Sorry if this is the wrong forum or has already been asked elsewhere-
What is the go on medical experience or past volunteering (medical or otherwise)?
I'm hoping to get interviews at Western Sydney and Newcastle- do I need to have some experience to discuss in interview? Any advice on getting this experience?
Many thanks
There is no inherent need to do volunteering. While some people do it to pad their potential content to talk about in an interview, you can test your motives for doing medicine and your interpersonal skills by demonstrating work in other areas. eg. volunteering at a homeless shelter or working in a soup kitchen etc. etc. These are likely to test the same skills that will ultimately show why you want to do medicine.
I'd say that yes you should do volunteering of some kind - does not have to be medical, but do something you enjoy that will ultimately be the BEST way of demonstrating your soft skills. If you go to a hospital to volunteer for the hell of it, don't go at all. Do something you enjoy that you can extract qualities that you've shown from during an interview.
YMMV, but my school offers dozens of volunteering opportunities, and a little bit of a google search around your area will help you find places to volunteer too. Other things could be religiously affliated or part of a larger organisation. Op shops are a good one too. If you want to go to a hospital, that's a lot harder to do just because there aren't very well established systems involved to allow students that are not even medical students to volunteer at. Unless you know someone on the inside or have a good relationship with admin, it would be hard. I'd recommend that if you wanted to do something medical, look at your GP or dentist to help to hook you up. Chances are that they are private and hence would have to cut through less red tape to get anything done.