Volunteering experience (length)

[snowpikachu]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I've often seen people write that medical schools want to see that you've volunteered at a certain place for a while.
Does a while mean: 5+ years, 1 or more, etc ?
Thanks!

 

[Doug Underhill]

Well, if high school volunteering doesn't count and most people apply at the start of senior year of undergrad, is a 5-year commitment expected?

 

[ndafife]

It really just means you volunteered over an extended period of time There isn't a distinct cut off. You should be able to tell the difference between volunteering at a place for awhile vs getting a bunch of hours in 2 weeks.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I'd say over a year but more importantly, make sure you are still doing the activity when you submit your applications (at the least), and preferably when you are interviewing. If you suddenly quit your activities before then, you'll look like you were doing the so-called dreaded "box-checking."

 

[TheVirg]

From what I have seen here, anything around 6 months seems to constitute "a while". It's more important to have gained some appreciation and experiences form your volunteer work than it is to say "I was here for X months".

 

[senzen]

1 year to 1.5 years seems to be the average.

 

[WedgeDawg]

How ever long it takes to show a commitment to serving people and be able to articulate your experiences in a positive, introspective, and thoughtful way.

 

[senzen]

How ever long it takes to show a commitment to serving people and be able to articulate your experiences in a positive, introspective, and thoughtful way.

But starting two months before applications are due will most likely be seen negatively.

 

[Doug Underhill]

How ever long it takes to show a commitment to serving people and be able to articulate your experiences in a positive, introspective, and thoughtful way.

This is too deep for SDN's superficial statistics-based neuroticism, so I'm going to give us a firm number to add to our mental checklists: one and a half years. If you volunteered for less than one and a half years, you are not getting into medical school. Adcoms want you to volunteer for 18 months, or a minimum of 548 days. Anything less is unacceptable.

 

[senzen]

If you volunteered for less than one and a half years, you are not getting into medical school.

This is absolutely not true lol. I get your point though. Adcoms like longevity. But around a year is usually fine from what I've heard.

 

[WedgeDawg]

This is absolutely not true lol. I get your point though. Adcoms like longevity. But around a year is usually fine from what I've heard.

The more you try and make it a finite amount of time, the less you probably understand the point of volunteering (both intrinsically and from an application standpoint) and thus presumably the less you're going to get out of it.

 

[senzen]

The more you try and make it a finite amount of time, the less you probably understand the point of volunteering (both intrinsically and from an application standpoint) and thus presumably the less you're going to get out of it.

I started volunteering a few years before college and I still volunteer at one of the places to this day. I think giving back to the community is important and volunteering truly is a rewarding experience and is something I recommend to everyone. But when it comes to the application process, longevity is key. I'm sure many gain valuable experiences even if they start two months prior but it's apparently going to be hard to convince an adcom of that. A wider timeframe will be more convincing.

This is something I've gleaned from the forums on here as well as speaking to adcoms IRL.

 

[Catalystik]

I've often seen people write that medical schools want to see that you've volunteered at a certain place for a while.
Does a while mean: 5+ years, 1 or more, etc ?
Thanks!

A calender year is a good amount of time for an activity. An academic year of 9 months is a common (understandable) listing. This need not apply to every activity you enter, but a substantial level of involvement for some activities is wise. Clinical experience is one of the latter, but more than one activity can be considered as contributing to the goal of about ~1.5+ years of active patient experience.