Verifying Patient Care/Volunteer/Work Hours

[Teacher2PAC]

I was wondering how patient care/volunteer/work hours are verified? Currently, I have been keeping my own record of my hours and some of my supervisors have kept a record, however not all of them have. I was wondering how schools verify your hours to make sure they are legitimate, and if there is a special form you have to fill out or get signed off by a supervisor. 

[dndandrea]

All of the schools that I'm familiar with just work on the honor system and believe you'll be honest. I don't see why they wouldn't just contact your supervisor since the contact information is all listed in CASPA. I haven't heard of any schools doing that though.

 

Some schools do require shadowing forms to be filled out and signed by the person you shadowed as well as a description of your experience shadowing him or her.

[codyL]

This is also something I was interested in. Also, is there any specific list of places that volunteering is recommended or only accepted for? Or does anything count. For example, monthly I go out to our local childrens home and we cook and serve them breakfast with our church. Is this something I would keep track of and put on my app?

[zoopeda]

There is a shocking lack of verification that occurs.  Whatever you put on your CASPA form counts.  Just be ready to answer questions about it at your interview and to say goodbye to the profession if you're caught exaggerating.  

[Tori]

I've definitely heard of a few schools that verify Hce hours post acceptance

[Guest MedLib42]

There are several schools that I came across when I was applying that would verify shadowing, volunteer, and HCE hours (I believe one of them was SUNY Upstate, but don't quote me on this), and I think their verification methods varied - I remember one stated you had to have a letter or time sheet sent in by a supervisor. However, the majority of programs don't check - they just go by the honor system (as others have already mentioned). If you know which schools you're applying to, I'd contact them and ask, that way you'll be prepared ahead of time on the off chance there is some sort of verification required. If you're not sure, I'd give your supervisors a heads up that you may need verification of your hours for your app down the road. If it's for paid HCE, I wouldn't worry - they'll have access to payroll records, time sheets, and other data (it doesn't just get discarded) and should have no trouble verifying your hours. For volunteer work, they may be fine with having you keep track of your own hours, then signing off on it later. 

 

This is also something I was interested in. Also, is there any specific list of places that volunteering is recommended or only accepted for? Or does anything count. For example, monthly I go out to our local childrens home and we cook and serve them breakfast with our church. Is this something I would keep track of and put on my app?

 

Yes, this is something you should put on your app. And no, there is no universal list of places to volunteer that is accepted - basically, any time you are volunteering (providing a service free of charge to help a needy population, community, etc) it is considered volunteer work that you can list on CASPA. The question you might want to be asking, though, is what type of volunteer work will stand out the most, and be most competitive for the schools you're applying to? That varies, but I would recommend as much diversity in your volunteer work as possible - medical, non-medical, really unique, etc. It is a good idea to have some medical volunteer work in there to help your app stand out in addition to what you're already doing. You might want to consider medically underserved communities / free clinics, medical mission trips, and similar volunteer experiences.

[PACdan]

I was wondering how patient care/volunteer/work hours are verified? Currently, I have been keeping my own record of my hours and some of my supervisors have kept a record, however not all of them have. I was wondering how schools verify your hours to make sure they are legitimate, and if there is a special form you have to fill out or get signed off by a supervisor. 

 

 

This is just a general warning, but sometimes these types of questions are fishing expeditions for unscrupulous applicants looking to see if they can fib.

Those that try to fake hours and get caught (and they do), derail their chances of ever gaining admission into a program.

 

Again, not an indictment of the OP.

 

To the OP: Some schools verify more stringently than others, there is no way to know what you'll be asked for post-CASPA. If you have paid HCE, no problem, you have all your hours neatly tracked on the payroll. Even volunteer organizations usually track the hours put in by their volunteers, but it's also a good idea to keep a simple log for yourself.

 

When/if you are asked to verify hours, the school will give you instructions. Don't worry.

[smccccc]

One of my schools made me verify in order to complete my application. They just asked one

Of my supervisors to fill out a form stating my duties and hours. Which wasn't difficult, but it was inconcienient going to previous work places to get supervisors I haven't seen in months fill out paperwork. Other schools told me they would call the supervisors and verify if the student was accepted.

[Scoped]

There is a shocking lack of verification that occurs.  Whatever you put on your CASPA form counts.  Just be ready to answer questions about it at your interview and to say goodbye to the profession if you're caught exaggerating.  

 I totally agree with this statement. I was a bit disappointed to see that my program did not want me to prove my hours partly because I had all my records but mostly because I could. I'm certain people inflate hours for consideration by the programs.