Is it OK to volunteer in my mom's clinic, under her supervision? It's a pretty small place, and I really enjoy the experiences that I have there, and I would like to continue working there. I'm also volunteering someplace else (at a major hospital), and none of the workers here (including my mother, obviously) will be writing me a LOR, or anything else like that. So, is it OK?
Volunteering in my Parent's workplace?
- Thread starter CantStop
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2010
- Messages
- 4,007
- Reaction score
- 368
Sure. I would list someone other than your mom as the point of contact on your AMCAS application, however.
Who, though? I'm working directly under my mother, and anyone else wouldn't really be able to say much about me, unfortunately.
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2010
- Messages
- 4,007
- Reaction score
- 368
Most businesses don't allow relatives as direct reports. There has to be someone other than your mother who works there that you can report to. The chances of a school calling that person are incredibly small. Having the same person who is listed in your biographical section as your mother to be your contact on an EC makes it look more like a chore than a volunteer experience.
Yeah, I think I'll just ask someone else to be my contact. I'm just worried that they won't confirm what I'm saying since they rarely see me or them in this clinic. Everyone usually has their door closed, lol.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2010
- Messages
- 550
- Reaction score
- 2
If you plan to list this as an EC, I think you're making a mistake. I think it's more likely to evoke a negative reaction as a positive one. Even if you list someone else as the contact, do you want to worry about the connection being made during an interview discussion?
It makes you look juvenile. Why take the chance?
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2009
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 0
I think that it is fine to continue to volunteer there if you truly enjoy it. However, if you decide to list it on your app. I would have someone else be the contact. If you are worried that they wouldn't verify your involvement, and it is a big enough issue to cross your radar, you may decide not to list it. If your mom is in charge of a clinic, does she know other people that you could shadow/volunteer with as well (if you were looking for something in addition to the hospital volunteering) so you could list that on your app, but still be involved with the clinic if you really enjoy it?
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 1,062
- Reaction score
- 48
Sounds dirty. Real dirty.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2007
- Messages
- 399
- Reaction score
- 2
That's some twisted junk right there
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Messages
- 489
- Reaction score
- 34
Just mention it to them now. NBD.
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2011
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 0
I do the same thing. My dad said it was fine for me, but he said he can't write a LoR. I didn't have a problem with that. I mostly just study and play PC games there. But shhh.
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2011
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
So you're telling me that nerd Tommy Plotkin in my bio class had oral sex with titties?
My world: it's upside down.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 28,738
- Reaction score
- 53,868
A couple of things....
if this is a not-for-profit or governmental facility, then volunteering is service to the community (because presumablly the not-for-profit or government organization exists to serve the community). If this is a private practice, then "volunteering" isn't really service to the community, it is just saving the owner(s) of the practice from having to pay someone to do what you do and making their business more profitable. Sort of the difference between volunteering at a Soup kitchen or your mom's sandwich shop.
Maybe you should call it shadowing. No shame in admitting that you shadowed your mom at her clinic.
If it is "work", call it "employment". Many of us worked in our parents' businesses as kids... it was pretty much expected when I was a kid but I would not have called it "volunteer".
if this is a not-for-profit or governmental facility, then volunteering is service to the community (because presumablly the not-for-profit or government organization exists to serve the community). If this is a private practice, then "volunteering" isn't really service to the community, it is just saving the owner(s) of the practice from having to pay someone to do what you do and making their business more profitable. Sort of the difference between volunteering at a Soup kitchen or your mom's sandwich shop.
Maybe you should call it shadowing. No shame in admitting that you shadowed your mom at her clinic.
If it is "work", call it "employment". Many of us worked in our parents' businesses as kids... it was pretty much expected when I was a kid but I would not have called it "volunteer".
