Volunteering/Clinical Experience/Extracurriculars during the pandemic (internationally)

[zoe5]

I'm an undergrad freshman at UCSB doing remote learning. How do I find volunteer opportunities? Will med schools take pandemic difficulties into account? I've read answers to other questions like mine, but Im living in Taiwan. So technically the pandemic is over here. There isn't a huge need for volunteers to help with testing since there are barely any new cases. I can't seem to shadow doctors or volunteer in hospitals, because the system here only allows medical students. I spend my breaks in Taiwan so would it look bad that I didn't do anything like volunteering? I'm currently tutoring online for free. Does that count? There isn't really a supervisor (Edumate NYC program) so should I just stop since this doesn't count. I'm getting a part time job as a waiter. Would that be a good use of my time? I have no idea what I'm doing. How am I supposed to get hundreds of hours like other premeds if I'm doing nothing my freshman year. I've joined clubs but they're on Zoom do they even count?

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[deleted889094]

I'm an undergrad freshman at UCSB doing remote learning. How do I find volunteer opportunities? Will med schools take pandemic difficulties into account? I've read answers to other questions like mine, but Im living in Taiwan. So technically the pandemic is over here. There isn't a huge need for volunteers to help with testing since there are barely any new cases. I can't seem to shadow doctors or volunteer in hospitals, because the system here only allows medical students. I spend my breaks in Taiwan so would it look bad that I didn't do anything like volunteering? I'm currently tutoring online for free. Does that count? There isn't really a supervisor (Edumate NYC program) so should I just stop since this doesn't count. I'm getting a part time job as a waiter. Would that be a good use of my time? I have no idea what I'm doing. How am I supposed to get hundreds of hours like other premeds if I'm doing nothing my freshman year. I've joined clubs but they're on Zoom do they even count?

I did literally nothing until Junior year. You gotta relax a little bit. Your tutoring counts. If you're doing something, you're doing it. You can put it on an application. Tutoring online is a great idea during the pandemic. It sounds like you're doing fine for a freshman. Don't stress about it.

 

[candbgirl]

I'm an undergrad freshman at UCSB doing remote learning. How do I find volunteer opportunities? Will med schools take pandemic difficulties into account? I've read answers to other questions like mine, but Im living in Taiwan. So technically the pandemic is over here. There isn't a huge need for volunteers to help with testing since there are barely any new cases. I can't seem to shadow doctors or volunteer in hospitals, because the system here only allows medical students. I spend my breaks in Taiwan so would it look bad that I didn't do anything like volunteering? I'm currently tutoring online for free. Does that count? There isn't really a supervisor (Edumate NYC program) so should I just stop since this doesn't count. I'm getting a part time job as a waiter. Would that be a good use of my time? I have no idea what I'm doing. How am I supposed to get hundreds of hours like other premeds if I'm doing nothing my freshman year. I've joined clubs but they're on Zoom do they even count?

Calm down. You are a freshman. Hopefully you’ll be in California attending school by next Fall. That will give you plenty of time work on your ECs. Do you plan to attend med school in the US? If so, plan to do your activities in the US. I agree with you. Get a job , earn some money. Fill in your time. But always put your grades first.

 

[JimKimSlim]

This is a very complex question. Your class will definitely have less clinical experience than your predecessors, but most MD applicants are not college-grads. They take about 2-3 gap years and might have already had plenty of clinical experience prior to COVID (as was the case this year between older applicants and fresh college grads like me). Clinical experience will likely remain a huge factor in the admissions process, so you should really work on your grades and MCAT for compensation.