What kind of Volunteer or Community Service....?

[Corey]

Hey all. I'm wondering what kind of volunteer work or community service work med schools 'really' look for. I know the advisors say that it's good to work in a clinical setting or a lab while during undergrad. work but i've had 4 years retail service (until this past summer 2002) with the same company. I worked my way up from an hourly employee to store assistant manager.

I have worked in a clinical setting but only for a few months. I actually tried to do that while working in management at the retail store. As of this day, I'm working only at the library on my univ. campus where i get tons of studying done. I just don't know if I should not be out trying to apply at the local hospital or something. I really do like the time I have to get my studying done here at the library and I know it would be much harder to get as much studying done even if I worked part-time at the hospital or at a lab on campus.

So, do you think med schools that i apply to will get a good picture of the type of person I am from my dedication and work ethic with the retail company or should I be out putting in that application at the hospital or clinical setting and give up all this time I have to study?

Corey.

By the way, i apply to med school next year.

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[venus0206]

hey there,

the adcoms will look at your dedication to your retail work favorably but they also want to see that you have some idea as to what the medical field is really like first-hand. If you really want to stay with your retail job, maybe you can cut back a couple of hours a week and shadow a doctor perhaps. You can also volunteer those hours at a free clinic in your area (you can kill 2 birds with one stone here- volunteer + clinical experience). You need to show the adcoms that you are well rounded. There will be hundreds of applicants who have the numbers and the way to stick out is involve yourself in an activity that you are really passionate about. If you volunteer at a hospital just for the sake of having something on your application, you will really have nothing interesting to say about it if you are asked about it in an interview. Maybe you can involve your retail job in a fundraiser for leukemia or something like that. There are tons of options...just be creative!
Hope that helps

 

[dustin04ag]

I think that a job in retail will look great to med schools. It shows that you know how to work with people. I think that more med schools should hire people in retail and waiters and waitresses.... those jobs are hard and you really have to develop your communication and people skills to work in those types of fields.

But med schools also like to see that you want to care for people and know a little bit about what you are getting into. So I would suggest following around a few doctors. You could do this over a holiday or a weekend.... its not that hard to follow around a doctor for a while. You could also do a medical mission trip and get some great hands on experience while also showing your love for humanity. Go to Central America over Spring Break or Christmas. They are really amazing experiences. I dont suggest volunteering at a hospital and sitting at the nursing station filing records or something like that. Instead, make more use out of your time. Med schools want to see you working with patients, getting your hands dirty. Change bed sheets, take patients their meals, wheel them out to their car ~ besides, i think working with the patients is way fun-er than filing paper work.

There are tons of ways to get involved in service, just find what you would like to do and go for it.

.... and thats my $0.02

 

[SonGoku]

I sat down with the COM admissions committee director at my school and he stressed that an applicant needed both community and medical volunteer experience. Check out hospice for community and a clinic near your area for medical. Good luck!

 

[Corey]

Thanks to you 3 people who replied to my message. I will definitely take your advice. Just know that I do have some medical/clinical experience that did involve wheeling patients 'out to their cars' as one of you put it, doing rounds with doctors, changing bed sheets, doing labs, drawing blood. I just didn't have as much of that as I do retail experience. But, i don't just want to do that work for it to look good on my medical app. i know how much dedication is required to work with patients and that's what i want to do with my life. Right now, I'm still in college and money is the big question. Anyway, i've given up my position at the retail store and have taken a huge pay deduction but i'm also trying to get a job at the local hospital here. And also, i do community service work at the Cancer Comm. Centre.

thanks again though for the advice.
corey.