Volunteering Advice Needed

[HalfCaff]

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. I was totally psyched to apply to med school for the upcoming cycle until my soul was utterly crushed by a pre-med advisor. She told me hold off applying for a year so I could bulk up my volunteer experience. She also said that although I work full-time in clinical research (with patient contact) that I need more clinical experience. .
. .
.I volunteered a ton while an undergraduate, spent the year after college volunteering through Americorp teaching HIV education to incarcerated youth and IV drug users, volunteered as a First Responder during the Winter Olympics, worked at Planned Parenthood, and all sorts of other cool stuff. Problem is none of my really sweet volunteer experience has been recent.

I guess I am frustrated because I have pretty much incorporated service into my life and I don't want to all of a sudden take on all of these volunteer experiences just to put it on my application. As of late I've been more involved in environmental and political activism - not really stuff I want to put on my application or is it?

So questions:

1) Do I really need to put off applying a year because of insufficient recent volunteer work? (GPA is great, assuming MCAT will be average-ish, and have loads of research experience including a couple of pubs).

2) Is there a way I could beef up my recent volunteer work without making it look like I'm rushing it (for some reason that is important to me)?.
. .
.3) Will any school look consider the volunteer work I did 8-10 years ago?.
. .
.Any ideas greatly appreciated! .

 

[Catalystik]

.1) Do I really need to put off applying a year because of insufficient recent volunteer work? (GPA is great, assuming MCAT will be average-ish, and have loads of research experience including a couple of pubs). .

.2) Is there a way I could beef up my recent volunteer work without making it look like I'm rushing it (for some reason that is important to me)?.

.3) Will any school look consider the volunteer work I did 8-10 years ago?.. .

What is the nature of your patient contact in your research gig and how long has it been ongoing?

When was you last nonmedical volunteerism or other altruistic involvement?

Describe your physician shadowing or plans for same.

If Utah is the school you'll primarily target, do you have the 500 hours of volunteerism they want to see?

 

[HalfCaff]

What is the nature of your patient contact in your research gig and how long has it been ongoing?

When was you last nonmedical volunteerism or other altruistic involvement?

Describe your physician shadowing or plans for same.

If Utah is the school you'll primarily target, do you have the 500 hours of volunteerism they want to see?

I've been a research coordinator for about 5 years and most the studies I've been worked on are with cancer patients or individuals at high risk for cancer. I consent patients, take medical histories, and gather data about symptoms.

I currently volunteer at a hospice and provide respite care. I also volunteer for a few environmental organizations, but I am not racking up a ton of hours with them. I do a bunch of random volunteer work like help out with a kids sports team, work at aid stations at trail races a couple times a year, and do a bunch of canyon clean-up type things.

As for physician shadowing, I have shadowed about 25 total hours between an Opthamologist (including surgery) and a Neurologist. I have plans to shadow an Oncologist, Internal Medicine Doc, and the Hospice Medical Director.

I am not planning on applying to the University of Utah, mostly because I am ready to leave the state, but also because I don't have the volunteer hours (over the past 4 years) that they require.

 

[stefspets]

I don't think pre-med advisors always know what they are talking about.

I would apply this year and continue the hospice volunteering in the meantime. You have a lot of different activities, I don't see how adding more is going to help. More shadowing in a few different specialties couldn't hurt though (which you already have planned and I didn't read).

If your volunteer activities aren't enough then I certainly won't get in. Neither would half the people on this board.

 

[EdLongshanks]

. I was totally psyched to apply to med school for the upcoming cycle until my soul was utterly crushed by a pre-med advisor. She told me hold off applying for a year so I could bulk up my volunteer experience. She also said that although I work full-time in clinical research (with patient contact) that I need more clinical experience. .

.I volunteered a ton while an undergraduate, spent the year after college volunteering through Americorp teaching HIV education to incarcerated youth and IV drug users, volunteered as a First Responder during the Winter Olympics, worked at Planned Parenthood, and all sorts of other cool stuff. Problem is none of my really sweet volunteer experience has been recent.

I guess I am frustrated because I have pretty much incorporated service into my life and I don't want to all of a sudden take on all of these volunteer experiences just to put it on my application. As of late I've been more involved in environmental and political activism - not really stuff I want to put on my application or is it?

So questions:

1) Do I really need to put off applying a year because of insufficient recent volunteer work? (GPA is great, assuming MCAT will be average-ish, and have loads of research experience including a couple of pubs).

2) Is there a way I could beef up my recent volunteer work without making it look like I'm rushing it (for some reason that is important to me)?.

.3) Will any school look consider the volunteer work I did 8-10 years ago?.

.Any ideas greatly appreciated! .

Like you, I've incorporated service into my life. I used the 15 extra curricular slots on the AMCAS app as 15 categories (Category: Work Experience, Category: Homeless work, Category: Published works....) and wrote an essay for each one detailing the things I had done in the past 30 years.

This obviously worked, because Mayo clinic offered me an interview based on my volunteering work.

I would think that consistent community-oriented activities over a lifetime are more important than volunteer slots gained just for the purpose of getting into medical school. I oriented my personal statement around this theme, and I think that it worked.

 

[Catalystik]

. She told me hold off applying for a year so I could bulk up my volunteer experience. She also said that although I work full-time in clinical research (with patient contact) that I need more clinical experience. .

1) She is mistaken. I suggest you ignore her advise. You are going to do great in the next application cycle if your PS is well written, LORs are supportive, and interview skills are appropriate.

2) Just complete the planned shadowing, for a total of at least 50 hours, though 60-80 is better.

3) Schools will appreciate your prolonged pattern of service to others and your rich life experience. Personally, I think you'll be in very good shape with a decent MCAT score.

 

[mafunk]

I don't think pre-med advisors always know what they are talking about..

Agree

Sounds to me like you have fantastic experience, but what do I know, I'm just an aspiring medical student

 

[EdLongshanks]

1) She is mistaken. I suggest you ignore her advise. You are going to do great in the next application cycle if your PS is well written, LORs are supportive, and interview skills are appropriate.

2) Just complete the planned shadowing, for a total of at least 50 hours, though 60-80 is better.

3) Schools will appreciate your prolonged pattern of service to others and your rich life experience. Personally, I think you'll be in very good shape with a decent MCAT score.

You just got this answer from the best advisor to med school applicants alive today. You could work spend thousands of dollars to buy the best consultant around and not get better advice than that.

 

[crazycooljoel]

If it were me and I had all the pre-requisites complete plus MCAT finished, etcetera, I would still apply if I had the money to do so at the time. If you get an interview, great, if you can afford to go for the interview, even better. If you got accepted, awesome! It's up to do, if you really want to apply, don't not do it because the advisor said not to. Only you can make that decision.

 

[MacVA]

I hope your advisor is DEAD wrong. I only have 75 clinical hours to date and 60 hours of shadowing and my advisors told me I should be fine as I work full time and have leadership activities from college.

MacVa

 

[HalfCaff]

Thanks for the advice and all the kind words. I am new to the site so this is a pretty nice welcome!

 

[SLC]

Thanks for the advice and all the kind words. I am new to the site so this is a pretty nice welcome!

Hey, fellow Utahn here! Are you at the U of U by chance?

If so, I'd take the pre-med advising office's advice with a heavy grain of salt. Give it a try, what can it hurt right? If you don't get in, you can say you improved your next app by increasing the volunteering.

PM me if you're interested in an awesome volunteer opportunity in SLC. I totally built my app around this place and it's incredible. I got accepted to my first choice, during my first interview, and life couldn't be better (at least till July when I start ). It was my volunteering that got me in, they told me so when they phoned with the acceptance.

Anyway, let me know if you do want a shot at my volunteering spot, I'm leaving in a couple of months and they're hungry for someone to replace me. If you're competent and dedicated, they'll make you an EC all star.

 

[biomorph]

Hi guys,
I am a PhD student at the University of Utah, looking into Med school. I have a year or so before I graduate with my PhD. I want to apply maybe in 2012? I did my undergrad in India and came to the US right after. I have no volunteer experience in the US. Can I start out volunteering and building up my application now or is it too late? Also are my pre-med classes from undergrad (I graduated in 2005) still valid for my med school application? I think I will be 30 by the time I get into med school. This is all so overwhelming. Maybe it is not for me.

 

[Catalystik]

Hi guys,
I am a PhD student at the University of Utah, looking into Med school.

I did my undergrad in India

You will find the information in this thread relevant to you: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=784397

Feel free to start your own thread for information specific to your situation.

 

[engrphd2md]

Hi guys,
I am a PhD student at the University of Utah, looking into Med school. I have a year or so before I graduate with my PhD. I want to apply maybe in 2012? I did my undergrad in India and came to the US right after. I have no volunteer experience in the US. Can I start out volunteering and building up my application now or is it too late? Also are my pre-med classes from undergrad (I graduated in 2005) still valid for my med school application? I think I will be 30 by the time I get into med school. This is all so overwhelming. Maybe it is not for me.

Welcome! I am also just finishing up my PhD and will be applying to med school this summer. I started volunteering a year ago at a free clinic and absolutely love it. It really solidified my desire to go into medicine. If you are on the fence about your decision I definitely recommend volunteering in a clinical setting to figure out if this is for you. If medicine is what you want to do then go for it, it is never too late and no 30 is not too old. I will be 33 when I start if I get in this cycle.

 

[artsydoc]

You've been a hospice volunteer recently? That's indisputably clinical volunteering. In fact, that's all I had done at the time that I submitted my apps and it was regarded as completely adequate to show that I was compassionate and adept at working with people who were ill. I think your pre-med advisor sounds nuts! Especially with your earlier experiences. Good luck!

 

[ruraldocmom]

Just apply! I kept trying to get my application perfect before applying, and I really regret that... life happens, you lose momentum. It sounds like you've done real things, good things. You don't want to look back and ask yourself, what if I had just applied then and not waited X years.

If you feel you must add some type of volunteer work, have you thought about crisis center phone-answering? totally multi-taskable while you are waiting between phone calls, but honestly... it sounds like you've done a ton. Just go for it.

 

[murfettie]

. I was totally psyched to apply to med school for the upcoming cycle until my soul was utterly crushed by a pre-med advisor. She told me hold off applying for a year so I could bulk up my volunteer experience. She also said that although I work full-time in clinical research (with patient contact) that I need more clinical experience. .

.I volunteered a ton while an undergraduate, spent the year after college volunteering through Americorp teaching HIV education to incarcerated youth and IV drug users, volunteered as a First Responder during the Winter Olympics, worked at Planned Parenthood, and all sorts of other cool stuff. Problem is none of my really sweet volunteer experience has been recent.

I guess I am frustrated because I have pretty much incorporated service into my life and I don't want to all of a sudden take on all of these volunteer experiences just to put it on my application. As of late I've been more involved in environmental and political activism - not really stuff I want to put on my application or is it?

So questions:

1) Do I really need to put off applying a year because of insufficient recent volunteer work? (GPA is great, assuming MCAT will be average-ish, and have loads of research experience including a couple of pubs).

2) Is there a way I could beef up my recent volunteer work without making it look like I'm rushing it (for some reason that is important to me)?.

.3) Will any school look consider the volunteer work I did 8-10 years ago?.

.Any ideas greatly appreciated! .

I think you are doing fine... You know, there are only 15 lines to fill..
When the time comes, 15 won't be enough..