Find activities that are more well-rounded and give you a better understanding of your pursuit of a career in medicine. There are more volunteering opportunities available than you think, so it can be overwhelming when you start searching for one that works for you. Here are a few tips that can help you get the most out of your volunteering experience:. Be passionate about each project. Find volunteering opportunities you are passionate about. This will make you more dedicated to them, and it will allow you to engage your abilities actively.
For example, you may volunteer at a Cancer Research Center because you have lost loved ones to cancer and want to help find a cure. You may have a family member with autism, and because of this you want to dedicate your volunteering at an autism learning center. Find opportunities that are meaningful and significant to you. Have various volunteer experiences. Be well-rounded and have your projects be on different spectrums. The point is for you to grow, understand the commitment, and learn what you want to do.
Be proactive. When you volunteer, you want to get the most out of your experience. Do not stand around; find something to do. Be hands-on and ask questions. You are there to learn and find out if this is what you want to do. Communicate your interest by being present and active. Be aware of the time commitment. You might be interested in participating in a variety of volunteer opportunities but you want to make sure you have the time to do them. You will stretch yourself thin and burn out, which deters many students from doing more volunteer work.
Be aware of the time commitment each volunteer project requires. Do not wait until the last minute. You do not want to be running around a week before applying to medical school, trying to find volunteer opportunities. They will know you waited until the last minute to volunteer, which does not demonstrate good qualities for a future physician.
Record your experience. The Association of American Medical Colleges suggests maintaining a resume that documents where and when you volunteered and who supervised you. Recording your experiences allows you to track the number of hours you spend on each volunteer project and what responsibilities you have.
Having this experience written down comes in handy when you are writing your personal statement and essays for med school applications. No, you do not. However, it is recommended. Therefore, it would be beneficial for you to have some volunteer experiences in health care to reiterate your dedication to helping people and your desire to pursue medicine.
Some schools require medical school applicants to have volunteering experience, so research those requirements for the med schools you intend to apply to. For example, Harvard Medical School does not specifically state volunteer experiences as a requirement to apply, but if you want to be considered you should volunteer. Meanwhile, Weill Cornell requires extracurricular activities as a prerequisite.
You can technically apply without volunteer experience, but it significantly lowers your chances of getting accepted. Check with the med schools to which you wish to apply and see whether or not volunteering is required as one of the extracurricular activities. You want to start as early as possible. Waiting until the last minute can be detrimental to your medical school applications. Like with medical shadowing, volunteering may require paperwork and formalities that must be completed before you can begin.
Starting early allows you to have time to handle any concerns and gives you a chance to work on projects for a longer period of time.
Consider starting in your freshman year of undergraduate school. Some students start as early as high school with activities they continue in college, which is great. If not, strive for your freshman year of college. Start by looking at local colleges and universities' volunteer work as this is a great place to begin your search.
Many of them include projects in healthcare that may pique your interest. Can I include letters of recommendation from supervisors under which I volunteered?
Hopefully, your supervisors have spent many hours with you and have gotten to know who you are as a person. Getting a letter of recommendation from them would be great to have in your med school application.
Pre-health advisors are a great place to start. They can recommend volunteer opportunities available through universities and give you an idea of the time commitment those projects will take. For example, University of California, San Diego offers a list of volunteer opportunities on their pre-health advising webpage. Joining premed or service clubs is also a great way to hear about new volunteer opportunities, clinical and research experiences, and more. Volunteering for med school is one of the best boosters for your application; it shows admissions committee members that you are committed to pursuing medicine for the right reasons.
Others in New York are using a Slack channel to mobilize volunteers. Harvard students have created a group called Students vs. Pandemics to centralize advocacy and resources. A pre-med in Las Vegas formed a group called the Shopping Angels , which delivers groceries to the elderly without extra costs or fees. Over volunteers in Michigan have signed up for the M-Response Corps.
Similar to our advice about pre-med capstone projects , you should ask yourself the following questions:. The most important part is finding a volunteer opportunity that speaks to your passions beyond the mere desire or worse, obligation to contribute.
Save the Frontline - a team of Cornell and CMU students has partnered with East End Group, a construction firm that has donated more 36, N95 masks and built a website to function as a clearinghouse between those that need PPE supplies and those that want to donate, sell, or fund the purchase of more. They are focusing on healthcare workers in New York City and Long Island, especially those in public hospitals and those serving uninsured and underserved communities.
Contact Tracing - consider a job or volunteer activity as a contact tracer. Partners in Health is hiring contact tracers, resource coordinators, and case investigators to reach out to all contacts of COVID patients, counsel them on testing and quarantine, refer them for testing, and connect them to necessary resources. Mutual Aid Networks - think of a mutual aid network as a kind of hyper-local COVID Craigslist where neighbors post their needs—groceries, translation services, pharmacy runs, even cash to make rent—and others can choose to answer the call.
Through Chemo Angels , you can send a card, letter, or note once a week to someone undergoing chemotherapy. Through Warm Up America or the Binky Patrol , you can crochet or knit afghan squares that will help build blankets for both babies and adults. Train others in technology to help overcome poverty with Right Here at Home. Develop video games to help App to Succeed teach youth in need how to make good financial decisions.
Through Upchieve , you can work with underserved and under-resourced youth who may suffer from domestic chaos, weak internet connection, or lack of a computer. Provide learning and encouragement to children around the world via Skype and the Granny Cloud website.
Become an online mentor through the Smart is Strong Foundation. Brain Exercise Initiative - teach brain games to people with dementia over your phone or iPad; the materials can be adapted for online delivery. TimeSlips - bring meaning and purpose into the lives of elders through creative engagement. Arrangements should be made locally, and employers should give you relevant induction, equipment and support. In line with this guidance, NHS England and NHS Improvement have stated that NHS organisations can choose to deploy medical students which are currently on clinical placements in acute trusts in their region to do paid volunteer work caring for patients whilst on these placements.
Medical students can sign up for paid work of up to 12 hours per week to support clinical services, with the agreement of their medical school. HealthSHIP is a web-based app that allows students to offer their support to NHS staff for tasks like babysitting, pet care, picking up medicine and grocery shipping.
To sign up as a volunteer you will need a university email address. National Health Supporters is a directory for known networks of students across the country assisting NHS staff with their needs. The aim is for volunteers to alleviate pressures on NHS staff including, but not exclusive to, childcare, grocery shopping and pet sitting.
This is a volunteer-led project connecting the NHS with people who can volunteer their skills and time to support the NHS and the community. You can choose to volunteer in your community, to volunteer in your local hospital or surgery or to volunteer at the NHS Nightingale Hospital. Volunteers for the group Covid Infographics have helped to curate infographics on Covid in a variety of different languages.
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