Volunteering Hours

[loltopsy]

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I got into an argument with my friend, so I think a quick survey would solve it. Medical or non-medical, doesn't matter.

edit: I'm asking how much you would volunteer if it was absolutely unnecessary for medical school admissions.

 

[rfvbnmju]

I enjoy spending time helping others in some way shape or form even if I don't get compensated for it so it'll still be the same me.

 

[Ost3oclast]

I think if you have very little clinical experience, medical volunteering can really beef up your app in two spots (clinical and volunteering). Otherwise, if your app is strong, you just need something to put down for a volunteer activity, medical or not.

 

[loltopsy]

I think if you have very little clinical experience, medical volunteering can really beef up your app in two spots (clinical and volunteering). Otherwise, if your app is strong, you just need something to put down for a volunteer activity, medical or not.

Read the prompt. I'm asking how much you would volunteer if it was absolutely unnecessary for medical school admissions.

 

[Ost3oclast]

Read the prompt. I'm asking how much you would volunteer if it was absolutely unnecessary for medical school admissions.

Lol ok yeah now that you changed it.

I did most of my volunteering before even deciding to apply to medical school.

 

[ram1senk]

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

 

[gettheleadout]

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

I find this a very reasonable and relatable answer.

 

[loltopsy]

Lol ok yeah now that you changed it.

I did most of my volunteering before even deciding to apply to medical school.

No, the title of the poll was and always has been "View Poll Results: If volunteering was completely unnecessary for medical school admissions..." I added the title rephrased to the body of the original post because apparently people missed it.

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

My question revolved around things like this. Basically, if no one cared, and no one would judge you for your answer, how much would you volunteer? Your answer is relatable and easy to agree with, but I wonder how many would say that just for appearances? How many would lie to themselves to feel good about it? How many, if genuinely given the option, wouldn't have volunteered?

 

[khrisskhoras]

I got into an argument with my friend, so I think a quick survey would solve it. Medical or non-medical, doesn't matter.

edit: I'm asking how much you would volunteer if it was absolutely unnecessary for medical school admissions.

Does "completely unnecessary" imply that it is helpful to have it on an app? Something like what research is for most schools, am I correct? If thats the case, I vote B: some hours.

 

[Barcu]

These threads are so pointless.

Why do we need to rehash this motivation for volunteering all the time? Certainly, the amount and type of volunteering that people do is influenced by medical school admissions. That doesn't make it a horrible thing.

The point of volunteering isn't to be "altruistic." The point is to show that you are willing to give up your time helping others. You have to show that you are able to balance that with other academic activities. Furthermore, the most successful people are usually the ones that find experiences that they actually care about. This passion does show in interviews and essays, and you can actually learn a lot from your volunteer experiences if you do actually enjoy them. No one said that you have to stack supply closets in the ER without seeing a patient, though everyone seems to think this is the way to volunteer.

 

[Omppu27]

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

Couldn't have said it any better.

 

[Planes2Doc]

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

Just like everyone else mentioned, this is a great answer. 👍 I think that people who genuinely go out of their way to give their time to others are a rare breed. This is why you don't see the non pre-professional (more like pre-health) lining up in droves to devote their times to help others.

It's also kind of sad that it has become so expected of pre-meds that no one cares when they hear about your experiences, yet when someone who isn't pre-med does the same activities, we admire them greatly.

These threads are so pointless.

Why do we need to rehash this motivation for volunteering all the time? Certainly, the amount and type of volunteering that people do is influenced by medical school admissions. That doesn't make it a horrible thing.

The point of volunteering isn't to be "altruistic." The point is to show that you are willing to give up your time helping others. You have to show that you are able to balance that with other academic activities. Furthermore, the most successful people are usually the ones that find experiences that they actually care about. This passion does show in interviews and essays, and you can actually learn a lot from your volunteer experiences if you do actually enjoy them. No one said that you have to stack supply closets in the ER without seeing a patient, though everyone seems to think this is the way to volunteer.

Volunteering for the sake of medical school admissions, which is what the majority of pre-meds do, isn't a horrible thing. But I personally find something unsettling about people picking up such a large amount of activities, and then completely lying about their intentions. They masquerade as these great giving people, when in reality, they don't give two ***** about them and will end up gunning for competitive specialties in the end. It's one thing to be honest, versus putting up a completely fake front. 🙁

 

[Camy99]

I would have still done some of the volunteering I did but not all of them. For example, I would have continued to volunteer at high schools but maybe not for hours at the hospital. Either way, I love to volunteer and genuinely enjoyed it all.

 

[Laureatebarrel]

I may not like it, but I definitely learn from the experience.

 

[mvenus929]

As someone who has volunteered my time throughout med school just because I enjoy it, I would have pretty much done the same as I did in undergrad. The only difference is that I might have sought out a different volunteering opportunity earlier on (not in the hospital) if it wasn't a requirement for med school.

 

[274631]

As someone who has volunteered my time throughout med school just because I enjoy it, I would have pretty much done the same as I did in undergrad. The only difference is that I might have sought out a different volunteering opportunity earlier on (not in the hospital) if it wasn't a requirement for med school.

This pretty much sums it up for me. I would have volunteered regardless. The main volunteer organization I was part of was actually majority non-premed people. Ironically, the one volunteer opportunity I would not have done again was one I did purely for med school apps (hospital transport). I enjoyed everything else and they were mostly non-medically related.

 

[Benedictus123]

I actually plan to continue at the hospice I work at for as long as I can. I haven't been in a few months thanks to how busy things can get, but I am looking forward to getting back in there!

 

[Urnathok]

I would advocate for some kind of unpaid clinical experience being mandatory rather than implicitly mandatory for admissions, but that would introduce even more hoops for prospective volunteers to jump through.

I've learned as much, if not more, about the field's daily goings-on than I have in shadowing physicians, because volunteers are more often than not somewhere between "fly on the wall" and "part of the workforce," which lends itself to offering a better look into what the daily life is actually like. As a shadow, you're getting a limited look at things -- albeit a more in-depth look at those limited things.

 

[mvenus929]

I would advocate for some kind of unpaid clinical experience being mandatory rather than implicitly mandatory for admissions, but that would introduce even more hoops for prospective volunteers to jump through.

I've learned as much, if not more, about the field's daily goings-on than I have in shadowing physicians, because volunteers are more often than not somewhere between "fly on the wall" and "part of the workforce," which lends itself to offering a better look into what the daily life is actually like. As a shadow, you're getting a limited look at things -- albeit a more in-depth look at those limited things.

And I learned more about the field working as a paid hospital employee than I did either as a volunteer or as a shadow. Why should anyone be required to do unpaid work if they get the same experience through other means?

 

[EthylMethylMan]

Volunteering in the emergency department is what made me want to pursue medicine in the first place; I wouldn't change a thing about my volunteering experience.

 

[NontradCA]

When I was in the service volunteering wasn't voluntary at all. In the sense that your superior tells you that you're going to volunteer xxx. For medical school admissions I think it's on your own terms and not mandatory at all. If you're just doing it as a check in the box, why do it at all?

 

[Planes2Doc]

When I was in the service volunteering wasn't voluntary at all. In the sense that your superior tells you that you're going to volunteer xxx. For medical school admissions I think it's on your own terms and not mandatory at all. If you're just doing it as a check in the box, why do it at all?

It's not mandatory in the sense that you can apply and get into medical school without volunteering. But you're at a major disadvantage, when almost every other medical student is pretending to be Mother Teresa andyou're missing the activities.

That's why in my opinion, volunteering doesn't make you look good, it just prevents you from looking bad.

 

[Narmerguy]

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

I think that's less true than you would think, it likely varies by school. At my school, it was quite common for people to do volunteer work. It was part of the culture of the school, and even if they weren't doing it regularly every week for 3 hrs, most students found time to do it at some point or another.

I probably would have done the same amount, but without any of the clinical volunteering (which I found less satisfying than my non-medical volunteering). Even still, I did very little clinical volunteering because it felt so worthless.

In most cases, I think a lot of premeds like the idea of volunteering even without the influence of medical schools. I think applications provide that added incentive to translate ideas into action. I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[KnuxNole]

As I stand now, already being involved and having started the process/experience, if you were to come and tell me that it was a non-factor and wasn't required anymore, I would still continue to do it due to how much I enjoy it and get out of it personally.

However, before I started and knew how beneficial it was to me, the only reason that I did so was because it was "required". I think that it is safe to say that I would not have applied to and given up my time for volunteering if it was not. So I think my answer (and a common one amongst premeds) to your question is no.

How many non pre-professional undergrads do you know that willingly give up their time to volunteer during college? I don't know any.

Honestly, I don't know very many people in general who volunteer during and after college...

 

[cerno]

My volunteering would likely be considerably less both in hours and breadth. There are a few things that I have enjoyed doing though.

 

[NontradCA]

It's not mandatory in the sense that you can apply and get into medical school without volunteering. But you're at a major disadvantage, when almost every other medical student is pretending to be Mother Teresa andyou're missing the activities.

That's why in my opinion, volunteering doesn't make you look good, it just prevents you from looking bad.

Ya I completely understand. Gotta play the game. I'm filling out my app now and debating on whether to put those hours that I was forced to do or just leave them out. Some of the volunteering I did was strictly for the sake of good evals for both my superiors and I.

 

[Planes2Doc]

Honestly, I don't know very many people in general who volunteer during and after college...

Same. Well I know people in college who did a volunteer experience here and there (usually as part of their house, etc), but I have never seen anyone except pre-meds have such extensive commitments. But after college? You're dead wrong. What about all of the elderly hospital volunteers who feel the need to boss you around because they take the position a wee bit too seriously?

Ya I completely understand. Gotta play the game. I'm filling out my app now and debating on whether to put those hours that I was forced to do or just leave them out. Some of the volunteering I did was strictly for the sake of good evals for both my superiors and I.

Don't leave anything off your application that could help you. If you did this way before going pre-med, it will look better. 👍

 

[Urnathok]

And I learned more about the field working as a paid hospital employee than I did either as a volunteer or as a shadow. Why should anyone be required to do unpaid work if they get the same experience through other means?

No doubt, but not everyone is able to get into a paid position before med school. If you can, that's the best choice possible, but a hospital will prefer to hire someone who isn't a full time student planning on being there only a couple of years at most when staffing is concerned, and those kinds of applicants usually aren't in terribly low supply.

If you can get a healthcare job to cover clinical experience, fantastic, but even in that case, some schools state that they like to see some form of volunteerism, or research. Maybe to demonstrate that you can commit to something that doesn't have an immediate payoff.