Do ECs have to be volunteer?

[JaeTaro]

I can either volunteer at a hospital, giving out coffee and cookies (I do this right now) or I could become an entry level paramedic. Paramedic would be a paid position, but I feel it would give me much better experience.

Is the volunteering aspect important or would clinical experience suffice?

[Moonlight2]

In my opinion the paramedic experience is gold compared to the basic hospital volunteering, because in the former you can actually establish clinical experience (which the schools care about) and it’s very unique. However, if I were you, I’d try to get some community volunteering experience going on as well (e.g. homeless shelter) to establish selfless service to community, which is something else schools care about!

[bearded frog]

It's good, but not required to show a) volunteerism and b) health care exposure. These don't have to be in the same activity. Many will just do the simple health care volunteering option because its usually the easiest to do, but as the above poster said, if you have health care exposure elsewhere, than volunteerism can be anything else, ie food bank, Big brother/sister, etc.

[JaeTaro]

I see. So volunteering in itself is still important? So if you had 2 options: 

1. 300 hours paid paramedic, 300 hours paid hospital scribe

2. 300 hours paid paramedic, 300 hours volunteer at food bank 

You would recommend #2? 

I'm not looking to get paid to for these positions, they just don't have a volunteering option. I'm also not against volunteering at all, I just want to know how to best utilize my time

[PotatoPotato]

I mean, it's always good to show altruism from the goodness of your heart but I'd also say go where you best grow your skills/develop. If both of the two are dead end, ie 300 hours of pure typing or 300 hours of pure food sorting... I might say it's purely money vs saying you volunteer. I might not say one is better than the other if you aren't passionate about either. 

However, if you feel you'd learn more as a scribe (ex. med term, vague patient interaction, relationship with doctor, potential research connections) vs food bank (ex. advocacy, vulnerable populations, community leadership if you moved up the leadership totem pole, community connections) in this regard, I'd weight the feasibility of reaching these benefits and go from there. I would go for the one that shows the most depth and provides me with the most opportunity and growth. If you have absolutely no volunteering, I may consider some... but imo it is not mandatory. It really is up to you. 

Also, lots of university level "leadership" is volunteer in and of itself btw (mentorship, club exec, etc) if just saying you've volunteered is what you want (of course with the benefit of leadership)

[JaeTaro]

On 5/26/2020 at 7:15 PM, PotatoPotato said:

I mean, it's always good to show altruism from the goodness of your heart but I'd also say go where you best grow your skills/develop. If both of the two are dead end, ie 300 hours of pure typing or 300 hours of pure food sorting... I might say it's purely money vs saying you volunteer. I might not say one is better than the other if you aren't passionate about either. 

However, if you feel you'd learn more as a scribe (ex. med term, vague patient interaction, relationship with doctor, potential research connections) vs food bank (ex. advocacy, vulnerable populations, community leadership if you moved up the leadership totem pole, community connections) in this regard, I'd weight the feasibility of reaching these benefits and go from there. I would go for the one that shows the most depth and provides me with the most opportunity and growth. If you have absolutely no volunteering, I may consider some... but imo it is not mandatory. It really is up to you. 

Also, lots of university level "leadership" is volunteer in and of itself btw (mentorship, club exec, etc) if just saying you've volunteered is what you want (of course with the benefit of leadership)

When it comes time to write my personal statement, would you help me describe what it is my skills are? 

And thank you. I was really debating between learning to be a entry level paramedic or a hospice volunteer. I am much more passionate about the former and I think you're right, choosing ones passion should come first. 

[ShadesofCyan]

@JaeTaro Do the activities that feel right to you! When you are in a volunteer position or job that really inspires you that passion will come through in your application and interview. 

I never once mentioned my volunteering at the hospital during my interviews. While it was on my application and there were skills I learned from it, I found myself consistently bringing up a few experiences that I was really passionate about and that were more unique to me. 

If you are still at the stage where you are deciding what ECs to pursue I would recommend looking at the applications for the school(s) you are interested in. UBC and UofC for example, have very different sections for ECs. Certain activities are easier to highlight on certain applications. 

If I could give advice to myself 3 years ago I would say do the actives that you find meaning and enjoyment in AND make sure you get some exposure to what medicine is really like so that you will know this is the path you want to pursue.