"Clinical" volunteering

[ohioguy]

So sitting here on 3 wait-lists I've been trying to strengthen my clinical experience for next cycle. I transferred from the OR (which was awesome) to the gross pathology lab.

My volunteer coordinator told me other volunteers loved this gig but the past 3 times I've been doing nothing but organizing bioposy slides.

Today I was organizing an endless amount of slides while the person being paid to do it was texting on her phone right next to me.

I was told that I'll get to observe some autopsies but I'm doubting that will happen anytime soon considering they happen on a seemingly random basis.

...just wanted to hear others thoughts before I go back to the OR or do something else.

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[Myro]

You said you wanted to strengthen your clinical experience. If you think organizing slides is considered a strength, then keep doing it. If you don't, then go back to the OR or find another gig.

 

[Catalystik]

To gain quality active clinical experience, ideally, you'd find a position where you interact with patients, rather than with pieces of them. Were you able to do more along those lines when you volunteered in the OR?

 

[At0mic]

Judging by the thread title, it sounds like you realize that this isn't really clinical experience. I definitely think you should switch to an area where you can get patient exposure and interaction. If this is what you were getting in the OR, then it'd be to your benefit to switch back.

 

[kami333]

My volunteer coordinator told me other volunteers loved this gig but the past 3 times I've been doing nothing but organizing bioposy slides.

What did they love about it? Looking at (and learning to read) pathology slides is cool, but is that what you want to gain from volunteering (ignoring the whole "volunteering isn't just about what you gain" argument)? Or do you want patient contact?

 

[LizzyM]

What did they love about it? Looking at (and learning to read) pathology slides is cool, but is that what you want to gain from volunteering (ignoring the whole "volunteering isn't just about what you gain" argument)? Or do you want patient contact?

I've worked with path slides (as a grad student) and you don't learn to read them. You handle them (by the edges), put them into shipping containers or storage containers. You never handle a microscope.

I agree that an opportunity to interact with patients who can talk back might be a better experience for this guy.

 

[dancerdoc89]

I shadowed in a pathology dept. before and it was just as awesome for me as OR was probably for you...I can see where you're coming from in terms of sorting slides, as I did the exact same thing. And of course, there's nothing too clinical about that. However, besides gross pathology, is there cytology? Or some other sub-dept. in pathology that you can hang around in? I had also shadowed in cytology and they did a ton of FNAs which really gave me a good portion of clinical experience. It was interesting to see the work of pathologists both at the bedside and in the lab.