Volunteering and Shadowing

[praspudi]

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What looks better?

I'm a camp counselor at a summer camp for adults with disabilities and every summer while doing it i receive around 170 hours. How do admissions officers view that in regards to getting the equivalent of 170 hours throughout the year volunteering at various places (hospital, animal shelter, etc.) Does volunteering at one place and getting a lot of hours look better than volunteering at multiple places and getting the same amount hours? So for a total of around 500 service hours from just volunteering each summer over my undergrad career, would that be better than volunteering at multiple places that I don't really care about? Also, I'm in the same boat about shadowing. Does shadowing one Doctor who practices in the field I enjoy and getting a lot of hours look better than shadowing multiple doctors?

 

[NeuroLove]

Since I'm not on an adcomm committee, I can't give you the answers that they could BUT having said that...

As long as you have a good chunk of your hours from a medical-related field/environment, you should be good to go. Definitely don't volunteer somewhere you do not enjoy because, if you get asked about it in an interview, the interviewer may see through your "fake" enthusiasm about the experience. Regarding shadowing, I've seen people with very different experiences on SDN. Some people have shadowed many physicians. Personally, I love neurosurgery so that is where I did the majority of my shadowing. Volunteering at a summer camp is great, but make sure you get experience in a hospital or clinic to be well-rounded.

These are just my opinions based on what I have seen/heard so others may feel differently 🙂

 

[praspudi]

Yeah, that's how I feel about it. I'd rather volunteer there cause I like doing it then going to a soup kitchen that I don't enjoy just to try and tally hours. Also, I shadow two orthopedic Surgeons in Texas every summer for two weeks. I get to go in the OR with them and watch them perform operations and I'd rather just do that for two weeks once a year because I really enjoy that. I shadowed a family pediatrician for half a day before and I didn't enjoy it at all. I'm just wondering if it would be detrimental to me to have all my hours from one place only once a year even though I really enjoy it.

 

[Catalystik]

You also need to have experience with clinically-ill patients, not just people who happen to have disabilities. If you were helping to provide care to sick disabled people along with a nurse or physician during your volunteer experience, you would have that base covered. Still, a breadth of experience would be nice if you can help patients in a clinic, hospice, nursing home, or hospital setting (however briefly) or get involved with some clinical research, where you interact with sick people to collect data. Adcomms would generally like to see some type of consistent involvement that continues through the school year that is medically related.

If you volunteered at the summer camp, you do not need additional community service.

I think that shadowing two types of physicians is fine, especially as one was in primary care.

 

[ThaliaNox]

I've done a ton of camp counseling, myself. This included one summer working with physically handicapped kids 24/7. When applying, I spoke to an adcom about how to count hours for volunteering at a summer camp, and was a bit frustrated with her answer. She told me to count it as ten hours per day of camp, with her reason being that I spend time eating, sleeping or in meetings which shouldn't count. Anyone who's actually worked at camps knows that you're never really off duty, and even when you officially are off duty, you spend more of that time working than most volunteers in other settings do.

I've found that my experiences as a camp counselor were seen more in line with things like alternative spring break and medical service trips, and as less important than weekly volunteering. In other words, good frosting but no real meat. I don't like this view, but it is something I encountered when I applied and interviewed last year.

 

[praspudi]

Would the camp count as being with clinical patients. The way it works is you get assigned a buddy and you stay with them for the week. It's you and him/her in a bedroom at night and then you have to wake them up and make sure all their meds are taken care of and what not. The only amount of time not spent with your buddy is a 1 hour break at night before you put them to bed. I had a buddy who was mute with cerebral palsy. I helped him shower, eat, go to the bathroom, and everything else someone is usually able to accomplish by themselves. Isn't that more contact than I would be able to do in a hospital? I was with him 24/7.

 

[Stratego]

LizzyM, one of SDN's regular adcomm posters, has stated that helping someone differently-abled with routine activities would not be considered clinical experience. In an exerpt from 10/06:

I agree that helping an individual in his home with activities of daily living is not a clinical experience (if that were the case then babysitting for infants would be a clinical experience too)

For the full exchange, see: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=325446&highlight=babysitting

Your activity is certainly an outstanding community service, however. I do think it provides some clinical exposure and was a valuable pertinent experience, but it should not stand on its own.

 

[J ROD]

lizzym, one of sdn's regular adcomm posters, has stated that helping someone differently-abled with routine activities would not be considered clinical experience. In an exerpt from 10/06:



For the full exchange, see: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=325446&highlight=babysitting

your activity is certainly an outstanding community service, however. I do think it provides some clinical exposure and was a valuable pertinent experience, but it should not stand on its own.

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