Volunteering Experience
How should I write about my volunteering positions? Do include one or two positions that you have done over the past year. Make sure that you mention where you volunteered and what your position was, along with how long and how frequently you have been volunteering! As you’ve done for the rest of your statement, make sure you draw out everything you’ve learnt from the experience, explain what you found challenging, how you developed as a person and what skills this has equipped you with for medicine. An important point for volunteering is that you are able to demonstrate the caring role, and that you have committed to this for a long period of time. Perhaps you could include some anecdotes or specific examples here to show you really got involved in your volunteering and made an effort to make a difference to the people’s lives.
So we’ll move onto some examples now:
“I went to my local care home and spoke to an old lady for three hours. She was really sweet and I think I made a good bond with her”.
This is not a very good example as it gives no indication of how long the volunteering was or how frequently the applicant went. For all we know it might be a one-off visit to the care home. The fact that they mention three hours doesn’t give any value as volunteering should be about the commitment to the role over time. The second part could show that the applicant made an effort to get involved and to make a difference to the residents’ lives, however there is no reference to what skills they learnt during their volunteering or how they developed as a person. A better example should be:
“I volunteered weekly at a local care home for the last 11 months, where I would aid an elderly immobile resident, Harriet, each week to move into the garden and water her flowers. Before starting, I had not valued how much I could learn from her stories. I feel that I have developed my empathy and listening skills hugely during the last year and I know these skills will be so useful on placement in medical school.”
This example gives all the relevant detail about the volunteering job and exactly how the student helps the residents. The specific example of flower watering and the use of the resident’s name gives it a personal feel and shows that the student has really involved themselves in their position. They mention how they developed as a person, the skills they learnt and linked it to their course.
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