Tiffany: There are questions about volunteering that keep coming in Pre-AA spaces and they sound like they should have simple answers.
Adri: But the straightforward answers are weirdly hard to find.
Tiffany: Like, how many volunteer hours do I need? what of volunteering actually counts for CASAA?
Adri: today we're actually gonna break those down. Quick disclaimer. Tiffany and I are pre-AA applicants in the 2026 CASAA cycle. We are not CAAs, not program directors, and nothing here is application advice or a guarantee of any outcome.
Tiffany: Pre-AA Pathways is not affiliated with CASAA, the AAAA, any AA program, or the CAAHEP. Everything we comes from our own experience and publicly available information as of our recording date.
Adri: Requirements and numbers change. Always verify directly with each program you're considering.
Tiffany: so we touched on volunteering in the last two episodes when we covered clinical experience in shadowing, but we didn't go deep into it.
Adri: the reason it's getting its own episode is that the question of volunteering more than people think....
Tiffany: So let's start with those two questions. First one, how many volunteer hours do I need?
Adri: here's my honest answer. there's no published hour requirement the way there is for shadowing, like you don't need minimum eight hours, But what we've seen across pre-AA spaces is that most applicants land somewhere around 100+ hours by the time they apply. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: And 100 plus a pattern. It is not a target, right? a description of what tends to show up in successful applicants as but it's not a verdict ⁓ on where you are right now.
Adri: Mm. And if you're at 30 hours or you even have zero because you just found this profession and are just starting, that number isn't a failure. If at 200 volunteer hours, that's not a guarantee, It's just context.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm. I know that feeling of staring at someone else's stats and spiraling. So is exactly why we are saying this out loud.
Adri: Okay, so second question, Tiffany, what kind of volunteering counts?
Tiffany: Ooh, this is the one I find most interesting there's a common consensus that it doesn't really matter what category the volunteering into. ⁓ What matters is that it's meaningful and impactful for you personally.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Which runs against our instincts. So our instinct is that it has to be hospital volunteering. It has to be medical. It has to look clinical. And that's just not the case.
Tiffany: Yeah, and when you are approaching admissions and your applications, you want stay in healthcare setting. ⁓ But it's not what we keep hearing. The food bank you've shown up for two years can say more about who you are ⁓ than hospital that you did just because someone told you to do it.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Yeah, because what's being read isn't the category, it's the commitment, which is why people I think are getting on average more volunteer hours. It's that follow through and showing up for something that you actually care about and up for your community. And that I think comes through in how you talk about the volunteer work that you've experienced.
Tiffany: Exactly. we're saying don't volunteer in healthcare, we're saying abandon something that you love, something that means something to you just because it isn't clinical and it isn't what you think adcoms are going to want to hear about.
Adri: Exactly. I with my local nonprofit roller derby community. And we do tons of community outreach. things like Boise Bike Project, where we help fit helmets for kids when kids receive these decked out bicycles for Christmas for free. And then they learn how to ride them and how to like keep their brains safe. And it's just really fun and community building and all that great stuff.
Tiffany: I love that, Adri. Love it.
Adri: It's fun. I highly recommend volunteering in your community.
Tiffany: Yes. yes, I on the Asian District Committee, well I volunteer with my temple youth group. So I do a lot of things that just light my soul and I want to see more representation for Asian Americans ⁓ specifically. So something I'm very passionate about.
Adri: Mm, mhm, yeah.
Tiffany: I don't want to go too long into this because I could talk forever about it.
Adri: Exactly, exactly. you're supporting Asian Americans. I'm supporting women in sports. ⁓ great. ⁓
Tiffany: Love it! We love it!
Adri: there's something that we named back in our episode seven when we talking about clinical experience that I kind of wanted to come back to here in this volunteering specific episode because it adds a little context. So as a pre-AA, it's like a gold standard to get that patient experience. And oftentimes getting that clinical experience often requires already having clinical experience. so Tiffany, tell us a little bit about your story because And getting that clinical experience is ingrained in your story.
Tiffany: Yes, so my story actually starts at my mom's nail salon. I have been working alongside my mom since God, can't even remember. I remember very distinctly at the age of five watching Cartoon Network, behind in the back. But I got my cosmetology license at 16 so I could help her properly and I made.
Adri: Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: in profit went to her. to me, it wasn't a job. It's just what you do when an immigrant's daughter and your family needs you. wasn't thinking about it in terms of my future. I was just showing up, talking to clients, building relationships, building that interpersonal skill, I vividly remember I was 23. I'd been a pediatric pharmacy tech about a year at that time. I had some hospital volunteering on my belt, pushing the care cart at one of the hospitals and bringing snacks and drinks to the floors and getting to talk to patients, but nothing clinical. And I knew I wanted to have that direct patient care. was applying for MA jobs everywhere at that time and getting rejected everywhere. I was so discouraged. There was actually like a $5,000 MA accreditation course sitting in my cart. I was about to pull the trigger. I thought that was the only way to make myself hireable to
Adri: ⁓ my goodness.
Tiffany: hospitals. you know, that's $5,000 I didn't have. I just graduated undergrad.
Adri: Yes.
Tiffany: And I remember one Saturday morning, I was at the salon with my mom and one of my regular clients came in, they always talk about what you want to do with your life. So I was talking, maybe venting a little She mentioned her niece being advanced practice nurse. So an NP with a cardiologist and she actually FaceTimed her right there in the salon while I was doing her nails. And I went to shadow.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: spoke with the cardiologist and two months later I was a working medical assistant with him on the job
Adri: That's just talking to people, and keeping those options open.
Tiffany: yeah, that connection, it because I showed up there consistently for years. talked to people honestly about my journey and a door opened that ⁓ I had been trying to open from outside of that months.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: from there, that's where built that bridge. ⁓
Adri: Yeah. And when do that deliberately, it pays dividends the long But once again, just like everything else in the pre-AA realm, things take longer than we want them to. Hands down, right? It's always a slower process than we may expect. ⁓ like I want to do an anesthesia tech job. I apply for and I get it.
Tiffany: and then just kind of walked across it. Exactly.
Adri: Yeah, that rarely, if ever, happens right that does happen to you, I'm so happy for you. But that is not the norm. I feel like that might be more of an exception, Especially when you don't have an anesthesia tech certification already or something.
Tiffany: ⁓ ⁓ Yeah. Yes. definitely, I got rejected a lot from anesthesia tech positions I think that's the distinction that we want to land that volunteering. can get you into the room before the room has any reason to let you in. It is not standing in for patient care hours, but it's lowering the barrier to that role.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And also, your first time inside a hospital, if you're trying to get clinical experience, if it's also your first day on a clinical job, you're doing two things at once. You're learning both the environment and the role simultaneously. Whereas if maybe you were volunteering in an environment that is more medical or healthcare related and you don't come from a medical or healthcare background. that could be very beneficial to lower that barrier.
Tiffany: Yeah, You're getting to learn the environment and the role at the same time and avoiding burnout because that's very common pre-AA spaces. I was just talking to you about this the other day, Adri, off camera. Okay, if volunteering usually doesn't fill the patient care columns, does it on your application at ⁓ all? Is question.
Adri: From on our CASAA applications the 2026 application cycle, yes, there is a section for volunteering. because what's being evaluated isn't just your stats, your numbers, your GPA, your GRE or MCAT scores. Yes, those are important. You have to meet that at least the minimums, but it's building a picture of who you are. Are you someone who does like to give back to the community? Are you someone who cares about others? Showing is much stronger evidence than just telling. you can show by doing, which is volunteering, about something that you're passionate about. Anything you're passionate about doesn't have to be healthy.
Tiffany: Yes. Yes, and that connects right back to what we keep hearing Find something that meaningful and impactful for you. That's if you take one thing away from this episode, that is it.
Adri: Mm-hmm. So the that I think is gonna read well when we're interviewing and applying, not just for the anesthesiologist assistant profession, but for like any job that you do or any future position you hold, whether it's in your community or outside of it, is that when you show up authentically, it shines through. And authenticity comes through in things that you about.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm.
Adri: So if you are passionate about animals and you volunteer at the Humane Society that will show through. And you're still collaborating,
Tiffany: Right. Yes, and that's ⁓ one the main reasons I volunteered with the Asian Night Market Festival here in my city. I am very about different cultures and ⁓ that's 100 % like I could sit and talk to you about all day. does it have anything to do with being an AA? but does it make me a well-rounded person? Someone that truly cares about Asian American representation. Yes. And it's a part of me. So
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and that is authentically you and makes you unique too, So let's talk a little bit about some of the constraints with volunteering specifically.
Tiffany: Yes, takes that you may not have. ⁓ A lot of us, like we have said, we working full time, doing graduate courses or doing prerequisites. Some are parents. my I don't know how you guys are doing this. You're superheroes. telling someone like that to go log 100 hours, that is not free It costs them something. A lot of sacrifices would have to be made.
Adri: Yeah. I'd rather, someone do a small of something that genuinely fits their life than burn themselves trying to do something that they don't care about, like to chase a number. So if you are a a parent, maybe you can volunteer at their school on occasion, once a month, a couple hours. that adds up.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm. But ⁓ if healthcare volunteering is what you can access, Great. ⁓ Use it as the bridge can be. But if it's not, like you said, Adri, the volunteering you already still counts toward the picture who are.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: You don't have to manufacture a clinical looking version of your life to be a real applicant.
Adri: Ten out of ten, Tiffany. All right. So hop into some of the key takeaways for this nice quick little episode. Tiffany, takeaway one.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm. thanks. ⁓ Take away one, there is no published hour requirement. 100+ is obviously a pattern that we see, but it is not a target that we are handing to you.
Adri: All right. takeaway number two, is that it matters more that the volunteering is more meaningful and impactful and important to you and it doesn't matter as much what kind of volunteering specifically it is.
Tiffany: Takeaway if you're trying to break into clinical work, healthcare or volunteering can be a bridge into a role, ⁓ but not a replacement for one.
Adri: And one thing you can do after this episode is look at how you already spend your time. Find the volunteering that actually matters to you and the that fits into your schedule, the one that you would keep doing anyway, that goes in alignment with your current lifestyle and your current life. and then practice about it, see how it fits, how it shares who you are ⁓ and can paint that holistic picture for your application.
Tiffany: time we're getting into one of the most asked about pieces of the whole process, which is standardized testing and how to think about which exam path is right for you.
Adri: you'll get to hear Tiffany's experience with the MCAT and my experience with the GRE, both failures successes.
Tiffany: this Pre-AA Pathways.
Adri: See you next time.
Adri: But the straightforward answers are weirdly hard to find.
Tiffany: Like, how many volunteer hours do I need? what of volunteering actually counts for CASAA?
Adri: today we're actually gonna break those down. Quick disclaimer. Tiffany and I are pre-AA applicants in the 2026 CASAA cycle. We are not CAAs, not program directors, and nothing here is application advice or a guarantee of any outcome.
Tiffany: Pre-AA Pathways is not affiliated with CASAA, the AAAA, any AA program, or the CAAHEP. Everything we comes from our own experience and publicly available information as of our recording date.
Adri: Requirements and numbers change. Always verify directly with each program you're considering.
Tiffany: so we touched on volunteering in the last two episodes when we covered clinical experience in shadowing, but we didn't go deep into it.
Adri: the reason it's getting its own episode is that the question of volunteering more than people think....
Tiffany: So let's start with those two questions. First one, how many volunteer hours do I need?
Adri: here's my honest answer. there's no published hour requirement the way there is for shadowing, like you don't need minimum eight hours, But what we've seen across pre-AA spaces is that most applicants land somewhere around 100+ hours by the time they apply. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: And 100 plus a pattern. It is not a target, right? a description of what tends to show up in successful applicants as but it's not a verdict ⁓ on where you are right now.
Adri: Mm. And if you're at 30 hours or you even have zero because you just found this profession and are just starting, that number isn't a failure. If at 200 volunteer hours, that's not a guarantee, It's just context.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm. I know that feeling of staring at someone else's stats and spiraling. So is exactly why we are saying this out loud.
Adri: Okay, so second question, Tiffany, what kind of volunteering counts?
Tiffany: Ooh, this is the one I find most interesting there's a common consensus that it doesn't really matter what category the volunteering into. ⁓ What matters is that it's meaningful and impactful for you personally.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Which runs against our instincts. So our instinct is that it has to be hospital volunteering. It has to be medical. It has to look clinical. And that's just not the case.
Tiffany: Yeah, and when you are approaching admissions and your applications, you want stay in healthcare setting. ⁓ But it's not what we keep hearing. The food bank you've shown up for two years can say more about who you are ⁓ than hospital that you did just because someone told you to do it.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Yeah, because what's being read isn't the category, it's the commitment, which is why people I think are getting on average more volunteer hours. It's that follow through and showing up for something that you actually care about and up for your community. And that I think comes through in how you talk about the volunteer work that you've experienced.
Tiffany: Exactly. we're saying don't volunteer in healthcare, we're saying abandon something that you love, something that means something to you just because it isn't clinical and it isn't what you think adcoms are going to want to hear about.
Adri: Exactly. I with my local nonprofit roller derby community. And we do tons of community outreach. things like Boise Bike Project, where we help fit helmets for kids when kids receive these decked out bicycles for Christmas for free. And then they learn how to ride them and how to like keep their brains safe. And it's just really fun and community building and all that great stuff.
Tiffany: I love that, Adri. Love it.
Adri: It's fun. I highly recommend volunteering in your community.
Tiffany: Yes. yes, I on the Asian District Committee, well I volunteer with my temple youth group. So I do a lot of things that just light my soul and I want to see more representation for Asian Americans ⁓ specifically. So something I'm very passionate about.
Adri: Mm, mhm, yeah.
Tiffany: I don't want to go too long into this because I could talk forever about it.
Adri: Exactly, exactly. you're supporting Asian Americans. I'm supporting women in sports. ⁓ great. ⁓
Tiffany: Love it! We love it!
Adri: there's something that we named back in our episode seven when we talking about clinical experience that I kind of wanted to come back to here in this volunteering specific episode because it adds a little context. So as a pre-AA, it's like a gold standard to get that patient experience. And oftentimes getting that clinical experience often requires already having clinical experience. so Tiffany, tell us a little bit about your story because And getting that clinical experience is ingrained in your story.
Tiffany: Yes, so my story actually starts at my mom's nail salon. I have been working alongside my mom since God, can't even remember. I remember very distinctly at the age of five watching Cartoon Network, behind in the back. But I got my cosmetology license at 16 so I could help her properly and I made.
Adri: Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: in profit went to her. to me, it wasn't a job. It's just what you do when an immigrant's daughter and your family needs you. wasn't thinking about it in terms of my future. I was just showing up, talking to clients, building relationships, building that interpersonal skill, I vividly remember I was 23. I'd been a pediatric pharmacy tech about a year at that time. I had some hospital volunteering on my belt, pushing the care cart at one of the hospitals and bringing snacks and drinks to the floors and getting to talk to patients, but nothing clinical. And I knew I wanted to have that direct patient care. was applying for MA jobs everywhere at that time and getting rejected everywhere. I was so discouraged. There was actually like a $5,000 MA accreditation course sitting in my cart. I was about to pull the trigger. I thought that was the only way to make myself hireable to
Adri: ⁓ my goodness.
Tiffany: hospitals. you know, that's $5,000 I didn't have. I just graduated undergrad.
Adri: Yes.
Tiffany: And I remember one Saturday morning, I was at the salon with my mom and one of my regular clients came in, they always talk about what you want to do with your life. So I was talking, maybe venting a little She mentioned her niece being advanced practice nurse. So an NP with a cardiologist and she actually FaceTimed her right there in the salon while I was doing her nails. And I went to shadow.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: spoke with the cardiologist and two months later I was a working medical assistant with him on the job
Adri: That's just talking to people, and keeping those options open.
Tiffany: yeah, that connection, it because I showed up there consistently for years. talked to people honestly about my journey and a door opened that ⁓ I had been trying to open from outside of that months.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: from there, that's where built that bridge. ⁓
Adri: Yeah. And when do that deliberately, it pays dividends the long But once again, just like everything else in the pre-AA realm, things take longer than we want them to. Hands down, right? It's always a slower process than we may expect. ⁓ like I want to do an anesthesia tech job. I apply for and I get it.
Tiffany: and then just kind of walked across it. Exactly.
Adri: Yeah, that rarely, if ever, happens right that does happen to you, I'm so happy for you. But that is not the norm. I feel like that might be more of an exception, Especially when you don't have an anesthesia tech certification already or something.
Tiffany: ⁓ ⁓ Yeah. Yes. definitely, I got rejected a lot from anesthesia tech positions I think that's the distinction that we want to land that volunteering. can get you into the room before the room has any reason to let you in. It is not standing in for patient care hours, but it's lowering the barrier to that role.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Yeah. And also, your first time inside a hospital, if you're trying to get clinical experience, if it's also your first day on a clinical job, you're doing two things at once. You're learning both the environment and the role simultaneously. Whereas if maybe you were volunteering in an environment that is more medical or healthcare related and you don't come from a medical or healthcare background. that could be very beneficial to lower that barrier.
Tiffany: Yeah, You're getting to learn the environment and the role at the same time and avoiding burnout because that's very common pre-AA spaces. I was just talking to you about this the other day, Adri, off camera. Okay, if volunteering usually doesn't fill the patient care columns, does it on your application at ⁓ all? Is question.
Adri: From on our CASAA applications the 2026 application cycle, yes, there is a section for volunteering. because what's being evaluated isn't just your stats, your numbers, your GPA, your GRE or MCAT scores. Yes, those are important. You have to meet that at least the minimums, but it's building a picture of who you are. Are you someone who does like to give back to the community? Are you someone who cares about others? Showing is much stronger evidence than just telling. you can show by doing, which is volunteering, about something that you're passionate about. Anything you're passionate about doesn't have to be healthy.
Tiffany: Yes. Yes, and that connects right back to what we keep hearing Find something that meaningful and impactful for you. That's if you take one thing away from this episode, that is it.
Adri: Mm-hmm. So the that I think is gonna read well when we're interviewing and applying, not just for the anesthesiologist assistant profession, but for like any job that you do or any future position you hold, whether it's in your community or outside of it, is that when you show up authentically, it shines through. And authenticity comes through in things that you about.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm.
Adri: So if you are passionate about animals and you volunteer at the Humane Society that will show through. And you're still collaborating,
Tiffany: Right. Yes, and that's ⁓ one the main reasons I volunteered with the Asian Night Market Festival here in my city. I am very about different cultures and ⁓ that's 100 % like I could sit and talk to you about all day. does it have anything to do with being an AA? but does it make me a well-rounded person? Someone that truly cares about Asian American representation. Yes. And it's a part of me. So
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and that is authentically you and makes you unique too, So let's talk a little bit about some of the constraints with volunteering specifically.
Tiffany: Yes, takes that you may not have. ⁓ A lot of us, like we have said, we working full time, doing graduate courses or doing prerequisites. Some are parents. my I don't know how you guys are doing this. You're superheroes. telling someone like that to go log 100 hours, that is not free It costs them something. A lot of sacrifices would have to be made.
Adri: Yeah. I'd rather, someone do a small of something that genuinely fits their life than burn themselves trying to do something that they don't care about, like to chase a number. So if you are a a parent, maybe you can volunteer at their school on occasion, once a month, a couple hours. that adds up.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm. But ⁓ if healthcare volunteering is what you can access, Great. ⁓ Use it as the bridge can be. But if it's not, like you said, Adri, the volunteering you already still counts toward the picture who are.
Adri: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Tiffany: You don't have to manufacture a clinical looking version of your life to be a real applicant.
Adri: Ten out of ten, Tiffany. All right. So hop into some of the key takeaways for this nice quick little episode. Tiffany, takeaway one.
Tiffany: Mm-hmm. thanks. ⁓ Take away one, there is no published hour requirement. 100+ is obviously a pattern that we see, but it is not a target that we are handing to you.
Adri: All right. takeaway number two, is that it matters more that the volunteering is more meaningful and impactful and important to you and it doesn't matter as much what kind of volunteering specifically it is.
Tiffany: Takeaway if you're trying to break into clinical work, healthcare or volunteering can be a bridge into a role, ⁓ but not a replacement for one.
Adri: And one thing you can do after this episode is look at how you already spend your time. Find the volunteering that actually matters to you and the that fits into your schedule, the one that you would keep doing anyway, that goes in alignment with your current lifestyle and your current life. and then practice about it, see how it fits, how it shares who you are ⁓ and can paint that holistic picture for your application.
Tiffany: time we're getting into one of the most asked about pieces of the whole process, which is standardized testing and how to think about which exam path is right for you.
Adri: you'll get to hear Tiffany's experience with the MCAT and my experience with the GRE, both failures successes.
Tiffany: this Pre-AA Pathways.
Adri: See you next time.
