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Hi, I am just curious how many volunteer hours you guys had prior to applying to medical school. Thanks
How many volunteer hours did you have
- Thread starter jcfly21
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602.
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Not for nothing, but please, for the love of God, stop measuring your volunteer work in terms of total hours served. Just do something that shows you had a commitment to what you were doing. Instead of shooting for some number of hours, just pick an activity and do it and have fun with it. I know the AMCAS application asks for how many hours per week you take to do what you do and that's fine and all, but measure your time in the experience you gain, not just some arbitrary number. That's what they're looking for after all: what was your motivation?, what did you learn?, etc. Sure, its not going to look good if you write "I started shadowing/volunteering yesterday" on your AMCAS, but beyond that no one cares about how many hundred hours you served.
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zero.
not important. Anyone can volunteer, not everyone can handle the intellectual/academic rigors of an MD. Focus on GPA/MCAT/research, then have other interesting things in your application to set yourself apart...this can be volunteering if you want it to be.
There is no minimum amount of volunteering hours you need to get in. Good luck.
not important. Anyone can volunteer, not everyone can handle the intellectual/academic rigors of an MD. Focus on GPA/MCAT/research, then have other interesting things in your application to set yourself apart...this can be volunteering if you want it to be.
There is no minimum amount of volunteering hours you need to get in. Good luck.
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Just do what some people do. Sign up to volunteer in the ER. On January 1st, do 4 hours. Then show up again in August 1st for 4 hours, then go back in December for 4 more hours.
That way you can write on your application that you vounteered from January through December. Sounds more impressive than 12 hours.
The medical school application process is the biggest pile of horse**** imaginable. Just jump through the appropriate hoops and move on.
That way you can write on your application that you vounteered from January through December. Sounds more impressive than 12 hours.
The medical school application process is the biggest pile of horse**** imaginable. Just jump through the appropriate hoops and move on.
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velocypedalist said:
That's right. I spent 50 hours volunteering in an ER and I got into med school.
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something like 36 in the ER; It was hardly significant so I didnt even list it on my amcas
Volunteering is a waste of time. You won't learn anything. You won't help patients. You won't attain any experience that might help you decide if medicine is the right career for you.
You WILL, however, provide free unskilled labor for a hospital. And that time would be better served (1) studying; (2) working at a paying job; (3) hanging out with your friends.
Volunteering is a joke and everyone knows it. If you really want to do some good, join the Peace Corps or the US Military.
You WILL, however, provide free unskilled labor for a hospital. And that time would be better served (1) studying; (2) working at a paying job; (3) hanging out with your friends.
Volunteering is a joke and everyone knows it. If you really want to do some good, join the Peace Corps or the US Military.
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I did the 100 hours required by my local hospital in order to be let in on an open heart surgery. Never got to see the surgery but I did help nurses wipe patients bottoms, lift a 300 pound Philipino man onto a guerny, and carry numerous amounts of urine, feces, and blood to and from the lab.
In all seriousness, I agree that volunteering feels pretty useless as you aren't allowed to do much with patients other than talk to them and carry their excrement. However, I did get to see some very interesting procedures such as MRIs, CAT scans, colonoscopies, ultrasounds, etc. For someone who hasn't had much experience with hospitals and health care in general, this can be pretty interesting.
In all seriousness, I agree that volunteering feels pretty useless as you aren't allowed to do much with patients other than talk to them and carry their excrement. However, I did get to see some very interesting procedures such as MRIs, CAT scans, colonoscopies, ultrasounds, etc. For someone who hasn't had much experience with hospitals and health care in general, this can be pretty interesting.
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You should post this in pre-allo. There will be a lot of pseudo-righteously indignant replies.doc05 said:
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I had about 100 hours while in high school, and none through college. Its a waste of time as as posted previously. If someone ever asks why you didnt volunteer, just say that volunteering is only one way to learn about working in the medical field, and that the other experiences you had were just as benefitial. (or some other BS that has a similar effect) Just make sure you have some experiences to talk about. It worked for me.
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I did 3-4hrs/week at an ED during 2 years, I liked it, but because I met great people, and made friends with some of them AND I also helped around of course, despite what others write.
noncestvrai
noncestvrai
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TheProwler said:You should post this in pre-allo. There will be a lot of pseudo-righteously indignant replies.
there will be a lot of pseudo-righteous indignation no matter what you post in pre-allo....but this would be especially entertaining...doc05, i think its about time you started a thread....
I think there are two different possibilities when it comes to volunteering:
(1) Working somewhere in medicine as a volunteer. This can be a waste of time, but can also provide valuble shadowing experiences so you know more about what medicine really is. Often I find this isn't true "community service" though. Often this is a jump through hoops, count your hours by the minute type of activity. And sometimes, if it is strick shadowing, it shouldn't really count as "volunteering" as much as it should count as an educational experience.
(2) Community service of the tradition kind. Boys and Girls clubs, free afternoon reading clubs for kids, environmental projects, etc. I think these are great (personal opinion). I think they show a commitment to the ideals many want a doctor to have. I also think they give you a fun and interesting activity, that can focus around many of the things you already enjoy. Like plants? do something environmental. Like basketball? play with little kids! Like beer? Pick up cans on the side of the road! But if you really despise all these things, don't do them. Not worth just to get points on your resume. I suggest you find something you are passionate about and do that.
(1) Working somewhere in medicine as a volunteer. This can be a waste of time, but can also provide valuble shadowing experiences so you know more about what medicine really is. Often I find this isn't true "community service" though. Often this is a jump through hoops, count your hours by the minute type of activity. And sometimes, if it is strick shadowing, it shouldn't really count as "volunteering" as much as it should count as an educational experience.
(2) Community service of the tradition kind. Boys and Girls clubs, free afternoon reading clubs for kids, environmental projects, etc. I think these are great (personal opinion). I think they show a commitment to the ideals many want a doctor to have. I also think they give you a fun and interesting activity, that can focus around many of the things you already enjoy. Like plants? do something environmental. Like basketball? play with little kids! Like beer? Pick up cans on the side of the road! But if you really despise all these things, don't do them. Not worth just to get points on your resume. I suggest you find something you are passionate about and do that.
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It was always my impression that the volunteering in a medical setting was to show as best you could that you understood what exactly a doctor did on a day to day level......
That being said, I still don't think I fully get what one does...
I had a bunch of summers in which i spent two afternoons a week at a peds id clinic. I think even just one would have been enough. Just show a commitment to somthing.
That being said, I still don't think I fully get what one does...
I had a bunch of summers in which i spent two afternoons a week at a peds id clinic. I think even just one would have been enough. Just show a commitment to somthing.
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less than 100. I quit when i realized it was pointless.
and i'll tell you truthfully, volunteering doesn't mean **** if you don't have the grades.
volunteering should be the last priority on your list.
and i'll tell you truthfully, volunteering doesn't mean **** if you don't have the grades.
volunteering should be the last priority on your list.
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Sporadic volunteering for random organizations won't get you anywhere in an Adcom's eyes. Still, it can help a little to distinguish you from the literal hordes of other applicants fighting to take your spot, especially if perhaps your grades aren't as strong as they should be. If you want to do it right...
1. Don't spend more than 3 hours a week doing actual "volunteer work". Spend the time studying, because your grades are the most important thing on your application.
2. Select 1, perhaps 2 organizations that have some kind of healthcare-related focus and only do volunteer work with them. Stick with the same organizations for at least a year to show the Adcoms that you are dedicated.
3. Don't just be another faceless "member" of the group. Actively pursue leadership positions within any volunteer organizations you work with, but don't choose a position that burdens you with any significant amount of extra work. Basically, be _somebody_, but don't to everybody's work.
If you do this right, you can actually put together an impressive portfolio of service on your application. In my case, I started volunteering with a national student organization at the local VA hospital for psychiatric patients freshman year. This equated to 2 hours of volunteering a week. Sophomore and junior year I was the organization's treasurer and volunteer. Senior year I was a volunteer coordinator.
I was able to put on my application that I had volunteered with a healthcare-focused organization for four years, assuming leadership posts for three of those years. This all told was around 360-400 hours of service with significant leadership involvement. And this was the only pure service-oriented thing I did in college and it made all the difference in the world on my app. I was able to write a kickass personal statement about it, interviewers immediately loved it and talked at length about it (since it involved helping veterans), and it got me into UTSW with a science GPA of 3.2 (yeah, every other applicant must've been like OMFG HACK3R!!) All for a mere 2 hours a week.
Granted, I did do other things, like clinical and honors research and won a few medals/awards here and there, but the volunteering was valuable in the aspects I just talked about.
1. Don't spend more than 3 hours a week doing actual "volunteer work". Spend the time studying, because your grades are the most important thing on your application.
2. Select 1, perhaps 2 organizations that have some kind of healthcare-related focus and only do volunteer work with them. Stick with the same organizations for at least a year to show the Adcoms that you are dedicated.
3. Don't just be another faceless "member" of the group. Actively pursue leadership positions within any volunteer organizations you work with, but don't choose a position that burdens you with any significant amount of extra work. Basically, be _somebody_, but don't to everybody's work.
If you do this right, you can actually put together an impressive portfolio of service on your application. In my case, I started volunteering with a national student organization at the local VA hospital for psychiatric patients freshman year. This equated to 2 hours of volunteering a week. Sophomore and junior year I was the organization's treasurer and volunteer. Senior year I was a volunteer coordinator.
I was able to put on my application that I had volunteered with a healthcare-focused organization for four years, assuming leadership posts for three of those years. This all told was around 360-400 hours of service with significant leadership involvement. And this was the only pure service-oriented thing I did in college and it made all the difference in the world on my app. I was able to write a kickass personal statement about it, interviewers immediately loved it and talked at length about it (since it involved helping veterans), and it got me into UTSW with a science GPA of 3.2 (yeah, every other applicant must've been like OMFG HACK3R!!) All for a mere 2 hours a week.
Granted, I did do other things, like clinical and honors research and won a few medals/awards here and there, but the volunteering was valuable in the aspects I just talked about.
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I had 150-ish hours, but they were mostly spent doing clinical research.
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