Why do you volunteer and why do med schools care?

[pandahunter]

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To be honest, I have always thought that volunteering to do menial labor at a hospital was a waste of time which is why I didn't do it. I have no idea why anyone would do it. There are far better things to do with your time. Nobody is forcing you to get your clinical experience as a hospital volunteer (see LizzyM's post). Further, I would say looking at hospital volunteers, I'd say that it is a piss poor clinical experience on average. I'd put more stock in dedicated shadowing when looking at an application.

Absolutely. It's just unfortunate that many applicants may not have the access to other non-hospital clinical exposure.

 

[fourhumours]

a) Did you volunteer as an undergrad (or are you currently)?
yes I volunteered in Undergrad and post under-grad

b) If so, how many hours?
probably about 125 or so hours in undergrad. I am also doing americorps at the moment which is about 1800 hours of volunteer work over 11 month.

c) Was it medical or non-medical experience (or a mix)?
Both. volunteered in a pedatric oncology ward in Nicaragua, Voluntered in a pediatric ER in RI. other one of volunteering events (habitat fo humanity, helping organize fundraisers). currently volunteering at a Clinic for the homeless. non really involved extensive clinic exposure and my current job definitely falls under the doing seemingly menial labor. but I realize the importance of this to the smooth operation of the clinic.

d) And finally, why did you volunteer? Did you plan on going to med school and know that it would look good on your app or to get exposure to a field? Or was it because you truly enjoy doing it?

I feel that if you hate volunteering or only look at volunteering as a means of boosting your application (volunteering to help yourself, not because you want to help others) you are going into the wrong field by choosing medicine. from what my parents have told me (both docs), what I ahve seen with other docs and heard from non docs, it just is not worth it to do clinical medicine if you are doing it for selfish reasons. so much of clinical medicine is require you to give up (at least to some extent) your time, family, friendships, and, considering everyone who goes to medical school is extremely smart, probably more money in other professions. I do my 40-50 hours of volunteer work a week because I want to help a very underserved, neglected, maligned and just abused population (the homeless) and I also know that I will be working more as a doctor and, like my volunteer work, it will be all about my patients and not about me.
.

 

[alpinism]

Some people are natural "givers" and others are not. Some say "Let me be of service" and others say "what am I getting out of this?"

Some people grumble about some small task, like stocking every exam room with bandaids, and say that it means that the low level staff members jobs are easier. What those volunteers may not realize is that the low level staff members are stretched very thin and that when a care provider can reach in and grab a bandaid rather than running around looking for one, the patient's care is smoother.

Some physicians on the adcom think that "givers" and those who want to be of service make better medical students. Other adcom members may not put as much emphasis on it.

Do recognize that some medical schools and some residency programs are going to require trainees to do a fair amount of work that seems beneath them in light of their education and training. If you can do this work with a smile, things will go more smoothly. If not, you may be a angry, stressed trainee who is unhappy with his lot in life.

I won't be obnoxious and supersize this post, but this really should answer any questions people have on this matter. I have yet to hear from an adcom that disagrees with this overview (sample size, n= 5).

Strongly agree.

Many med schools have a large service/advocacy component (free medical clinics, undergrad mentoring programs, grade school science fairs, public medical education, fundraising for charities, etc...) They want students who will not only be involved in their programs during med school, but also continue to give back to their communities after graduating.

Doing a few hrs of volunteering is basically a unwritten pre-req for many schools. At the same time, a 100hrs of ED volunteering is not going to impress anyone.

 

[Medstart108]

During my undergrad, I ended up in the ER with food poisoning - I ended up staying, by signing up to volunteer there. I love the atmosphere, the pace, the culture, the patient-doctor (and nurse) interaction, and pretty much just everything about it. That really turned me towards looking at med school, because I began to realize that (after shadowing some other types of docs) emergency medicine is really what I want to do with my life.

So, I know volunteering looks great on an app, but how great is it really? I think some med schools weight this too much, as many pre-meds only volunteer because it looks good on paper.... As a kind of philosophical question, I want to look at the goals of students who volunteer.

If you want to be a doctor and go to med school, I think you need at least some interest in the common good; otherwise, you will end up being a burned out drone after ten years in practice, only staying with it for the money. When med schools look at an applicant and see a s***load of hours volunteering, it at least proves that you can handle that burden and stick with something. But does it really show that you like doing it?

If you wish to respond, here are the things I want to know:
a) Did you volunteer as an undergrad (or are you currently)?
b) If so, how many hours?
c) Was it medical or non-medical experience (or a mix)?
d) And finally, why did you volunteer? Did you plan on going to med school and know that it would look good on your app or to get exposure to a field? Or was it because you truly enjoy doing it?

a) volunteered heavily as a high school student
b) 400 hours + 200 hours co-op hospital in high school
c) clinical and non clinical so mixed, co-op was lots of shadowing
d) to help my med school application and to see if i liked it. It wasn't because i truly liked doing it, i wouldn't have done it if i didn't think i wanted to go into medicine

 

[premed071291]

Ever see the "20 questions" where the interview physicians on here? One of the questions is "what type of volunteer work do you do" and most of them answer "none".

 

[Planes2Doc]

a) Did you volunteer as an undergrad (or are you currently)?
yes I volunteered in Undergrad and post under-grad

b) If so, how many hours?
probably about 125 or so hours in undergrad. I am also doing americorps at the moment which is about 1800 hours of volunteer work over 11 month.

c) Was it medical or non-medical experience (or a mix)?
Both. volunteered in a pedatric oncology ward in Nicaragua, Voluntered in a pediatric ER in RI. other one of volunteering events (habitat fo humanity, helping organize fundraisers). currently volunteering at a Clinic for the homeless. non really involved extensive clinic exposure and my current job definitely falls under the doing seemingly menial labor. but I realize the importance of this to the smooth operation of the clinic.

d) And finally, why did you volunteer? Did you plan on going to med school and know that it would look good on your app or to get exposure to a field? Or was it because you truly enjoy doing it?

I feel that if you hate volunteering or only look at volunteering as a means of boosting your application (volunteering to help yourself, not because you want to help others) you are going into the wrong field by choosing medicine. from what my parents have told me (both docs), what I ahve seen with other docs and heard from non docs, it just is not worth it to do clinical medicine if you are doing it for selfish reasons. so much of clinical medicine is require you to give up (at least to some extent) your time, family, friendships, and, considering everyone who goes to medical school is extremely smart, probably more money in other professions. I do my 40-50 hours of volunteer work a week because I want to help a very underserved, neglected, maligned and just abused population (the homeless) and I also know that I will be working more as a doctor and, like my volunteer work, it will be all about my patients and not about me.
.

True altruism is a very rare quality. That's why outside pre-meds, it's hard to find people who devote their time on a consistent basis to help other causes selflessly. Somehow I fail to see how pre-meds are morally superior or different than the general population in any way. I think anyone who wants to be a physician for whatever reason can be a successful physician. Why should volunteering specifically be an indicator if someone should be a physician or not?

 

[PreMedCatLover]

I'm 2.5 years away from my BA and I'm debating if I should do some other sort of volunteering that's more medical to up my chance of med school acceptance. I have volunteered and fostered with an animal rescue for 3.5 years and personally fostered well over 100 dogs and cats. I'll be on the board soon which also looks good. I plan on volunteering with them until I go to medical school and I will have likely fostered around 300 dogs and cats so my volunteer experience is pretty strong in the non medical field. I also have worked as a registered nurses assistant doing in home care giving for DD adults as a job for the past 7 years which I will continue until medical school.

Is it necessary to do some other sort of volunteer work because mine is animal related and I want to be a human doctor? Is volunteering at a low cost/free clinic, planned parenthood, or senior center viewed equally as a hospital? I don't like my local hospital but I'm willing to bite the bullet if necessary. I would much rather volunteer at a non profit though like planned parenthood or the low cost clinic.

 

[gyngyn]

I'm 2.5 years away from my BA and I'm debating if I should do some other sort of volunteering that's more medical to up my chance of med school acceptance. I have volunteered and fostered with an animal rescue for 3.5 years and personally fostered well over 100 dogs and cats. I'll be on the board soon which also looks good. I plan on volunteering with them until I go to medical school and I will have likely fostered around 300 dogs and cats so my volunteer experience is pretty strong in the non medical field. I also have worked as a registered nurses assistant doing in home care giving for DD adults as a job for the past 7 years which I will continue until medical school.

Is it necessary to do some other sort of volunteer work because mine is animal related and I want to be a human doctor? Is volunteering at a low cost/free clinic, planned parenthood, or senior center viewed equally as a hospital? I don't like my local hospital but I'm willing to bite the bullet if necessary. I would much rather volunteer at a non profit though like planned parenthood or the low cost clinic.

This would make a good thread...