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Volunteering for Medicine Application

I'm currently getting my application together for applying to medicine for 2024 and I've read that a lot of universities really value some form of volunteering to talk about in your personal statement/interview.
I haven't organised any of this yet however I will be working full time (40 hours a week) as an RNLI lifeguard over this summer and I was wondering if universities would see this as sufficient. It would also be quite difficult to fit any extra volunteering in considering I'm under a full time contract and there's little flexibility. I've got a good amount of medical work experience already so work experience shouldn't be a problem.
Would anyone recommend for me to complete some sort of volunteering work outside of this or would my experience as a lifeguard be enough?
(edited 10 months ago)
Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

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Megathreads
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The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work

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Official Undergraduate Medicine 2023 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2023 Entry
Medicine 2023 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants
A100 Medicine for International Students 2023 Entry
Medicine Interview discussion 2023 Entry
2023 entry A100 / A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Index of Individual Medical School Applicants' threads 2023 Entry

2024 Applicants :
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2024 Entry
GAMSAT 2024 / 2025 entry discussions megathread
UCAT 2024 Entry Discussions Megathread

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Graduate Entry Medicine 2025 Entry
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2025 Entry

Useful Articles:
GCSE Requirements for Medicine
Everything you need to know about the BMAT
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application

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Reply 2
Original post by otk939
I'm currently getting my application together for applying to medicine for 2024 and I've read that a lot of universities really value some form of volunteering to talk about in your personal statement/interview.
I haven't organised any of this yet however I will be working full time (40 hours a week) as an RNLI lifeguard over this summer and I was wondering if universities would see this as sufficient. It would also be quite difficult to fit any extra volunteering in considering I'm under a full time contract and there's little flexibility. I've got a good amount of medical work experience already so work experience shouldn't be a problem.
Would anyone recommend for me to complete some sort of volunteering work outside of this or would my experience as a lifeguard be enough?


Don't worry too much about having every aspect of an application. A lot of students collect work experience and volunteering opportunities but are not able to actually convey what they learnt or reflect on their experience in personal statement/interview. What I am trying to say is that you can maximise your experience as a lifeguard to show your commitment and dedication, without having also to do volunteering if it becomes very difficult for you to organise and manage.

For volunteering the value is greater with long term volunteering and your lifeguarding work may constitute a form of volunteering even if it is paid, so should be enough.

As long as with your work experience you are able to showcase you have gained an appreciation of future career in medicine and the challenges etc. don't worry too much about volunteering on top of that.

Hope that this helpful!
Reply 3
Original post by Jammie123
Don't worry too much about having every aspect of an application. A lot of students collect work experience and volunteering opportunities but are not able to actually convey what they learnt or reflect on their experience in personal statement/interview. What I am trying to say is that you can maximise your experience as a lifeguard to show your commitment and dedication, without having also to do volunteering if it becomes very difficult for you to organise and manage.

For volunteering the value is greater with long term volunteering and your lifeguarding work may constitute a form of volunteering even if it is paid, so should be enough.

As long as with your work experience you are able to showcase you have gained an appreciation of future career in medicine and the challenges etc. don't worry too much about volunteering on top of that.

Hope that this helpful!

Thank you so much.

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