Volunteering for medical school. Answered
Everyone I have asked said in order to go into medical school I would need to volunteer in the college I want to study in. For how many hours do I need to volunteer?? And do I have to volunteer before I apply to the college or before I get into medical school. If I have this ideal wrong please explain it to me.
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3 answers
You have to volunteer in high school, college, and probably med school as well. In high school, I don't know if you would be able to volunteer at the college you want to attend. In high school, you can try to volunteer at hospitals, clinics, red cross. Due to covid, many of these options are unavailable to us. I try to volunteer at my school through peer tutoring, or at an official tutoring center. You can also start volunteering at your library. You can do any type of volunteer service at this point in time, though something science-related would be ideal. There isn't really a set amount of volunteering hours that is "perfect", just try to get as many done as possible.
In college, you should definitely start volunteering/interning at a hospital or clinic. Since we will be pre-med students then, we have an advantage over the other students applying to volunteer at a hospital. If you can't find a hospital during covid times, volunteer at a local blood donation center. Another option is to volunteer at a hospice or a place for senior citizens. This will show that you are compassionate, which is a quality present in doctors, nurses, etc.
When you go to med school, you will need to intern at a hospital or clinic. At this point, the pandemic will most likely be over. You should have many options to do an internship. Most of the time, in med school people, start doing some residency or interning at a hospital. Again, start helping out at hospices or blood drives in your free time.
Note: You probably don't do this, but don't just volunteer for the hours on your application. Do it for helping others and making their day better. Do it to serve your community. After all, that is what a doctor/nurse does on a daily basis. :)
I hope this helped!
Try to volunteer as many hours as you can and try submitting those hours to earn an award so you have something more tangible to present to colleges. In terms of medical internships, it certainly helps, so I would say it would give you a great advantage to have any kind of medical related internship, but I do not think this is necessary to get into college or med school. It just represents your interest into the subject.
It depends on the school. Some colleges are affiliated with hospitals. Others allow pre-med students more flexibility to choose a volunteer or shadowing project. If you have flexibility and struggle to find a hospital with open volunteer internships, consider mental-health nonprofits like crisis help lines. Every medical professional encounters patients with mental health issues.
Hospitals typically accept volunteer applications for specific internship cohorts. Do your research early to understand the dates.
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That you so much. You have been a lot of help :) I understood many thing.