Community Engagement

Health professional programs expect applicants to demonstrate a desire to help, work with, and understand others.

Community engagement does not need to be healthcare related. Follow your interests, seek out meaningful experiences, and demonstrate a service orientation as well as other interpersonal competencies.

Volunteer with people and directly serve Northeastern’s diverse population and our surrounding communities. Engage with your campus community, and get involved with student organizations that interest you. Visit Northeastern’s City and Community Engagement program to learn about opportunities or check out one of the many sites below.

Join a Northeastern Student Organization

College is a time to explore new interests, make friends, establish relationships, and gain leadership experience. It is important to make time for meaningful extracurricular activities, in addition to studying. One of the best ways to find students who share your interests and/or career goals is to become involved in a student organization on campus!

Below are just a few you may consider. A full listing of NU student organizations can be found online here.

Alpha Epsilon Delta (The National Health Preprofessional Honor Society)

Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) is the National Health Preprofessional Honor Society dedicated to the encouragement and recognition of excellence in preprofessional health scholarship. Northeastern’s chapter includes undergraduate students on the pre-med, pre-PA, pre-vet, pre-PT and pre-dental track.

American Medical Student Association (NU AMSA)

NU AMSA offers students from all backgrounds a chance to join a community of pre-medical focused individuals like themselves. We provide helpful seminars and activities, invite speakers and collaborate with other organizations to help guide you through your journey, no matter what stage.

American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA)

The American Medical Women’s Association is an organization which functions at the local, national, and international level to advance women in medicine and improve women’s health. We achieve this by providing and developing leadership, advocacy, education, expertise, mentoring, and strategic alliances.

Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (MAPS)

The Northeastern University MAPS chapter exists to support current and future underrepresented medical students, addressing the needs of underserved communities, and increasing the number of clinically excellent, culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.

Pre-Dental Association

The Pre-Dental Association is a student organization at Northeastern University comprised of those students aspiring to pursue careers in the dental profession.  We meet monthly to discuss the application process, examine strategies for facing the Dental Admission Test and engage in activities that broaden our understanding of dentistry.

Pre-Physician Assistant Society (Pre-PA Society)

The purpose of the Pre-PA Society is to educate students about the PA profession and guide those interested in pursuing this career. The Society will help students decipher required coursework and promote academic achievement, as well as aid in the preparation for the graduate school admission process. Furthermore, interactions with health care professionals and graduate students will give undergraduates insight to this rapidly growing and competitive field. Society meetings will also help to facilitate communication among pre-PA students.

Pre-Veterinary Club (NUPVC)

Northeastern University Pre-Veterinary Club (NUPVC) is a group for students who are considering applying to veterinary school, and students with an interest in any field of veterinary medicine.

The Student Osteopathic Medical Association (Pre-SOMA)

The purpose of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, the student affiliate organization of the American Osteopathic Association, is to promote osteopathic ideals and unity within the profession, to educate future osteopathic physicians, and to establish and to maintain lines of communication among healthcare professionals in an ongoing effort to improve the quality of healthcare.

Virtual Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering virtually allows applicants to provide essential support to communities in need without the barriers imposed by physical location. Virtual volunteering is safe, can be global in scope, and may be accommodated alongside a busy academic and/or work schedule.

  • Mentor with CovEducation
    • CovEd is a platform that connects K-12 students seeking tutoring with volunteer college students offering to mentor students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mentors are responsible for volunteering a minimum of one to two hours a week of their time to help their matched mentee with the subjects the mentee requests help in. While a mentor is only matched with one mentee, they can reach out if they would like to mentor more.
  • Become a Counselor with Crisis Text Line
    • Crisis Text Line is the free, 24/7 text line for people in crisis in the United States. The service is powered by volunteer Crisis Counselors who work remotely—anywhere with a computer and secure internet connection works. Crisis Counselors answer texts from people in crisis, bringing them from a hot moment to a cool calm through active listening, collaborative problem solving, and safety planning.
    • When you think about volunteers, the typical image of a team or community group planting a garden, revitalizing a local park or painting a lively mural at a school comes to mind. Yet all around the globe, at any given time, thousands (if not millions) of engaged citizens volunteer virtually — using their computers, the Internet, even their smart phones. Virtual volunteers can complete short-term or long-term tasks, in whole or in part, typically off-site from the organization or person being assisted. If you’ve got access to a computer, thousands of different volunteer projects and roles are available to you — from your home, the library, a coffee shop, anywhere with an Internet connection.
  • Operation Warm
    • Nonprofit organizations often work with a small staff and tiny budgets. It makes a big difference to these charities when volunteers step in to help. Browse our list of 25 volunteer jobs to do from home. You may just find a fun volunteer project and find an easy way to help a good cause.
  • Paper Airplanes Virtual Tutoring
    • Paper Airplanes provides free, one-on-one virtual language and skills instruction to people affected by conflict. Our goal is to help our students learn critical languages and marketable skills for their pursuit of higher education and employment. We currently have five programs: English, Turkish, Youth Exchange, Women in Tech (computer coding), and Journalism. The time commitment is approximately 2 hours per week, which includes prep time. You will meet with your student once per week for a 1.5 hour session via Skype. We provide the curriculum, but you will need to do some basic lesson planning to match the curriculum to your student’s needs.
  • Find Online Tutoring Opportunities through Summer Camp Hub

    • While it might not be possible to do certain in-person volunteering activities during this period, there are several other ways you can help. Online tutoring volunteer opportunities consist of helping children improve their literacy skills, teaching them how to code or help them better understand math and science. There is a wide variety of virtual tutoring options available to those who want to dedicate their time to helping students, especially those in low-income underserved communities. Whether you’re a high school student, college student, professor, or industry professional, here are some places you can volunteer.

Clinical Volunteer Opportunities

Given applicants’ strong interest in healthcare and medicine, many choose to volunteer in clinical settings. While clinical volunteer work is not required, it can provide applicants with a basic understanding of the healthcare setting and allow them the opportunity to give back to underserved or underrepresented populations in medicine.