Best way to get observational hours

[PrePTstudent]

I recently finished my first year of college. I am going to be a sophomore next semester. Over the summer, I want to do some observational hours. What is the best way of earning observational hours? Do you contact clinics "cold"?

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[TooCool]

Go to hospital's websites and they usually have a volunteer section. They make you go through orientation and take some TB tests and all that. Or you can just call physical therapy clinics. I am sure they all are aware of this requirement and would gladly allow you to shadow them.

 

[markelmarcel]

They make you go through orientation and take some TB tests and all that.

I didn't have to do any of that for my time at the hospital I went to... I mean, I had to sign the privacy papers and all that jazz, but there was no orientation or testing or anything. I also live in a small town, so that could have something to do with it.


Anyway- I just placed phone calls to everywhere I was interested in shadowing/observing and they all called me back with a plan of when to do it!

 

[HouTXdude]

I didn't have to do any of that for my time at the hospital I went to... I mean, I had to sign the privacy papers and all that jazz, but there was no orientation or testing or anything. I also live in a small town, so that could have something to do with it.

I volunteered at a hospital, and we had to get an interview, background check, TB test, and also 3 day training...which was a complete waste of time, however there were many young high school kids volunteering who really didn't seem involved. The setup was obviously designed to prevent people from committing, and to discourage those who really weren't showing actual interest in being there.

 

[PrePTstudent]

Thank you! I contacted my local hospital unfortunately, they are already full. I am planning on contacting clinics.

 

[okramango]

I live in an urban area and have been having trouble finding an acute care setting where I can shadow. There are two major hospitals near me, and I sent volunteer applications to both of them via their websites over a month ago, but have heard nothing from either or them. The volunteering websites for both hospitals clearly request that people do not call or email to inquire. One application involved obtaining two letters of reference.

These next couple of months are the perfect time for me to get shadowing hours, but I can't find a setting! Now I'm thinking about applying to hospitals that are further away, in different cities, and possibly commuting 30-45 minutes for my acute care shadowing experience. I think the hospitals get too many people wanting to volunteer and just don't have enough space.

 

[TooCool]

Yeah one of the hospitals had a 6-8 month waiting list to shadow PTs! 2 hospitals req'd orientation and all that extra stuff and required you to do misc tasks for a week before being able to shadow. Another hospital let me start right away. TB tests are important cause you will be having patient contact, not necessarily hands on, but close enough contact that they dont want people spreading anything.

If they are taking too long to reply back I would just go to the hospital and talk to the volunteer coordinator in the volunteer dept. Usually hospitals have a volunteer office to speak to someone.

I applied to volunteer at the Childrens hospital and they responded back and said they were no longer taking any more volunteers cause there were too many! I know of a few nurses that have their license and cannot find a job so they are volunteering in hopes of networking and hopefully getting a job in that hospital. Alot of people are unemployed and they wanna do something with their time while getting connections so that is why they are volunteering.

 

[NeophyteParkour]

I've never had any trouble asking places if they'd let me volunteer or intern. The first place I went to initially told me no, but they would let me come in one day to shadow. However at the end of the day they told me I could come back, and I ended up volunteering there for a few months.
Both methods of calling and showing up at a clinic unannounced worked for me.

Though like others said, some places will want you to fill out a lot of paperwork and go through several interviews, and others will just say come right in.

 

[Myze]

I just cold called about 4 different Pt offices around my city. One of them got back to me after two days, so it all worked out. Basically, just tell them your situation "I'm a student a _____, and I'm interested in Physical Therapy. Does your PT allow shadowing/volunteering?"

Normally they'll ask you how many hours, how many times a week, and for how long. I haven't tried hospitals yet though, but these private places seem alright.

 

[okramango]

I finally got a call back from a hospital where I applied to volunteer about 2 months ago. They said that I would need to volunteer in their gift shop for 50 hours first, and then maybe I could be transferred to the PT department, or put on a waiting list!

Looks like it's time to start calling or showing up at hospitals in other cities to try getting a shadowing job.

I'm sure it will be easier to get shadowing experience at private outpatient clinics, but since most schools require acute inpatient settings, I'm trying to get that done first.

 

[jbizzle]

I finally got a call back from a hospital where I applied to volunteer about 2 months ago. They said that I would need to volunteer in their gift shop for 50 hours first, and then maybe I could be transferred to the PT department, or put on a waiting list!

Whoa! Thats crazy. What city do you live in?

 

[okramango]

Whoa! Thats crazy. What city do you live in?

I'm in the east bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. It was a Kaiser Hospital that gave me the bureaucratic runaround (but it was also the only hospital that actually called me back).

Has anyone else shadowed in a hospital in the SF Bay Area?

 

[markelmarcel]

They said that I would need to volunteer in their gift shop for 50 hours first, and then maybe I could be transferred to the PT department, or put on a waiting list!

The gift shop?!?! That is obnoxiously terrible. Seriously. Sometimes it irks me because doctors, nurses, PTs, etc who work at hospitals had to go and shadow someone at some point, you think they'd be more willing to help out. (I know it's more complicated than that at times, but seriously!)

 

[TooCool]

Yup that's what I had to do to. It was a 'probationary' period since Kaiser is all about customer service they wanted to make sure the volunteers past the probationary period. Pretty silly since we are just wanting to get observation hours. Luckily I was able to talk to the volunteer coordinator and got it down to 10 hours. Alot of these hospitals will make you jump through a few hoops to get into the dept you wanna volunteer for. So if you can find a private practice do that. BUT the hospital does seem like the only way to get acute and inpatient observation hours.

 

[knschwar]

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[PrePTstudent]

I actually ended up calling a rehab institute that is part of another nearby hospital, and I talked to the physical therapy supervisor, and she helped me get all set up. I still have to do paperwork and get TB test through the hospital's volunteer's office, but as soon as thats done, i'll get to start observing. So it worked out.