about...

I went on a mission trip to Venezuela and we would do construction around the community as well as conduct a bible school for the children of the village. We were in Venezuela for two weeks and did about 12 hours of work/service each day. Does that mean I can count the hours from each day of the two weeks?

At school, there was a philanthropy event called DanceBlue. All year we would raise money for the children's oncology clinic and then one day out of the year we would gather at the University gym and stay on our feet for 24 hours. During this time we would dance, play games, and hang out with children who have been diagnosed with cancer in order to provide a fun environment for them. Would I be able to count all 24 hours plus the hours for the events we did to raise money?

We have a 3 day Christian renewal weekend for teenagers and I have always volunteered during that, but one year I was what was called a table leader. I was in charge of a group of teenagers making sure they got to where they needed to be, helped them with any problems they were having, led discussions, etc... I basically did this all day for 3 days, so can I count all the hours from each day?

Thanks for your help.

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[slm266]

Debate about religious community service
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=744847&highlight=mission+service

My point of view:
I servied a 2 year church mission in mexico spending all day every day doing religious preaching and doing non-religious service. I chose not to include any hours of service from the 2 years because I personally did not feel it was appropriate.

Some will say that if the service is directed towards only those of a particular faith or congretation, it is not really community service but rather church participation.

I would estimate the number of hours that you did construction in venezuela (if it was community construction and not of a church), I would count the number of hours that I spent soliciting pledges for the dance event but probably wouldnt count the 24 hrs, and I wouldnt count the christian renewal.

I had about 150 hrs of dental related, public health, and public school tutoring and didnt feel the need to tack on 300+ hrs of religious service. I didn't want to take the chance of an adcom turning up their nose at my religious service and overlooking or discounting my real community service. Adcoms don't care if you continue serving in your church when you're a dentist. They want to be able to think that you will serve the poor in your community. Best of luck!

 

[buddymoore]

Debate about religious community service
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=744847&highlight=mission+service

My point of view:
I servied a 2 year church mission in mexico spending all day every day doing religious preaching and doing non-religious service. I chose not to include any hours of service from the 2 years because I personally did not feel it was appropriate.

Some will say that if the service is directed towards only those of a particular faith or congretation, it is not really community service but rather church participation.

I would estimate the number of hours that you did construction in venezuela (if it was community construction and not of a church), I would count the number of hours that I spent soliciting pledges for the dance event but probably wouldnt count the 24 hrs, and I wouldnt count the christian renewal.

I had about 150 hrs of dental related, public health, and public school tutoring and didnt feel the need to tack on 300+ hrs of religious service. I didn't want to take the chance of an adcom turning up their nose at my religious service and overlooking or discounting my real community service. Adcoms don't care if you continue serving in your church when you're a dentist. They want to be able to think that you will serve the poor in your community. Best of luck!

Thanks a lot for your help. The construction in Venezuela was community service, we were spending probably 8 hours a day doing things like digging septic tank holes for some of the villagers' houses, no churches. As for the christian renewal, I've gone back the past few years when I have time away from school because they ask for volunteers to serve meals and clean up. Would you consider that volunteering or leave the whole renewal thing out?

 

[dentalWorks]

I have quite a few volunteer activities, but I'm not sure how many hours I will be able to put down for each. Here are a few that I am not sure about...

I went on a mission trip to Venezuela and we would do construction around the community as well as conduct a bible school for the children of the village. We were in Venezuela for two weeks and did about 12 hours of work/service each day. Does that mean I can count the hours from each day of the two weeks?

At school, there was a philanthropy event called DanceBlue. All year we would raise money for the children's oncology clinic and then one day out of the year we would gather at the University gym and stay on our feet for 24 hours. During this time we would dance, play games, and hang out with children who have been diagnosed with cancer in order to provide a fun environment for them. Would I be able to count all 24 hours plus the hours for the events we did to raise money?

We have a 3 day Christian renewal weekend for teenagers and I have always volunteered during that, but one year I was what was called a table leader. I was in charge of a group of teenagers making sure they got to where they needed to be, helped them with any problems they were having, led discussions, etc... I basically did this all day for 3 days, so can I count all the hours from each day?

Thanks for your help.

When you are reporting volunteering / shadowing hours, give an "approximation". You don't have to be exact, unless you wrote down every day and how many hours you worked, its almost impossible to be exact.

 

[slm266]

Thanks a lot for your help. The construction in Venezuela was community service, we were spending probably 8 hours a day doing things like digging septic tank holes for some of the villagers' houses, no churches. As for the christian renewal, I've gone back the past few years when I have time away from school because they ask for volunteers to serve meals and clean up. Would you consider that volunteering or leave the whole renewal thing out?

Ehh again I personally wouldn't for the same reason. I wouldn't count active participation in ones church as community service. Maybe this is a wake up call to find more opportunities in your community, you still have plenty of time.

 

[John Durian]

We were in Venezuela for two weeks and did about 12 hours of work/service each day. Does that mean I can count the hours from each day of the two weeks?

At school, there was a philanthropy event called DanceBlue. All year we would raise money for the children's oncology clinic and then one day out of the year we would gather at the University gym and stay on our feet for 24 hours.

Alright, I'm not on the adcom, but it would definitely raise my 'brow to see such high numbers. I mean, seriously, 12 hours a day for 2 weeks straight?!

Not saying it's not realistic though. Just difficult to swallow/believe.

 

[youknowthedrill]

Alright, I'm not on the adcom, but it would definitely raise my 'brow to see such high numbers. I mean, seriously, 12 hours a day for 2 weeks straight?!

Not saying it's not realistic though. Just difficult to swallow/believe.

Not everyone is self-absorbed. There are quite a few people who are willing to help others. If I were an adcom I would admire an applicant who was willing to go on a mission trip and work 12 hour days helping the poor. It shows you have a good work ethic.

To the OP- I'd call a few dental schools and ask their opinion.