Volunteer work reqd for UCSF- MEPN admission

Selke · May 17, 2006

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this forum and not really sure how to post, but I did have some questions and thought I'd give it a shot.
I am an aspiring nurse practitioner, I have a bachelors degree in a field other than nursing and I am looking for an entry level master's program. I applied to UCSF's MEPN program and was rejected because of not enough volunteer work. Anyone been through their MEPN program and have any tips on what type of volunteer work and how much is needed to get in? Any other programs that you know of for people in my position?
I would appreciate any advice that anyone can give!
Thanks!

Here's a few thoughts. You are asking a great question. How you figure out an answer to this can help guide you in your future career. So you should be enthusiastic about doing volunteer work, not see it as just a step to get into school. See it as opening the door to what you want to do with your life.

What kind of NP do you want to become? What is your motivation for becoming a NP? What kind of work do you envision yourself doing after graduation, what population do you want to serve, and in what setting? Think hard about this, then figure out which health care organizations provide the kind of health care you would like to give.

Are you in San Francisco? I'll use SF just as an example. You can adapt these suggestions to anywhere you live and find local resources. For example, if you want to work with adults with HIV/AIDs, there are many nonprofit and public health clinics and agencies providing care for HIV infected people there -- you have your pick, depending on the kind of patient you might want to specialize in (women, sex workers, LGBT community, different ethnic groups, &c). What are all the aspects of health care that impact on HIV/AIDs care? Sexual health, mental health, substance abuse, gender issues, death/dying, chronic illness care, community health care, end of life care. You could do volunteer hospice work, become an AIDs counselor (check out UCSF AIDs health project at http://ucsf-ahp.org/ -- if you can get into this program, you will learn invaluable counseling and testing skills that you can carry over into any clinical setting), you can begin to learn about sexual health and counseling (check out http://www.sfsi.org for sex educator training -- I did this and loved it).

UCSF, and any school, will look at volunteer work that dovetails with your career goals and will confirm your vocation for this work, as well as give you skills that will benefit you in the program -- not "nursing skills" as such, but important things such as everything from learning how a clinic runs, to fitting in with a health care team, to familiarity with the health care system/hierarchy/roles, to developing interpersonal therapeutic skills with patients/clients, &c. Graduate nursing programs are big on committment to working with vulnerable populations, so you can demonstrate your commitment beginning with volunteer work. There are many free clinics in the area that need volunteers: a few are Haight Ashbury Clinic, SF General Hospital, the Berkeley Free Clinic, St James Infirmary, sex worker clinic (I volunteered there and loved it), any of the SF city clinics. There are many, many nonprofits, such as Maitri Hospice for AIDs, &c, which run on volunteers. Check out ads in the SF Weekly and Guardian. The suggestions I gave you, BTW, are experiences and teach skills which you aren't likely to get in an MSN program, so they add value to your application, IMHO.

You can stay quite busy over the next few months acquiring skills and experience while you wait to reapply.

Good luck!