<p>I asked the same question on SDN with little response: how important is non-clinical community service to the medical school admissions process? Is it just about absolutely necessary to have (like clinical volunteering and/or shadowing, etc) or is it very nice to have, but not an absolute necessity (like research)?</p>
<p>Volunteering is necessary, and clinical work is necessary. If those two overlap, great. If not, then make sure to get some of each. Even if you do have clinical volunteering, some other volunteering is always good too.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that there are some schools where research is absolutely necessary.</p>
<p>Ah. Thanks! I assume then, that there are certain schools where non-clinical volunteering is looked upon as being necessary (probably schools that emphasize work with underprivileged populations and/or primary care); whereas with other schools it’s good to have, but not necessary?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard that about any schools, although I suppose it’s a reasonable inference. Although I would imagine that helping teach art classes to cancer patients would be fine for those schools standing on its own.</p>
<p>you pretty much will need research. some schools claim that you don’t, but i would HIGHLY recommend it (even if it’s just washing dishes) because this is the one question ive been asked a lot at interviews (non-MSTP).</p>
<p>you can definitely do non-clinical volunteer work. it will actually set you apart from everyone else if you have something interesting (most people just volunteer in the hospital). I based my entire primary application essay on a non-clinical volunteer experience I had overseas. but like some other ppl have said, you’ll need some clinical exposure.</p>
<p>Depends on which med schools you’re looking at. BB is presumably in California, meaning that there’s only a couple of schools in the state (Loma Linda and maybe UCD) which aren’t particularly interested.</p>