What should I do?

[alexfoleyc]

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My goal was to get some hospital volunteering done over the summer break but all the places I applied to are full with volunteers already. I even applied to a hospital 30 miles away, but it's full. I still haven't heard from one of the hospitals, and it's been 7+ weeks. I have not done any hospital volunteering, and I'll be applying next spring. It's not possible for me to volunteer during the school year, because I have a busy schedule + mcat studying. What to do?😕

 

[sedaniel]

There are other places besides hospitals to volunteer at, you could see if there are any free clinics in your area, or maybe a hospice group, that's where I start volunteering next week.

 

[Electronegative]

Try local nursing homes, they don't have many volunteers so getting in should not be a problem.


EN

 

[MiniMoo]

My goal was to get some hospital volunteering done over the summer break but all the places I applied to are full with volunteers already. I even applied to a hospital 30 miles away, but it's full. I still haven't heard from one of the hospitals, and it's been 7+ weeks. I have not done any hospital volunteering, and I'll be applying next spring. It's not possible for me to volunteer during the school year, because I have a busy schedule + mcat studying. What to do?😕

One summer of hospital volunteering is not anywhere close to what you need to have by the time you apply. Most applicants have about 150 hours spread over the course of a year or more. It should be easy to find a hospital that has evening/weekend shifts and only requires ~4 hours/week. Some even have extremely late night shifts (like 9pm-1am) that I'm positive could fit into most academic schedules. If you can't spare that, then I'd recommend taking a year off to get the clinical experience you'd need.

 

[alexfoleyc]

One summer of hospital volunteering is not anywhere close to what you need to have by the time you apply. Most applicants have about 150 hours spread over the course of a year or more. It should be easy to find a hospital that has evening/weekend shifts and only requires ~4 hours/week. Some even have extremely late night shifts (like 9pm-1am) that I'm positive you fit into most academic schedules. If you can't spare that, then I'd recommend taking a year off to get the clinical experience you'd need.

150 ? 😱 Does it have to be hospital volunteering? Can I just do clinical?

And as for the clinical experience, I did shadow couple of doctors.

 

[MiniMoo]

150 ? 😱 Does it have to be hospital volunteering? Can I just do clinical?

And as for the clinical experience, I did shadow couple of doctors.

It doesn't have to be hospital experience, but it does have to be patient related. So as others have suggested above -- things like hospice care, nursing homes, free clinics, etc.

Also, shadowing is considered separately from volunteering. Catalystik, a frequent poster, recommends around 40-60 hours of shadowing with different specialties (in addition to the 150+ hours of volunteering).

 

[Gabby]

150 ? 😱 Does it have to be hospital volunteering? Can I just do clinical?

And as for the clinical experience, I did shadow couple of doctors.

Med schools want two things -- clinical experience to know that you understand what it's like to be around sick people.

The second is volunteering experience to see that you want to serve others.

Some people use their job as an EMT or CNA to get their clinical experience and then volunteer in some non-clinical field. Others volunteer in a clinical setting. Either way you cut it, just a few shadowing experiences with no volunteering or clinical work isn't enough.

 

[morning]

You can volunteer anywhere. It doesn't have to be a hospital. It doesn't have to be healthcare related. Something besides a healthcare setting might even be a good thing, because it shows you're interested in something other than medicine.

You DO need clinical experience, but this can be paid work instead of volunteering - if you want to get yourself CNA, phlebotomy or EMT certification, for instance.