<p>On March 15th, I started volunteering at a hospital once a week.
Starting from May 5th to the end of August, I'm going to be involved in a structured research program, which runs from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. This will prevent me from continuing my volunteering or any other EC's that run any time between 9am-5pm M-F.
Currently I really lack EC experience. The total time I volunteered at a hospital is less than a month.
Is it okay to pause hospital volunteering from May to Aug and resume it starting September (I'm going into 3rd year in September)?</p>
<p>I mean, it would be ok, but if you're going into your junior year with only a month of clinical exposure you probably should make sure you have something lined up next year (and that is is solid).</p>
<p>How exactly did you go about getting a volunteer position? Did you just contact the hospital, or was something arranged by your school?</p>
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I mean, it would be ok, but if you're going into your junior year with only a month of clinical exposure you probably should make sure you have something lined up next year (and that is is solid).
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How much premed EC's like volunteering would be enough? I'm going to take 2 years off after I graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>after you graduate in 4 years? I thought you are going to be a Junior this coming September?</p>
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after you graduate in 4 years? I thought you are going to be a Junior this coming September?
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I mean 2 years (4 years in total)..</p>
<p>If you are taking 2 years off, you will have absolutely plenty of time to gain significant clinical experience. This summer of research actually sounds like a great idea. It is much easier to find research positions while being an undergrad than it would be after you graduate (not all programs, but many summer programs definitely are limited to current undergrads...).</p>
<p>And it doesn't necessarily have to be a certain amount of time/hours to put in at a hospital. You do have to be able to talk about it at interviews, however. I learned much more about a doctor's trade from shadowing private practices (more time with the doctor) than I did at the hospital (more contact with nurses, administrators, custodial staff, etc.). So shadowing might be an option for exposure to a health care field.</p>
<p>fried rice, I went to a local hospital's website and they had information about getting involved in volunteering. If your local hospital doesn't have a website, just call and say you want to speak to someone about volunteering. A painless process!</p>
<p>If you are enabled to continue during those months…I would advise you to do so…because I don’t think 1 month of clinical exposure is enough.</p>
<p>xXconfusedXx: You’re giving me advice NOW? LOL I started this thread 2 years ago and the matter was taken care of a long time ago.</p>
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<p>Then you’ll have plenty of time to get in some quality ECs. There is no set amount that is “enough” - it all depends on the quality of the activity, what you get out of it, how much you do it, etc.</p>
<p>can I ask you, what are you doing now? Are you in med school? If so, which one? And how much volunteering experience did you get?</p>