<p>What’s up, fellas? I’m a freshman this year at UW Madison and I’m obviously looking to get into med school. What type of volunteer work is the best to get into? Will being a freshman hinder my chances of doing any assistance in research? Thanks!</p>
<p>When I was a naive little undergrad at UW Madison, I too thought I would want to be a physician. I volunteered at St Marys because Meriter didn’t take undergrad volunteers and that was the next closest hospital. This experience crystallized in my mind why I didn’t want to be a physician - first and foremost, its a service profession. And a tedious one at that where nearly all your time is spent doing paperwork, overseeing the actions of your nursing staff and dealing with the same three presenting symptoms everyday. I would suggest emailing specific faculty at the med school and see about shadowing instead of volunteering.</p>