Volunteer hours?

Started by turtles43
Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
turtles43

turtles43

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hi!

I took a gap year after graduating and have been working full time as a research assistant since in the Department of community health. I only recently began to volunteer in the emergency department and will probably only acquire 50 hours by application time due to my full time work schedule. I plan to continue volunteering after I submit my application ad well. It turns out that these 50 hours have been extremely eye opening and meaningful to me. I have done volunteering in conservation when I studied abroad and I have not shadowed much. To be honest, I decided to pursue medicine pretty late in my undergraduate career. I got a 509 mcat and have a 3.96 gpa with research and a publication under my belt. I've also worked as a tutor and TA among other diverse ECs. Do you think my lack of clinical hours will hurt me?

Thanks!
 
turtles43 said:
Hi!

I took a gap year after graduating and have been working full time as a research assistant since in the Department of community health. I only recently began to volunteer in the emergency department and will probably only acquire 50 hours by application time due to my full time work schedule. I plan to continue volunteering after I submit my application ad well. It turns out that these 50 hours have been extremely eye opening and meaningful to me. I have done volunteering in conservation when I studied abroad and I have not shadowed much. To be honest, I decided to pursue medicine pretty late in my undergraduate career. I got a 509 mcat and have a 3.96 gpa with research and a publication under my belt. I've also worked as a tutor and TA among other diverse ECs. Do you think my lack of clinical hours will hurt me?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

50 is pretty low, it'll probably hurt. When did you start volunteering?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
aalamruad said:
50 is pretty low, it'll probably hurt. When did you start volunteering?
Click to expand...

I love how people on this forum consider 50 very low but 100 a sufficient amount. IMO, 100 still seems like "checking the box" tier.

If it were up to me, I wouldn't look at any application that didn't have at least 200 total in a clinical setting, which shows commitment and motivation. But I guess that's why I'm not on an adcom (yet).
 
Yeah I think its going to hurt. However, I would think that if your application reflects that medicine is a more recent decision it might not be as significant. Just get as much as you reasonably can from now until then. Its all you can do.
 
Lost in Translation said:
I love how people on this forum consider 50 very low but 100 a sufficient amount. IMO, 100 still seems like "checking the box" tier.

If it were up to me, I wouldn't look at any application that didn't have at least 200 total in a clinical setting, which shows commitment and motivation. But I guess that's why I'm not on an adcom (yet).
Click to expand...
I never said that I think 100 is a sufficient amount.. I don't.
 
Lost in Translation said:
I love how people on this forum consider 50 very low but 100 a sufficient amount. IMO, 100 still seems like "checking the box" tier.

If it were up to me, I wouldn't look at any application that didn't have at least 200 total in a clinical setting, which shows commitment and motivation. But I guess that's why I'm not on an adcom (yet).
Click to expand...
So you also think my application will be looked at negatively?
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
Yeah I think its going to hurt. However, I would think that if your application reflects that medicine is a more recent decision it might not be as significant. Just get as much as you reasonably can from now until
Click to expand...
Do you think if I touch upon this in my PS, it may help? I was honestly going to use this as a most meaningful experience.
 
turtles43 said:
Do you think if I touch upon this in my PS, it may help? I was honestly going to use this as a most meaningful experience.
Click to expand...

I think for you its most important to explain very well how you came about the decision to pursue medicine with little to no clinical exposure prior. Using it as a most meaningful (it should be since its your only clinical exposure) is one thing you could do.
 
Last edited:
aalamruad said:
I never said that I think 100 is a sufficient amount.. I don't.
Click to expand...

I know you don't but many on here do :annoyed:

turtles43 said:
So you also think my application will be looked at negatively?
Click to expand...

If you only have 50? Yes. That's hardly one semester's worth of hours. In one semester you should be able to get at least 80 clinical hours (4h/w with a 20 week semester) if you're volunteering in any ED.
 
Lost in Translation said:
I know you don't but many on here do :annoyed:



If you only have 50? Yes. That's hardly one semester's worth of hours.
Click to expand...

Even if I've been working full time in a health network for a year now? I work with doctors on a daily basis but not in a clinical setting. I believe community health exposes you to a lot important aspects of being a doctor.
 
turtles43 said:
Even if I've been working full time in a health network for a year now? I work with doctors on a daily basis but not in a clinical setting. I believe community health exposes you to a lot important aspects of being a doctor.
Click to expand...

Working with doctors isn't enough. You need to be exposed to patients so you're able to observe (and develop) the skills that go into a patient-physician interaction.
 
aalamruad said:
Why in the world did you start so late?
Click to expand...

I took my mcat in April. There was no way I could work full time and volunteer while studying for the mcat. I decided to pursue medicine in my junior year so I was taking 20-23 credit semesters to get my appropriate courses until I graduated in may
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Well, I'm pretty bummed. I really don't want to take another year off. I was excited about my mcat score and being able to apply.
 
turtles43 said:
Well, I'm pretty bummed. I really don't want to take another year off. I was excited about my mcat score and being able to apply.
Click to expand...
turtles43 said:
I took my mcat in April. There was no way I could work full time and volunteer while studying for the mcat. I decided to pursue medicine in my junior year so I was taking 20-23 credit semesters to get my appropriate courses until I graduated in may
Click to expand...

Well, long story short - it will make sense why you don't have the clinical hours, but that doesn't necessarily make up for not having them. Admissions is a holistic process so a lot of things are considered, but be prepared to elaborate and have strong genuine reasons for pursuing if you're going to apply.
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
Well, long story short - it will make sense why you don't have the clinical hours, but that doesn't necessarily make up for not having them. Admissions is a holistic process so a lot of things are considered, but be prepared to elaborate and have strong genuine reasons for pursuing if you're going to apply.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response. I don't know what I should do now.
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
He didn't know he wanted to pursue medicine. Most people just don't randomly volunteer in clinical settings m8.
Click to expand...
Unless I read something wrong, it sounds like OP decided to go into medicine junior year of college, and has already taken a gap year. That hardly sounds like s/he just recently decided to pursue medicine, and that should have been plenty of time to rack up plenty of hours. Even as few as 2 hours per week for a couple years would be more than enough. Again, maybe I'm misinterpreting the timeline though.
 
ndafife said:
I applied with 30 hours of shadowing and no other clinical experiences and had 4 interview with 3 acceptances.

It comes down to how good your full application is, how well you can explain your desire to be a doctor, and how well you can talk about how meaningful that experience was.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your response. It is definitely a little reassuring. I feel like I have a strong application otherwise. But maybe I'm not as strong a candidate as I thought.
 
aalamruad said:
Unless I read something wrong, it sounds like OP decided to go into medicine junior year of college, and has already taken a gap year. That hardly sounds like s/he just recently decided to pursue medicine, and that should have been plenty of time to rack up plenty of hours. Even as few as 2 hours per week for a couple years would be more than enough. Again, maybe I'm misinterpreting the timeline though.
Click to expand...

Oh I thought he had been doing the research thing with the gap year which is why he didn't volunteer.

ndafife said:
I applied with 30 hours of shadowing and no other clinical experiences and had 4 interview with 3 acceptances.

It comes down to how good your full application is, how well you can explain your desire to be a doctor, and how well you can talk about how meaningful that experience was.
Click to expand...

Das it mane. I was about to say, people have done more with less.
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
Oh I thought he had been doing the research thing with the gap year which is why he didn't volunteer.

I didnt volunteer over my gap year because I was studying for the mcat which I took in April. I was and still am working full time as a research assistant in the community health department in an urban set health network. I know it sounds

das it mane. I was about to say, people have done more with less.
Click to expand...
 

I didnt volunteer over my gap year because I was studying for the mcat which I took in April. I was and still am working full time as a research assistant in the community health department in an urban set health network. I know it sounds
 
turtles43 said:
I appreciate your response. It is definitely a little reassuring. I feel like I have a strong application otherwise. But maybe I'm not as strong a candidate as I thought.
Click to expand...
Just be honest. You didn't switch to premed until late. I'm sure you have a good reason to explain your desire to be a doctor with that.
Be honest why you didn't get a ton of hours. (You had to work full time and were studying for the MCAT).
When you talk about your clinical experience discuss how it confirmed your desire to be a doctor based on the other reasons you had.
 
ndafife said:
Just be honest. You didn't switch to premed until late. I'm sure you have a good reason to explain your desire to be a doctor with that.
Be honest why you didn't get a ton of hours. (You had to work full time and were studying for the MCAT).
When you talk about your clinical experience discuss how it confirmed your desire to be a doctor based on the other reasons you had.
Click to expand...

This was how I was going to approach but I am feeling pretty discouraged.
 
ndafife said:
I applied with 30 hours of shadowing and no other clinical experiences and had 4 interview with 3 acceptances.
Click to expand...
n=1
turtles43 said:
I feel like I have a strong application otherwise. But maybe I'm not as strong a candidate as I thought.
Click to expand...
Every applicant feels like they have a strong application or else they wouldn't apply.

If you honestly believe that you'll complete 100 or 200 hours by this time next year, put that number down. Same with all your hours.

Also, don't make excuses for why you don't have more hours. 50,000 people applied to med school last year and I'm sure many of them had jobs, classes, MCAT prep, etc to balance. Instead, make sure to discuss WHY you felt it was important to volunteer, WHY you chose an ER, WHAT you've gained from the experience, and HOW it's impacted your view on medicine and your future role in it.

turtles43 said:
This was how I was going to approach but I am feeling pretty discouraged.
Click to expand...
If you come on SDN and ask about your chances about applying with low numbers, you'll get practical advice, not warm-fuzzies. Taking another year off isn't the end of the world.
 
CyrilFiggis said:
n=1
Every applicant feels like they have a strong application or else they wouldn't apply.

If you honestly believe that you'll complete 100 or 200 hours by this time next year, put that number down. Same with all your hours.

Also, don't make excuses for why you don't have more hours. 50,000 people applied to med school last year and I'm sure many of them had jobs, classes, MCAT prep, etc to balance. Instead, make sure to discuss WHY you felt it was important to volunteer, WHY you chose an ER, WHAT you've gained from the experience, and HOW it's impacted your view on medicine and your future role in it.
Click to expand...

I feel like I will have far more than 100 hours by this time next year as I plan to continue volunteering 2 days a wk, 8-12 hours a wk.

Is it reasonable to include prospective volunteer hours?

Also, it is not an excuse but the reason it did not happen. I'm not making excuses just stating why I personally did not acquire volunteer hours.
 
To me, it has always seemed so perverse how the AMCAS puts an "hours spent" label on each activity. That makes everything a checklist and for pre-meds, it instills the mindset that "Oh, I have to get X number of volunteer hours to even be considered." That's just stupid, in my opinion. Yes, it's how med school admissions works but that doesn't mean it's even moderately intelligent. For perspective, to get into grad school, nobody cares how long you spent in lab doing "research." What matters is what you got out of it - i.e. did you publish/present/complete thesis, can you talk intelligently about your research and defend it, etc. I wonder how many pre-meds can actually talk intelligently about their "research" and how many do it just to check off a box.

OP, when you're doing these volunteer experiences, do them because you care about the people you're serving. It'll show and you'll get more out of it anyway. You can volunteer for 50 hours and have it change your life (and those of others) or you can volunteer for 500 hours making beds at a hospital and have nothing to talk about except which linens seem to be best at absorbing bodily fluids. You should be volunteering because you want to help other people - if that's the case, the number of hours shouldn't matter. Any school that won't extend an interview invite to you because you only volunteered for 50 hours versus 100 isn't a school you want to be at.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
aldol16 said:
To me, it has always seemed so perverse how the AMCAS puts an "hours spent" label on each activity. That makes everything a checklist and for pre-meds, it instills the mindset that "Oh, I have to get X number of volunteer hours to even be considered." That's just stupid, in my opinion. Yes, it's how med school admissions works but that doesn't mean it's even moderately intelligent. For perspective, to get into grad school, nobody cares how long you spent in lab doing "research." What matters is what you got out of it - i.e. did you publish/present/complete thesis, can you talk intelligently about your research and defend it, etc. I wonder how many pre-meds can actually talk intelligently about their "research" and how many do it just to check off a box.

OP, when you're doing these volunteer experiences, do them because you care about the people you're serving. It'll show and you'll get more out of it anyway. You can volunteer for 50 hours and have it change your life (and those of others) or you can volunteer for 500 hours making beds at a hospital and have nothing to talk about except which linens seem to be best at absorbing bodily fluids. You should be volunteering because you want to help other people - if that's the case, the number of hours shouldn't matter. Any school that won't extend an interview invite to you because you only volunteered for 50 hours versus 100 isn't a school you want to be at.
Click to expand...

This is the reason why I was planning on applying this cycle. Volunteering will be in my personal statement with specific cases I've encountered as well as one of my most meaningful experiences. I truly feel like it has been a meaningful and eye opening experience. I felt that way on hour 2 of volunteering. I don't have a typical pre med application but I feel like my experiences give me a different type of edge. You can love medicine from so many different type of experiences.
 
turtles43 said:
I feel like I will have far more than 100 hours by this time next year as I plan to continue volunteering 2 days a wk, 8-12 hours a wk.

Is it reasonable to include prospective volunteer hours?
Click to expand...
Within reason, yes. The application wants your total hours. For instance, I have a job that I'll be doing until I start in August. On my application, I put my end date as 5/1/16 and pro-rated my hours to include the additional year.

Many schools have an essay that asks what you'll be doing during the application year, so make sure you mention any continuation of your ER volunteering
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
I am the prospectivekidd, yes you can add prospective hrs. To put it into perspective, medical schools are looking for prospects.
Click to expand...

Haha, well that's good news. So if I am applying in June, how far in the future could I include? Do I put those hours under total hours or just explain that in the description text? Or both?
 
CyrilFiggis said:
Within reason, yes. The application wants your total hours. For instance, I have a job that I'll be doing until I start in August. On my application, I put my end date as 5/1/16 and pro-rated my hours to include the additional year.

Many schools have an essay that asks what you'll be doing during the application year, so make sure you mention any continuation of your ER volunteering
Click to expand...

So you put those hours in your total hours or stated that in your description?
 
I was in a similar situation as you last year. Here is a link to my WAMC thread. Amazing numbers, but I started volunteering late, and as a result had few hours by the time I applied. However, that summer I volunteered for 10-15 hours per week across multiple organizations. In the end, I only had four interviews and 1 acceptance out of over 30 applications. During the interviews I made sure to describe what I had done after my initial application and how my new experiences drew me even closer to medicine. I guess it worked out in the end, but I would have preferred to have a choice of medical schools instead of being shoehorned into my one (fortunate) acceptance.

If I had to do it all over again, I definitely would have taken another year off in order to strengthen my application. I consider myself lucky that I didn't have to reapply.
 
jih said:
I was in a similar situation as you last year. Here is a link to my WAMC thread. Amazing numbers, but I started volunteering late, and as a result had few hours by the time I applied. However, that summer I volunteered for 10-15 hours per week across multiple organizations. In the end, I only had four interviews and 1 acceptance out of over 30 applications. During the interviews I made sure to describe what I had done after my initial application and how my new experiences drew me even closer to medicine. I guess it worked out in the end, but I would have preferred to have a choice of medical schools instead of being shoehorned into my one (fortunate) acceptance.

If I had to do it all over again, I definitely would have taken another year off in order to strengthen my application. I consider myself lucky that I didn't have to reapply.
Click to expand...

Im feeling great about taking an extra semester to finish UG + gap year to study.
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
Im feeling great about taking an extra semester to finish UG + gap year.
Click to expand...


I am also very happy I took a gap year! Without a gap year I don't think I would have scored decent on the mcat or gained experience in health care. I would honestly prefer not to take another gap year.
 
ProspectiveKidd said:
I understand. At this point if you want to apply you need to look into particular schools and see what you match up well with.
Click to expand...

If I include prospective hours for volunteering, I could indicate that I have at least 200 hours. Do you think this may help me? Rather than putting 50 hours.
 
turtles43 said:
If I include prospective hours for volunteering, I could indicate that I have at least 200 hours. Do you think this may help me? Rather than putting 50 hours.
Click to expand...
I did this as well, and I don't think it helped. Based on my stats, I should have had many more IIs provided I didn't have a big hole in my application (which I did).
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
jih said:
I did this as well, and I don't think it helped. Based on my stats, I should have had many more IIs provided I didn't have a big hole in my application (which I did).
Click to expand...
What kind of extra curriculars did you have otherwise?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.