Hospice

[USCguy]

An email came across our premed listserv the other day and it had an ad for volunteers to work with Hospice. I'm thinking of volunteering for it. Questions:

A) Would this be viewed as "clinical" health care experience by an adcom?

B) Would this help me get over my fear of death/end of life?

C) Have any of you volunteered with hospice before? I'm thinking you would meet some really great people and some people that really sucked to be around (but can you really judge someone who is terminal)...

thanks

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[adennis]

A) Would this be viewed as "clinical" health care experience by an adcom?

B) Would this help me get over my fear of death/end of life?

C) Have any of you volunteered with hospice before? I'm thinking you would meet some really great people and some people that really sucked to be around (but can you really judge someone who is terminal)...

thanks

In answer to your questions...

Yes, hospice volunteer work should be viewed as clinical health care experience.
I don't know if it would help you get over your fear of death/end of life.. I think it's an individual thing. Some people when faced with death come to grips with it and some fear it more...
I considered volunteering with hospice a few years ago... I even went through the training and then decided against it based on my own personal principles.

I've heard wonderful things about hospice organizations.. my only recommendation if you do it is that you do it because you WANT to do it.. not because admins like it or other people are doing it...

 

[mj1878]

If I were you I would volunteer in a clinical setting that interests you. You'll be working around death your whole life if you become a physician; trying to "get over" your fear of death isn't something that I'm sure you can just "do".

Volunteer in an ER; you get to see a lot of different things, and also it's a great networking opportunity(you'll meet nurses and physicians, and you can pick their brains).

Also, I think that ADCOMS are looking for more out of you than volunteering in a clinical setting; a volunteer has a very limited set of things that they can do. You need to actually work as a nurse aide, or a phlebotomist, or something like that that shows that you've really been in the trenches and seen/done a lot. As a volunteer you only really get to fetch towels, stock gauze and fluff pillows. Get a job in a clinical setting and you'll probably see some death, but you'll also see many people overcoming incredible hurdles, and you'll probably be inspired.

 

[MDhopeful023]

I agree with the above statement, "Do it if you want to do it... not because it will be looked favorly by adcoms..."

I have been volunteering with a hospice for 8 months now and I love it... again you see terminally ill patients and you have to understand that it is really individual how you view death/dying... I had questions about hospice due to my own experience and I really wanted to know how hospice care was like...

It is a very humbling experience... to see these patients in their last days but ironically most of them are very brave...

Good luck to you!

 

[Marjoe]

An email came across our premed listserv the other day and it had an ad for volunteers to work with Hospice. I'm thinking of volunteering for it. Questions:

A) Would this be viewed as "clinical" health care experience by an adcom?

B) Would this help me get over my fear of death/end of life?

C) Have any of you volunteered with hospice before? I'm thinking you would meet some really great people and some people that really sucked to be around (but can you really judge someone who is terminal)...

thanks

A) I volunteered for a hospice in Flagstaff, AZ for 3 years during my undergrad. It is viewed as clinical experience, and is a great way to get the clinical experience.

B) If it doesn't help you get over your fear, it will sure give you a new way to look at death and dying.

C) You will meet some fantastic people who you will never forget!!

 

[scpod]

An email came across our premed listserv the other day and it had an ad for volunteers to work with Hospice. I'm thinking of volunteering for it. Questions:

A) Would this be viewed as "clinical" health care experience by an adcom?

B) Would this help me get over my fear of death/end of life?

C) Have any of you volunteered with hospice before? I'm thinking you would meet some really great people and some people that really sucked to be around (but can you really judge someone who is terminal)...

thanks

I spent a year volunteering one day a week in the ER at Palmetto Richland in Columbia. Charrity Garris, the Director, wrote one heck of an awesome letter of recommendation for me. You might try that as well.

 

[notnarcsDO]

I am not sure that it would be considered clinical experience, because you are not involved in the caregiving, however, I have been told by many that it is a favorable thing to have because it shows compassion and the emotional maturity to handle difficult situations. I have been a hospice volunteer for one year now, and I am trying not to be trite, but it has been the most rewarding volunteer experience that I have ever had. To many, the word hospice brings to mind a program designed to let people die, however hospice's purpose is to "affirm life". Fearing death is a personal thing based on faith, however hospice experience can show you that death is not always a miserable and painful experience. I think that hospice is something that every medical student should experience.