When Should I Start Volunteering?

[destined_wind]

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Hello, I am going to be a freshmen this fall and I was wondering when I should start volunteering at a hospital soon. I have never really had a volunteering experience, so this will be a first for me and so I am also wondering generally how difficult it is to get a volunteer position at a hopsital or a clinic. Oh yes, and can someone tell me in generally how much time I have to volunteer in order to make it meaningful on an application?

 

[UCLAstudent]

I recommend that you start volunteering as soon as you can. Really, you shouldn't be doing it just to "look good" on a medical school application. Do it for yourself or to help the community.

 

[calebho501]

I'd say start when you feel that you have got a hang of handling college coursework. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you try to do too much at once.

 

[luckyzero]

How long do most ppl volunteer for? 10-20 hours a week seems about right. Maybe more in the summer.

 

[climberchick]

Difficulty in getting a volunteer position at a hospital all depends on were you are from. For instance, if there is a hospital close to your school, then it is pretty probable that getting a position will be difficult. When I started my freshmen year I checked out volunteer opportunities at the hospital a week after classes started and they said they were not accepting anymore applications. I was lucky and joined a school "club" were I interviewed for a special group within the club that had a standing arrangement within the hospital to send volunteers. But it was a long process and about 200 students put in applications for 10 spots. Because this group only went in once every two weeks, 5 one week, five the next, I also volunteered at a soup kitchen once a week. The next year I was able to get in to the program I wanted a volunteered in the peds ward for about 3 hours a week.

20 hours of volunteer work a week is a little unrealistic. I'm sure people do it, but it is not necessary. I'm sure adcoms don't expect this much. They want well-rounded people, so in my oppinion that means people who also have their "own" life, and so things that make them happy.... like "climbing" for me. You have to remember, if you are science major especially, that alot of your week is going to be spent in class and studying. Add on top of that a few hours of volunteer work and other extracurriculars... like committees and things, and a few hours for you self, and you have a pretty packed week.

Only you know yourself and how much you can handle. But above all don't let you courses go to the way side, they are most important!

Good luck to you, and remember there are other places to volunteer besides a hospital if you a one of the unlucky ones that just doesn't get a position this year. Try Big Brothers or Big sisters. Or a children's literacy program. This are great services, and they give you a great feeling they you have really helped someone out.

 

[kito]

Yesterday.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

As soon as you care less about how it will look on your resume and care more about how that experience will help you grow as a preson.

 

[Chaphigh]

I think what you've just said is incredibly demeaning and rediculous. I am in shock that you approach volunteering, especially in the medical field, as something that needs to be done "to look good."

Maybe if you were half of a decent person, you would realize on your own that it's about helping people that are less fortunate and not always about your selfish desires

 

[climberchick]

You guys are right in saying that "looking good to med schools" shouldn't be the only reason for volunteering, but let's be honest here... it is definitely a reason. I first began volunteering when I was a freshmen in highschool. I love it, and I do it mostly for me. Over the past 8 years I have accumulated a lot of volunteer experience, and I choose what I do based on my own interests. If I wasn't planing on applying to medschool I would still volunteer because I think it is important. But I can't deny that some of the places I have volunteered I did so because I thought it would "look better" on an application. I jumped through hoops of fire to get a position at a hospital. I truely love volunteering there, but I also truely love the soup Kitchen and Big Sisters. I pushed to get into a hospital because I knew that Med schools are looking for that. It wasn't my only reason, but it was a reason. Bottom line, you should start volunteeing when you feel ready, and you should do it for yourself, not only for you application. But everyone has their application in the back of their head, always thinking, "will this look good" , just don't do something based soley on this. I didn't spend a summer volunteering in a third world country because I thought it would look good, I did it because it was something I had always wanted to do, and it was an experience of a life time. I don't plan to stop volunteering once I get into medschool, it is something I plan to continue through out my life.... Doctors without borders here I come.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

Though the title ER Volunteer sounds great in your mind those in the medical field know that you did little more than change sheets and clean up rooms after some junkie or other low-life who came to the ER looking for narcotics. Most volunteer positions in a health-care setting are going involve doing crappy work, minimal (if any) patient interaction, and your interactions with doctors and nurses will often involve such questions as 'Regular or decaff?', 'How many sugars?', and 'Do you want cream with that?'

Sorry if I sound a bit gruff and cynical but you'd be better off doing something you find rewarding and not thinking about how 'good' something sounds to you to put on a resume. Peace.

 

[miscalculated]

Oh come off it, everybody volunteers cos it looks good on their resume!

 

[bella_dottoressa]

Oh come off it, everybody volunteers cos it looks good on their resume!

No crap! 🙂 Getting into med is a game and you have to know how to play it.

 

[freesolo]

i kinda agree not much doctor or patient interaction anymore =/. The postion was basically do the cofee, and fill out a form or two.

 

[climberchick]

I think it really depends on what hospital you are in, and where in the hospital you volunteer. I was on a peds ward and there was tons of patient interaction. Most of it wasn't medical related however. I just spent three hours a week playing with the kids, giving them their dinner, and talking to them. Listening to their fears, and well just about everything. I loved it, but it was hard sometimes too, because a lot of the kids were really sick and some didn't make it. It was hard to get close to some of them knowing that they were terminally ill. But doctors have to deal with that kinds stuff every day, so it was a good learning experience. And those kids were amazing. They lifted my spirits, they knew they were dying, but they tried to live everyday to the fullest and get the most out of life that they could. Even if that meant just getting up the strength to go to the play room and meet the other kids... I learned alot on the peds ward, I recommend it to anyone.

 

[jeffsleepy]

Why does everyone have a problem with doing things partly because they look good? I don't think that volunteering is superior to any other extracurricular activity. If you do research on cancer drugs, wouldn't that be 1000x more helpful than working registration at a hospital? Of course it's nice to help others, but if med school wasn't at least part of the reason, then try leaving it out of your application.

The OP isn't even in college yet and is just asking for a general idea of what adcoms expect average applicants to have. In no where did he even imply that he was doing it just to look good. I fail to see how his post is "demeaning and rediculous" and how one paragraph on a forum proves him to be less than "half of a decent person".

 

[HessExpress]

all right, aside from everyone's non-sensical bull**** here, this is the best option, as my prehealth advisor told me...

Don't start until your summer between fr. and soph. years. Send in your application early though to the hospital, because they require a tb test that can take a couple weeks to get cleared. One day a week for 4 hrs is good enough, and after the summer, there's no real reason to continue into the school year unless you are lacking in other ec's. If you can though, start up again the following summer, and the following again, until you are accepted into med school. In total, you'll end up with 150 hours depending on the length of your summer, which is by far sufficient for the ol' resume.