Community Engagement
Health professional programs expect applicants to demonstrate a desire to help, work with, and understand others.
Working in healthcare requires a service orientation and commitment to your community. Engage your campus community through student organizations, a Community Service & Civic Engagement program, and/or a Service-Learning course. Volunteer in meaningful ways to become an engaged and educated citizen dedicated to helping others.
The Active Citizen Continuum. Break Away. Retrieved August 14, 2023, from http://alternativebreaks.org
Campus Involvement
College is a time to explore new interests, make friends, establish relationships, and gain teamwork experience. It is important to make time for meaningful extracurricular activities that allow you to actively engage with and give back to your community, in addition to studying. One of the best ways to create connections with others who share your ideals, interests, and/or career goals is to become involved on campus!
The websites below will help you begin your quest to find engaging and meaningful opportunities on our campuses.
Boston
Center for Student Involvement
Cultural and Spiritual Life Centers
Office of Community Service & Civic Engagement
London
Northeastern University Student Union (NUSU) London
Oakland
The Center for Leadership, Equity, and Excellence
PreMed and PreHealth Student Organizations
Included in the resources above are Boston-based student organizations centered on professional interests and aspirations in the areas we advise. They include but are not limited to the following. A full listing of student organizations at Northeastern University can be found here (Boston) and here (Oakland).
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.
inSIGHT
inSIGHT is an organization that provides a foundation for students who have an interest in an eye-health related field. We plan to host meetings where we will invite professionals from the field to talk about their careers, share scientific articles about the most recent advances in the “eye world”, talk about upcoming application due dates and testing strategies, and network with graduate programs to learn more about educational opportunities in this field. Overall, we will help each other figure out what is best for us in terms of a career!
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.
Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity
Phi Delta Epsilon was founded in 1904 at Cornell University Medical College and since then has amassed more than 150 medical and premedical chapters around the world. Students at Northeastern University could be potentially invited into an expansive network of physicians and students which embraces diversity and pushes its members towards achieving the highest standards in the medical community.
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
- Become a Counselor with Crisis Text Line
- Be My Eyes
- Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC)
- Boston Cares
- Catholic Charities Boston (see virtual opportunities)
- City of Hope
- Crisis Text Line
- Dress for Success (virtual suiting program)
- Operation Warm
- Paper Airplanes Virtual Tutoring
- Planned Parenthood
- Potencia Tutoring
- Reading Partners
- Code.org
- LearnToBe.org
- LGBT National Help Center
- UPchieve.org
- TeensGive.org
- Translators without Borders
- Cards for Hospitalized Kids
- DOROT’s Caring Calls Program
- Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) Hotline
- Tarjimly
- Suicide Prevention Lifeline Volunteer
- Find Virtual Volunteer Opportunities on Points of Light’s Volunteer Hub
Community & Healthcare Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering in healthcare settings can provide applicants with a basic understanding of healthcare systems while allowing them the opportunity to give back in clinical settings.
By Location:
BOSTON HOSPITALS AND HEALTH CENTERS
- Link Health Fellows and Ambassadors Program – Multiple Locations (Connecting patients with federal benefits programs).
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Boston Children’s Hospital
- Boston Medical Center
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital MCEP Volunteer Program
- Dana-Farber Cancer Center
- Franciscan Children’s Hospital
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Massachusetts Eye and Ear
- New England Baptist Hospital
- Tufts Medical Center
GREATER MASSACHUSETTS HOSPITALS
- Cape Cod Hospital (Hyannis)
- Faulkner Hospital
- Lowell General (Lowell)
- Mount Auburn Hospital (Cambridge)
- Newton Wellesley Hospital (Newton)
- Umass Memorial Medical Center (Worcester)
BAY AREA/OAKLAND
Community Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering with your local community can provide applicants with a basic understanding of community needs while allowing them the opportunity to give back to underserved or underrepresented populations.
By Service Type:
CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts
- Big Sister Boston
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston
- Camp Boggy Creek
- Christopher’s Haven
- City Year AmeriCorps
- East End House
- Horizon’s for Homeless Children Playspace Volunteer
- Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Boston
- Jewish Family and Children’s Service
- Partners For Youth with Disabilities
- Ronald McDonald House
- StandUp For Kids
- The Baker Center For Children and Families
- The Home For Little Wanderers
- Yawkey Family Inn at Boston Children’s Hospital
COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES
- AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts
- Boston Living Center (supporting HIV positive individuals)
- City Natives (community garden and learning center – help combat food insecurity in the city)
- Community Servings (food insecurity)
- East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
- Family Van
- Fenway Health
- Habitat for Humanity
- Haley House
- Health Leads
- Hospice of Massachusetts
- Hope Lodge through the American Cancer Society
- Justice Resource Institute
- Make-A-Wish Foundation
- My Brother’s Table
- Oxfam America Interns and Volunteer
- Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
- Rescuing Leftover Food
- Shattuck Partners
- Spaulding Rehab Hospital Adaptive Sports Program
- The Greater Boston Food Bank
- The Junior League of Boston
- United Way of Massachusetts Bay
HOMELESS SERVICES
- Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program
- New England Center for Homeless Veterans
- Pine Street Inn
- Rosie’s Place
- St Francis House
- Women’s Lunch Place
MENTAL HEALTH/IDENTITY AFFIRMING/CRISIS SUPPORT
- Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
- Boston Rescue Mission
- Casa Myrna (supporting victims of domestic violence)
- Crisis Text Line Volunteer
- Fenway Health Center Helpline/Peer Listening Line (serving the LGBTQ community)
- McLean Hospital
- NAMI of MA Volunteer
- Parents Helping Patients
- Samaritan’s: You are not Alone
- The Baker Center For Children and Families
- Trevor Project Crisis Support Counselor Volunteer
ELDER CARE
- Ethos (supporting elderly community members)
- Friendship Works
- Hebrew Senior Life
- Somerville and Cambridge Elder Services
VETERINARY SERVICES
- Animal Adventures
- Animal Hospitals (multiple MA locations)
- Animal Rescue League Boston
- City of Boston Care and Control Shelter
- Dog B.O.N.E.S.
- Envisioning Access
- Franklin Park Zoo
- Gifford Cat Shelter
- MSPCA (Animal Hospital/Shelter)
- Massachusetts Animal Medical Center
- Lovelane: Special Needs Horseback Riding Program
- New England Aquarium
- New England Aquarium (Marine Mammal Husbandry Internship)
- New England Wildlife Center
- Quincy Animal Shelter
- The Boston Cat Hospital
- Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Volunteer Opportunities
- VetCor