Volunteering Hours for Non Trad

[mdmhm]

Non trad student here. I am looking for some feedback. 40 hrs of shadowing, 50 hrs of clinical volunteering at hospital with direct contact with patient for a semester and 20-30 hrs of delivering meal to older people's house on behalf of the hospital for a year. Is this good enough for applicant who has 9-5 full time job and other responsibilities towards family, kids and taking part time classes who has limited time to spend on volunteering ?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MightBeACylon439]

So here's my take on volunteering:
1. Clinical volunteering is worthless, your clinical knowledge towards your med school application should come from shadowing. Everyone has clinical volunteering and it's so apparent that it's only for the resume building that its boring and comes across as cold.
2. More on the last point, why did you do the meal delivery? What were your motivations, what did you take from it. Do you do any volunteering with your kids sports or schooling? What I gather that everyone who has ever asked me about my volunteering is this: did this person do it because he cares about the people he was volunteering for, did he do it because he's passionate about helping people, what did he learn, and is there an interesting story behind it because omg all these premeds look the same and I need something to keep me awake cause these kids are boring.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Respectfully, I disagree in part with the first point from the poster above. Volunteering can come across as resume building, or more accurately, accruing hours, based on the experience and what you are getting out of it. However, the fundamental purpose of it is to gain experience in a medical setting to find out if you like how it seems (not everyone enjoys being around individuals who are sick, suffering from addiction, mental illness, and trauma). I had two volunteer experiences that were healthcare related: one was in a busy ED where I walked visitors/family members to patient rooms, and in the second I transported patients, equipment, and medicine throughout the hospital. The first experience was useful in seeing *some* dynamics of how medical staff interact with patients/families in a stressful environment. However, after the first few months, it felt like I was just accruing hours to accrue hours. Ultimately, I decided to look for something else and that is when I found a more interesting volunteer experience that I looked forward to. In my medical school interview I was asked about my experience and because I was interested in the second one, I was able to talk about it in a more genuine and authentic way. So while I agree in part with the post above, I think volunteering is useful for gauging and demonstrating one's familiarity with what they are signing up for in becoming a doctor.

As for the hours, I ended up having around 180 hours listed in a medical setting over the course of two years. I know successful applicants who have significantly more and others with less. That being said, I did get asked in my interview how I was sure medicine was the career for me after being a teacher for a number of years.

 

[rdyotz]

When are you planning on applying?
40 hours shadowing is sufficient overall. Clinical and non-clinical hours are quite low. Typical recommendations are 150 of each. It is going to require some sacrifices to up your numbers. Take a week off work to knock out all of your shadowing or take a week and go volunteer like crazy, but then continue volunteering regularly so that you can say you volunteered with a place for 1+ year instead of 5 days. Dedicate 4 hours per week for volunteering and you should be fine. Obviously it is much easier said than done, especially with kids. You got to decide how to balance everything to keep yourself competitive.

I disagree with clinical volunteering being worthless. In fact, shadowing is the one item that is the least important. Shadowing is a greedy activity, whereas volunteering is showing some level altruism - even if it is just to get hours.

 

[Goro]

Non trad student here. I am looking for some feedback. 40 hrs of shadowing, 50 hrs of clinical volunteering at hospital with direct contact with patient for a semester and 20-30 hrs of delivering meal to older people's house on behalf of the hospital for a year. Is this good enough for applicant who has 9-5 full time job and other responsibilities towards family, kids and taking part time classes who has limited time to spend on volunteering ?

Nope. I can't sugar coat this.

You get cut some slack as a nontrad with responsibilities, but these are simply not enough hours. This is not the application of a person who dearly wants to be a physician. It is the application of someone who wants to be a doctor as long as it is convenient. You will simply get crowded out by applicants with stronger apps.

From the wise LizzyM: I am always reminded of a certain frequent poster of a few years ago. He was adamant about not volunteering as he did not want to give his services for free and he was busy and helping others was inconvenient. He matriculated to a medical school and lasted less than one year. He's now in school to become an accountant.

Here's the deal: You need to show AdComs that you know what you're getting into, and show off your altruistic, humanistic side. We need to know that you're going to like being around sick or injured people for the next 40 years.

Here's another way of looking at it: would you buy a new car without test driving it? Buy a new suit or dress without trying it on??

I've seen plenty of posts here from high GPA/high MCAT candidates who were rejected because they had little patient contact experience.

Not all volunteering needs to be in a hospital. Think hospice, Planned Parenthood, nursing homes, rehab facilities, crisis hotlines, camps for sick children, or clinics.

Some types of volunteer activities are more appealing than others. Volunteering in a nice suburban hospital is all very well and good and all, but doesn't show that you're willing to dig in and get your hands dirty in the same way that working with the developmentally disabled (or homeless, the dying, or Alzheimer’s or mentally ill or elderly or ESL or domestic, rural impoverished) does. The uncomfortable situations are the ones that really demonstrate your altruism and get you 'brownie points'. Plus, they frankly teach you more -- they develop your compassion and humanity in ways comfortable situations can't.

Service need not be "unique". If you can alleviate suffering in your community through service to the poor, homeless, illiterate, fatherless, etc, you are meeting an otherwise unmet need and learning more about the lives of the people (or types of people) who will someday be your patients. Check out your local houses of worship for volunteer opportunities. The key thing is service to others less fortunate than you. And get off campus and out of your comfort zone!

Examples include: Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Humane Society, crisis hotlines, soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless or women’s shelter, after-school tutoring for students or coaching a sport in a poor school district, teaching ESL to adults at a community center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, or Meals on Wheels.

NOTE: you also need clinician shadowing, if you don't have it.

 

[deleted975457]

You don't get any slack for being a non trad (source: am one). You are expected to keep up with your younger peers in terms of extracurriculars. You have to make the time for these things to be competative. Medicine is one of those things where you can't go halfway in, you need to jump in with both feet.

It is a tougher road when you have other responsibilities. I was the only mom at each one of the 9 interviews I attended this year. This process is designed for college students who have little responsibility outside school and unlimited resources for volunteering and other unpaid endeavors. But that's your competition, like it or not.