The types of jobs volunteers do in the medical field are not usually medically related. They fall into the clerical at best category. Mostly they would be doing things unrelated to patient care…and this is for liability purposes as well as the training needed.
I personally don’t know any volunteer positions in Emergency Departments.
Not necessarily.
What’s important in volunteering is the amount and quality of face-to-face patient time. Some positions are better at providing that than others. So it depends on what kind of services the volunteer provides and how much direct patient contact the volunteer has.
One of the reasons why certificate training for clinical employment has become more common is because pre-meds need jobs that actually pay them $$ to help pay for college expenses, or to help defray the several thousand $$$ that one round of med school applications will cost. And post-graduation, these premeds need a way to (at least partially) support themselves.
Also there have been complaints from residency program directors about med students who have never actually held a paid employment position before residency. Sometimes med graduates arrive without basic work skills which makes integrating them into their new job much, much more difficult. Because of this some PD prefer to hire residents who have real life work experience in their backgrounds.
Lastly having worked in the less “elite” jobs a hospital has to offer makes med students and residents more aware of just how vital the services these individuals provide.
And perhaps also more aware of reasons for job dissatisfaction among other health care workers, so that (as physicians) they can try to avoid contributing to that.
My impression is that most students planning to apply to medical school figure out what they need to do, and how to do it on their own. Their parents don’t do this.
Is your son seeking information as well?
This question is something your son should be asking the pre-med advisors at his college. That’s what they’re there for.
Agree! Once the student gets to college. I think this student is a high school senior now. Really…this is the last summer (before college freshman year) that this student can just get a regular job, see friends, and sort of take it easier.
As an example to support @WayOutWestMom and @thumper…
My daughter is a current freshman. She has a summer internship at a free healthcare clinic for uninsured. As I understand it, she will shadow MD/NPs and train as a medical assistant (can get certified if she cares to). It is unpaid, however housing is provided through a local university plus a dining stipend. She worked with her campus pre-health and service advisors and handled the arrangements with no parent involvement at all.
When she was evaluating colleges, she scheduled calls with the pre-health advisors to ask about the level of support provided. Your student may want to do that for his/her and your peace of mind. 
This!
We were similar. Once my guy selected the college he wanted to attend, my role switched to cheerleader. He was usually telling me things that he’d lined up to happen. He let me know what med schools he was applying to, but he selected them. Ditto with residencies later. He found all shadowing, volunteering, medical missions trips he went on, and everything else himself - either with guidance from pre-health or from others who had BTDT before him at his school.
The advice I give generally came from him and his experience, not the other way around. Some pre-med advice came from the two college “wanna be a pre-med” sessions we attended when he was looking for college. Some comes from what I’ve heard back via other students at the school where I work.
Kids should know the path ahead of them - what it takes - but actually lining it up and doing things ought to be directed by them according to their opportunities and interests.
Thanks all. I agree, once in college kids figure things out for themselves. Its just me gathering some info, so if I see and hear things down the line, I know where its coming from and if it seems to be on the right track…I don’t want to do anything more beyond that, just wanting to be aware of how things work…to be well informed …,
I have been following this but have not read it all. I will tell you my/D’s experience- maybe some of it will help.
My daughter chose to apply to a different program other than med school - but it took her 2 years after graduation to figure that out, to finish everything she needed to do, etc. She also spent time interviewing medical students and other health care professionals in order to determine which path to take.
I will tell you what she did during undergrad and beyond, totally unprompted by me. I sat there, listened, and watched.
She researched 25 medical schools and made a list of AP classes that were accepted, not accepted, etc. I stayed out of this until she was finished and decided to discuss it with me.
Shadowed a doctors office and hospital during breaks (pediatrics, orthopedics, obgyn (but not permitted to shadow everything in obgyn- only certain things), also shadowed other health care prof. after graduation and set up interviews. In addition to interviewing physicians, she spoke with nurse practitioners, genetic counselors etc.
Volunteered in a hospital for 15 months. She helped patients navigate the hospital, nurse triage, and translated (Spanish) between patients, nurses, and doctors. If she had decided to apply to medical school, she may have needed more/different type of patient volunteering. I am not really sure.
Volunteered with underrepresented communities- taught yoga and wellness in homeless shelters, worked with refugees for 2 years helping them with medical appointments, homework, etc.
Taught after graduation in underserved communities for 2 years. She also continued to interview doctors and various health care professionals.
Research, was published (might not be important for med schools) One of her research positions allowed for additional volunteer and shadowing hours.
Leadership on campus
None of this was discussed in HS. She was busy doing HS related things- yearbook, student council, football games, etc.
She knew she wanted some kind of science major, but she really had absolutely no idea where she wanted to go with it…and it really was not brought up for discussion while in HS.
I didn’t read this whole thread. I think it’s important for your son to enjoy his last summer before college, without thinking about all of this stuff.
Let him begin college and guide the process himself. His future might involve medical school, or it might not. He needs to discuss all of this with an advisor. Besides an advisor, my D was assigned to a medical student who she met with every few weeks, who could answer her questions etc.
It took my D 2 years to put the pieces together, do the research,and figure out what she wanted next- by herself- with me listening.
Good luck! It’s a real journey….that’s for sure.
Yeah - that comment completely depends on school and student. Some schools have a robust pre-health advising. But considering a friend who’s child just found out that they were denied at MANY schools as their experience was paid clinical vs volunteering _ I absolutely would recommend students know that the medical school admission path is somewhat arbitrary and there are check the boxes that they need to understand going in.
The student was denied medical school admissions? Of so…this student has NO WAY to know why he or she was denied acceptance.
Thanks so much for sharing your daughters journey. It’s very helpful. It’s hard but hopefully she will find her way.
Agree things are pretty random. No one can say, I have great GPA, great MCAT, all activities (to ones satisfaction) and now I can definitely make it…really they cant make it any harder for people to get in…
Thank you-.
She took the time after college to research exactly what she wanted to do, and she made her decision.
She had a lot going on after graduation- worked full time, volunteered, interviewed and learned about several different careers (med school was still a strong option), prerequisites - classes for the program she applied to, and completed all of her grad school apps. She also spent a few months finishing one of her research papers.
She begins school again in a few weeks. Like I said- it’s a journey and it’s not uncommon to take a few years off before returning to school- whether it’s medical school or something else. They are busy!!
It’s not uncommon for those who were denied admission to email and ask how they could make their application stronger for a next attempt. It’s a common suggestion at at least a few undergrads I know of. By default, this is asking what was wrong with their first attempt.
Well actually the school provided feedback and specifically mentioned lack of volunteering vs paid clinical experience.
She looks like a very hard working girl. Wishing her the best and may she find her calling…
Many of these young adults work very hard…. I have met so many accomplished students over the years.
I guess the message I intended to send was that taking time off to volunteer, take your tests, etc is very common.