Volunteer hours... from another field?

[kbRD2MD84]

Hopefully this question isn't as dumb as I think it is. So, essentially I have a ton of volunteer hours in nutrition/dietetics - some in order to get an internship, then 1200+ during my internship. A bit of the initial stuff was generic - soup kitchens, food banks, etc. As for the internship, I haven't calculated the exact amounts yet, but I did about 1 month each of community (WIC), food service (at a hospital), and long-term care (at various LTC facilities). My internship was clinical-heavy, so I spent the rest of the time on clinical rotations in the hospital - probably about 6 months x 40 hr/wk.

ANYWAY. All that to say... what should be included when I apply for med school? I'm thinking definitely the clinical rotations, maybe community (I was directly seeing WIC clients), probably LTC. Thoughts? The internship was last year, so super recent, and the older stuff was in the last 5 years or so.

I'm also working on finding some more recent volunteer experience - waiting to hear back from one of the hospitals here about volunteering in the infusion center. Anything else that would look decent on an app that I can work around a weird work schedule?

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[potential_fut_doc]

All of it. I see no reason not to and I dont see how it cant hurt you.

 

[kbRD2MD84]

All of it. I see no reason not to and I dont see how it cant hurt you.

I guess you're right. I just don't want them thinking it doesn't belong there. Seeing as the internship and actually becoming a dietitian is what led to me ultimately making the decision to go to med school, it seems relevant. Just want to be taken seriously when app time rolls around, ya know?

 

[Ad2b]

All of it.

I have 10k or something like that and a lot of it was soup kitchens, homeless shelters, animal rescue/rehab/rehome, meals on wheels and then shadowing/clinical...

 

[kbRD2MD84]

All of it.

I have 10k or something like that and a lot of it was soup kitchens, homeless shelters, animal rescue/rehab/rehome, meals on wheels and then shadowing/clinical...

This makes me feel so much better! I have to find my old Excel sheet from when I was applying to dietetic internships - I did have a decent chunk of hours despite working FT + PT + school.

As for shadowing... is it really a must-have? I'm relatively new to the area I live in and don't really know anyone, but I'm trying to find a doc to shadow. Obviously I know what doctors do from my clinical rotations and ICU rounds, but I don't want to not have shadowing and have adcoms thinking I'm some know-it-all who's too good for that.

 

[Ad2b]

As for shadowing... is it really a must-have? I don't want to not have shadowing and have adcoms thinking I'm some know-it-all who's too good for that.

It's not that adcoms will think that, it's more that adcoms want to know, YOU know what you're getting into. Think of the traditional applicants who have just been in school and are now applying thinking being a physician is patient visits all day when in reality, there is so much more to being a doc than that (and the hours....)

What did you do for clinic rotations? I think you're fine... really... ask @LizzyM or @gyngyn or @Goro what they think but, to me, you're golden

 

[kbRD2MD84]

It's not that adcoms will think that, it's more that adcoms want to know, YOU know what you're getting into. Think of the traditional applicants who have just been in school and are now applying thinking being a physician is patient visits all day when in reality, there is so much more to being a doc than that (and the hours....)

What did you do for clinic rotations? I think you're fine... really... ask @LizzyM or @gyngyn or @Goro what they think but, to me, you're golden

True! My clinical rotations actually kind of sucked overall. Most of my friends were in nice organized internships where they'd have like, 2 weeks of critical care and 2 weeks of renal, etc. Nope, mine was literally nothing but staff relief after 1 month of shadowing. Didn't have much of a say in what I covered, it was just picking up the slack for a seriously understaffed dept. Lots of patient assessments (+ tube feeding/TPN) and follow-up visits in the ICU's and about a million CHF, diabetes, and heart-healthy diet educations. This was at a big ~650 bed teaching hospital - so I got exposure to some cool things. At the very least, being able to handle staff relief at that capacity should look good when it comes time for residency apps.

 

[Ad2b]

True! My clinical rotations actually kind of sucked overall. Most of my friends were in nice organized internships where they'd have like, 2 weeks of critical care and 2 weeks of renal, etc. Nope, mine was literally nothing but staff relief after 1 month of shadowing. Didn't have much of a say in what I covered, it was just picking up the slack for a seriously understaffed dept. Lots of patient assessments (+ tube feeding/TPN) and follow-up visits in the ICU's and about a million CHF, diabetes, and heart-healthy diet educations. This was at a big ~650 bed teaching hospital - so I got exposure to some cool things. At the very least, being able to handle staff relief at that capacity should look good when it comes time for residency apps.

And all of that???? >>>>>>> than anything I did, or most people do

I'd say good luck this cycle but I don't think you're gonna need it 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

A clinically heavy dietetic internship has given you a good idea what it means to be a member of the health care team so you are good in that regard. If you can get in to shadow a primary care doc (pediatrician or family medicine or general medicine) would be great but it won't be a deal breaker.

 

[kbRD2MD84]

And all of that???? >>>>>>> than anything I did, or most people do

I'd say good luck this cycle but I don't think you're gonna need it 🙂

Aww, shucks! I think I just have the (hopefully normal) nontrad inferiority complex because I'm not 22 (and it makes no sense). If nothing else, I think I have a decent shot at one of my state schools.

A clinically heavy dietetic internship has given you a good idea what it means to be a member of the health care team so you are good in that regard. If you can get in to shadow a primary care doc (pediatrician or family medicine or general medicine) would be great but it won't be a deal breaker.

Very true! One of my top schools I'm looking at says shadowing is "required" - I think I need to check with them to see exactly what they expect. Definitely up for doing some shadowing if I can find someone.

 

[Goro]

This makes me feel so much better! I have to find my old Excel sheet from when I was applying to dietetic internships - I did have a decent chunk of hours despite working FT + PT + school.

As for shadowing... is it really a must-have? I'm relatively new to the area I live in and don't really know anyone, but I'm trying to find a doc to shadow. Obviously I know what doctors do from my clinical rotations and ICU rounds, but I don't want to not have shadowing and have adcoms thinking I'm some know-it-all who's too good for that.

Yes, shadowing is required.

You need to show that you know what a doctor's day is like, and how different doctors approach the practice of Medicine.

 

[kbRD2MD84]

Yes, shadowing is required.

You need to show that you know what a doctor's day is like, and how different doctors approach the practice of Medicine.

Good call. I guess I just feel kinda awkward trying to set that up as a 30-something rather than a traditional pre-med! Sounds silly though. There are lots of family practices etc around here, so I imagine that would be a good place to start.

 

[Ad2b]

Good call. I guess I just feel kinda awkward trying to set that up as a 30-something rather than a traditional pre-med! Sounds silly though. There are lots of family practices etc around here, so I imagine that would be a good place to start.

I was 45, 47, 49 and 51 and shadowing different docs.

I found all of them to be encouraging, supportive IF NOT eager to have me around... one even started asking my opinion on things (testing my lame knowledge, rather 😀 )

 

[kbRD2MD84]

I was 45, 47, 49 and 51 and shadowing different docs.

I found all of them to be encouraging, supportive IF NOT eager to have me around... one even started asking my opinion on things (testing my lame knowledge, rather 😀 )

That's awesome! I think I just need to suck it up and ask around. I'm working on hopefully getting a volunteer gig at the local hospital's infusion center going, fingers crossed I can find someone through there that's willing to have me tag along for a bit 😉

 

[Ad2b]

That's awesome! I think I just need to suck it up and ask around. I'm working on hopefully getting a volunteer gig at the local hospital's infusion center going, fingers crossed I can find someone through there that's willing to have me tag along for a bit 😉

Seriously, just ask 🙂 I'm likely to ask the ID doc if I can traipse along with him again just for a day or 2 ... just so my own experiences are relatively new since I've done little of that in the last year or so

 

[deleted967981]

Good call. I guess I just feel kinda awkward trying to set that up as a 30-something rather than a traditional pre-med! Sounds silly though. There are lots of family practices etc around here, so I imagine that would be a good place to start.

I was 36 and 38 when I did my shadowing. Check and see if your local hospitals or local colleges have a shadowing program. That’s how I did mine. All of my doctors were very supportive of my going back to school.

 

[kbRD2MD84]

I was 36 and 38 when I did my shadowing. Check and see if your local hospitals or local colleges have a shadowing program. That’s how I did mine. All of my doctors were very supportive of my going back to school.

I didn't even realize that was a thing! It's mostly smaller hospitals around here and I'm not sure if any of the local schools have a premed program. I'll definitely check that out though!

 

[deleted967981]

I didn't even realize that was a thing! It's mostly smaller hospitals around here and I'm not sure if any of the local schools have a premed program. I'll definitely check that out though!

Ours offers it as a class credit, but it got me in with the education coordinator at the hospital who handles student shadowing.

You can also see if there’s an AHEC program near you. It’s designed for high schoolers looking to shadow and experience the medical field, but their representative can get you in touch with local doctors or hospitals that do shadowing.

And give yourself a pep talk about your age. If you put in the work, you deserve to be there just as much as the younger students. You can all learn from each other along the way.

 

[kbRD2MD84]

Ours offers it as a class credit, but it got me in with the education coordinator at the hospital who handles student shadowing.

You can also see if there’s an AHEC program near you. It’s designed for high schoolers looking to shadow and experience the medical field, but their representative can get you in touch with local doctors or hospitals that do shadowing.

And give yourself a pep talk about your age. If you put in the work, you deserve to be there just as much as the younger students. You can all learn from each other along the way.

Never heard of AHEC - looks like NC does have a pretty active one! Will definitely look into that.

You're right about the age - I did my dietetic internship at 32/33 with a bunch of 22/23-year-olds and I think I got more out of it than they did! I just really want to be taken seriously when it comes to app time - seems like some adcoms are much more in tune with the benefits of nontrads than others are.

 

[kbRD2MD84]

By the way, @Moocille - I reached out to the AHEC contact in my region and she sent me a file with contact info for past preceptors in my county and 2 that are really close. Shouldn't have any trouble finding someone to shadow now. So pumped - thanks for the idea!