I am starting my premed journey and currently studying for the MCAT with plans to apply to the MD programs at U of C, U of A and Memorial University of NL.
I'm currently 29 years old and have been a social worker for 8 years. I work in addiction & mental health. I had tons of volunteer experience during undergrad up until around 2014 or so. So none of my volunteer experience is recent. This included over 5 years of volunteer work in mental health, and I definitely have stayed in touch with volunteer supervisors that would still verify the experience.
My GPA is 3.95 and with a Bachelor of Social Work being my background a great deal of time over the next year will be studying for the MCAT. So I am wary of balancing that with an already challenging career, and adding volunteering to the list may be too much.
Will this make my applications weak? I certainly have recent experience working with vulnerable populations. And extensive recent experience in program development for youth with complex AMH needs. But this is paid experience.