Volunteering Hours

[premed414]

Hi all,

I'm going to be a rising junior this year and have an extremely busy schedule. Last year I volunteered in a hospital ER 4.5 hours a week and ended up with 150 hours of great clinical experience from it.

I'm going to be very busy this coming year, would it show a lack of commitment (or would 300 hours look that much better than 150) if I stopped volunteering there in terms of application? I have other clinical experience such as interning at a hospice for ~300 hours/going on a medical brigade.

What I am essentially wondering is, are the extra hours/commitment really worth it? I'll be working roughly 30 hours a week in addition to an 18 credit courseload + MCAT classes.

Thanks in advance!

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[CodeBlu]

Hi all,

I'm going to be a rising junior this year and have an extremely busy schedule. Last year I volunteered in a hospital ER 4.5 hours a week and ended up with 150 hours of great clinical experience from it.

I'm going to be very busy this coming year, would it show a lack of commitment (or would 300 hours look that much better than 150) if I stopped volunteering there in terms of application? I have other clinical experience such as interning at a hospice for ~300 hours/going on a medical brigade.

What I am essentially wondering is, are the extra hours/commitment really worth it? I'll be working roughly 30 hours a week in addition to an 18 credit courseload + MCAT classes.

Thanks in advance!

You think you're busy now? Just wait till med school. My friends tell me it gets 100 times busier.

Now, there is no prescribed amount of hours. Do you have good experiences to talk about? If so... then it doesn't matter. If you think you're not going to be able to juggle everything and get good grades, by all means stop volunteering as much. But since you're working, with 18 hours of class AND MCAT class? You're setting yourself up to burn out.

Drop the class load to like 12 hours. 30 hours is almost a full work week. Plus all that? When are you planning to sleep, eat, and watch TV? Yes you need to do those things.

 

[NightGod]

You think you're busy now? Just wait till med school. My friends tell me it gets 100 times busier.

Now, there is no prescribed amount of hours. Do you have good experiences to talk about? If so... then it doesn't matter. If you think you're not going to be able to juggle everything and get good grades, by all means stop volunteering as much. But since you're working, with 18 hours of class AND MCAT class? You're setting yourself up to burn out.

Drop the class load to like 12 hours. 30 hours is almost a full work week. Plus all that? When are you planning to sleep, eat, and watch TV? Yes you need to do those things.

Sleep is optional, eating can be done while studying, work is when you watch TV (or at least I do). It all works out in the end

 

[Deathstar]

Tv takes priority over sleep for you? o.o

 

[Person0715]

Sleep is extremely important. Get it now while you still can.

If you can't decrease your work hours, you might want to decrease your course load, or maybe aim for another 50 hours of volunteering as opposed to 150.

 

[CodeBlu]

Sleep is optional, eating can be done while studying, work is when you watch TV (or at least I do). It all works out in the end

I like to separate my food on my plate... I'm the guy that hates it when his mashed potatoes touches his corn.

Yes, I am odd. Study time is study time. Not food time. Taking breaks is good for your health.

 

[premed414]

Thanks guys. Yea I know I'm over-extending kind of, but I need the job to help pay for housing and the classes to graduate. Bad situation but thanks for the advice!

I would love to do another 50 but the program is a year long which works out to 150-200!

 

[NightGod]

I like to separate my food on my plate... I'm the guy that hates it when his mashed potatoes touches his corn.

Yes, I am odd. Study time is study time. Not food time. Taking breaks is good for your health.

I'm the same way with most things. People comment a lot on the way I eat one thing on my plate at a time. I've actually managed to get much better about this after some mental effort on my part (and have discovered that a lot of those foods I used to keep separate actually taste even better combined), but I still do it more often than not.

I was also at least half-joking in my post. Eating a meal while I study is, by far, the exception for me.

 

[CodeBlu]

I'm the same way with most things. People comment a lot on the way I eat one thing on my plate at a time. I've actually managed to get much better about this after some mental effort on my part (and have discovered that a lot of those foods I used to keep separate actually taste even better combined), but I still do it more often than not.

I was also at least half-joking in my post. Eating a meal while I study is, by far, the exception for me.

It's only with certain things... some things do taste better together. Like turkey stuffing and mashed.

Omg..I want thanksgiving now. November get here sooner, so I can be closer to turkey and potentially an acceptance!

 

[Bellette]

Not that I'm clairvoyant or in with the adcom's, but I'm going to say that volunteering is not worth it, especially at your depth. You've more than demonstrated commitment to unpaid menial tasks, and if you're working a nearly full-time job while in school, you shouldn't be forced to give up any more of your scarce free time.

If you can't just shrug the idea of volunteering off your shoulders, as you've been at it for so long (maybe you did most of these hours in one department?), I bet they'd be happy to have you drop in occasionally when you have a couple of hours to spare. I do my hours mainly in the ER, and the critical care coordinator is always glowing with thanks when I ask to drop in to wait on and chat up disgruntled patients on crazy/hot/drunken/brawling nights--they're the good ones, anyway.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I like to separate my food on my plate... I'm the guy that hates it when his mashed potatoes touches his corn.

Yes, I am odd. Study time is study time. Not food time. Taking breaks is good for your health.

I agree. If you are eating while studying, you aren't really studying.