Volunteering Clarification

[EmpathMan]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey guys,

I just wanted to post to get some questions answered if nobody minds. I searched other topics for answers to my question, but there are way too many topics titled similarly ;P Thanks!

1. Regarding hospital volunteering, do I have to do like a LOT of it? Is it okay if I just volunteered at like a pediatrics clinic or just a clinic in general? I can surely do plenty of volunteering at the hospital during like summer and breaks, but during the school year, due to my location, going to the hospital a lot for volunteering is a problem.
2. For volunteering in general, do I have to have patient-contact volunteering? And what exactly is entailed by "patient-contact" ? For example, while shadowing I've done stuff for the patient and whatnot.
3. I'm currently in the EMS organization at my university as a volunteer. What type of volunteering experience would this be considered? Patient-contact?
4. Any additional information regarding volunteering and stuff would be great!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this topic and helping me. 😀

 

[apumic]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to post to get some questions answered if nobody minds. I searched other topics for answers to my question, but there are way too many topics titled similarly ;P Thanks!

1. Regarding hospital volunteering, do I have to do like a LOT of it? Is it okay if I just volunteered at like a pediatrics clinic or just a clinic in general? I can surely do plenty of volunteering at the hospital during like summer and breaks, but during the school year, due to my location, going to the hospital a lot for volunteering is a problem.
2. For volunteering in general, do I have to have patient-contact volunteering? And what exactly is entailed by "patient-contact" ? For example, while shadowing I've done stuff for the patient and whatnot.
3. I'm currently in the EMS organization at my university as a volunteer. What type of volunteering experience would this be considered? Patient-contact?
4. Any additional information regarding volunteering and stuff would be great!

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this topic and helping me. 😀

Too lazy to look through some of those posts? Here, let me help:

1. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=medical+school+application+volunteering
You should have it consistently over a period of time. Most applicants have >100 hrs over a period of at least 12 mos.
2. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=medical+school+application+what+is+clinical+experience
No...but pt contact (clinical experience) is necessary at some pt. Look around for some details there. No need to rehash here.
3. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=medical+school+application+EMT-Basic
Clinical.
4. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=medical+school+application+volunteering
Try the links...or Google things yourself. 😉

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Don't get too caught up on how your volunteer experience is classified. Admissions committees want to see that you are committed to public service and learning about healthcare and the medical profession. If you can do that with a handful of activities, that will most likely be fine. It would better to show long standing commitment to few causes, than to spread yourself thin showing short commitments to many causes.

My situation: I was accepted to my first and second choice, with slightly above avergae GPA and MCAT, NO research experience, work as an EMT, educational experience as a BLS/CPR instructor, and no volunteer activities (I was working fulltime during undergrad to pay bills). I demonstated that I knew what I was getting into (being a doctor and all) as well as my commitment to EMS and education. Apparently that was more than enough, because I graduate in 130 days.

I hope this gives you some insight.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

.

 

[NickNaylor]

Point of volunteering: demonstrate you enjoy working with people and improving their situation (i.e., you have a knack for service).

Point of clinical experience: get an idea of what the medical profession is like.

If you can combine these two things in one activity (e.g., hospital volunteering), then that's all the better. If not, get them separately. Find something you like spending your time doing and do it.