Comments on: Why You Shouldn't Volunteer

By: Mete

Mete — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:56:23 +0000

Volunteers do help , but what is really required is high quality staff running the charities

By: Chloe Davies

Chloe Davies — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:26:46 +0000

i would also like to pursue a medical career since the pay is good.-~.

By: medaholic

medaholic — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:37:58 +0000

Hmmm, not all doctors are paid large amounts of money. I think what’s more important than income is job stability and autonomy. Doctors are “self-employed” and have quite a bit of control over their work. To me, that is much more appealing than working at a large company earning a six-figure income but having to always worry about being fired.

By: Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:09:09 +0000

the good thing about choosing a medical career is that it is a high paying job.*”`

By: joyful

joyful — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:39:54 +0000

Woah…. I totally agree.

One of the things that bugs me the most is how people keep on creating new clubs or doing brain draining stuff (like dirty work) just for the sake of admission and scholarships. And I’m just like… get a life. Do stuff you enjoy and stuff that will help you, not stuff that you’re forcing yourself into.

By: medaholic

medaholic — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:57:32 +0000

Hi Marika,
Thanks for commenting. Keep exploring your options and keep an open mind. The more you expose yourself too, the more you will know about yourself. I’m also part of the adcom at my school, and trust me, we can see through the fluff pretty easily.

By: Marika D

Marika D — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:21:04 +0000

Thanks for this post medaholic! It was very enlightening.

I am one of those aspiring undergraduates who does volunteer. I’ve been doing it for three years now, however I do agree that you must do it for the right reasons. I’ve switched departments and quit shifts because it was so pointless and I felt I was learning nothing! I myself went in to volunteer not because of medicine but to see what healthcare was like. I have decided that the healthcare/medical/health sciences field is definitely my area… however in what form? Clinical, research, administrative? This I have yet to figure out. But it is unfortunate talking to the younger ones who are volunteering because it’s what everyone does. Sometimes I want to give them a nice slap upside the head. Volunteering in a hospital does not get you into medicine. And what if you change your mind? Will you regret all those years handing out drinks and stamping papers when you land a job in real estate?

I agree with N.T. and medaholic, you guys are right. How do you know that you won’t change your mind afterwards? After all, I know many undergraduates who cannot make up their minds on what to study, let alone make careers of! It is a great disservice to take the places of those who truly would make incredible professionals due to those 90s and ECs and profiles.

There is always room for improvement… let us hope the selection committees make fewer mistakes as they see through the fluff.

By: medaholic

medaholic — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:54:47 +0000

You make a good point N.T. And I often think of that question myself, “Am I in the right place?”
The catch with medicine is that you really don’t know what it’s going to be like until you are on the wards, in the hospitals practicing. However, if you find out by then that you don’t like it, you would have already sunk down at least 4-8 years of your life along with over a hundred thousand dollars in education, and the only way to survive is to continue practicing.

I think it is because of that reason, schools are starting to prefer older more mature applicants, who have taken a few years off school and have seen what the world is like. Because a few years of extracurricular activities in university frankly doesn’t hold much significance.

By: N. T.

N. T. — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:20:45 +0000

Good post.

I find it somewhat frightening that the qualifications to “get into medical school” span a few years of university. How clearly does this show who will be a dedicated physician for the long run?

Statistically, 75% of people in North America describe being in the “WRONG CAREERS” (sampel representative), losing interest in their careers, etc. So what for those people who “volunteer, I-love-sick-people” what happens when the glory fades and hardship rolls along. What happens when the difference between life and death takes the extra push and its easier not to give the extra push? Will all of those marvelous ECs, volunteering, and grades push someone at that point?

Frightens me, people going in who look good NOW but who will last? ..ie. family member died from a preventable cause, negligence, doctor too distracted to notice…probably got into med school with a 90% average