Hospital Volunteer Interview Mess-up?

[littlebird03]

Hey guys,

I'm applying to be a hospital volunteer at my university, and the process has been pretty rigorous so far. It has included an application with essays and two LoR's, and it will eventually require tons of health screenings, drug tests, background tests, and TB tests if all goes well. I haven't had luck in landing a volunteer position yet because of poor application timing or not having recommenders ready, so this time I'm really working to pull this off and nail it down.

Upon receipt of my second LoR, the department immediately called me to schedule an interview which I'm super psyched for, but there was an issue in scheduling. Initially, she set up a time on 9/1, but I have my first day of class at the precise time she suggested... :/ It was really bad luck, but I offered to schedule it earlier in the week or at the next, earliest availability, and she ended up scheduling me for an interview on 9/7.

Does all of the rescheduling hurt my chances with getting a position? Did my rejection of the first time put the department off of me volunteering so they put me a week later? The site says they're conducting volunteer interviews from the end of August through 9/23... I'm just worried spots will fill up by the time I'm interviewed.

Sorry if I'm neurotically ranting. I'm just really eager to start getting real exposure and don't want to miss out over a silly mistake gah!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Arturiase]

lol
from personal experience I don't think a hospital is gonna reject a volunteer unless you said something like I hate patients. I wouldn't worry about it, plus its only a reschedule. I don't think the volunteer positions are that competitive at least when I had an interview for volunteering it was mostly just a orientation style, focusing on the hospital goals/mission. your over worrying

 

[Ismet]

1. Take a deep breath
2. Take another one
3. This is not something to worry about
4. You're allowed to have a life and school and conflicts. That's part of being an adult and responsibly managing your schedule, and you made the change well before the date.
5. Do you honestly think that if they're interviewing through 9/23 that spots are going to fill up 2 weeks prior? They're not.

 

[neature]

I would highly doubt rescheduling would hurt your chances of getting a volunteer position. In my experience, volunteer interviews have been a formality and are more focused on picking the position/department and getting on the schedule to start or be trained. If you get an interview it's usually because they already would like to have you as a volunteer.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Kurk]

Wow and I thought trying to interview as a high-school student for hospital volunteering was pretty competitive.

 

[DingoPingo]

This is why I never signed up to volunteer at the hospital.

There are easier ways of getting exposure than going through all of that nonsense.

Think outside of the box.

 

[doctork10]

I'm sure everything will be fine! I'm currently a volunteer in a local ER. From personal experience, the volunteer coordinators are always willing to work with you! I wish you the best of luck. Volunteering in a hospital has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.

 

[Lost in Translation]

This is why I never signed up to volunteer at the hospital.

There are easier ways of getting exposure than going through all of that nonsense.

Think outside of the box.

Depending on what you do, no there isn't. For example, I'm (allegedly; no one else–including the EMTs in the class–raised their hand when the CPR instructor asked the class if anyone had performed CPR before) the only one in my class of ~170 that had ever performed CPR on a human, and it was during my time volunteering. Yes, some hospital volunteering is garbage for clinical/hands-on experience. But some (like the one I did) give you an extremely unique experience.

 

[DingoPingo]

Depending on what you do, no there isn't. For example, I'm (allegedly; no one else–including the EMTs in the class–raised their hand when the CPR instructor asked the class if anyone had performed CPR before) the only one in my class of ~170 that had ever performed CPR on a human, and it was during my time volunteering. Yes, some hospital volunteering is garbage for clinical/hands-on experience. But some (like the one I did) give you an extremely unique experience.

Well if you volunteer as an EMT you probably have a good chance to perform CPR as well. I don't necessarily think that being in a hospital is the only way to get the chance to interact with patients. Either way, I feel like usually there are shortcuts in getting into hospitals.

 

[Lost in Translation]

Well if you volunteer as an EMT you probably have a good chance to perform CPR as well.

That's all dependent on location. In a (big) city? Yes. In the suburbs? Most of your calls will be taxi rides.

I don't necessarily think that being in a hospital is the only way to get the chance to interact with patients.

No, it's not, but if you can find a good program it's really second to none.

 

[Wolfpack93]

Depending on what you do, no there isn't. For example, I'm (allegedly; no one else–including the EMTs in the class–raised their hand when the CPR instructor asked the class if anyone had performed CPR before) the only one in my class of ~170 that had ever performed CPR on a human, and it was during my time volunteering. Yes, some hospital volunteering is garbage for clinical/hands-on experience. But some (like the one I did) give you an extremely unique experience.

What? That's awesome. The volunteers at the hospital I work at show patients to rooms and give them blankets. Was the patient pretty much dead on arrival? Just seems pretty crazy to me they'd let a volunteer do CPR haha.

 

[Lost in Translation]

What? That's awesome. The volunteers at the hospital I work at show patients to rooms and give them blankets. Was the patient pretty much dead on arrival? Just seems pretty crazy to me they'd let a volunteer do CPR haha.

EMS brought them in and they were already doing compressions. They tried to resus with all sorts of drugs, which took about 15 minutes, so I was in the CPR rotation (had med students doing the compressions). I remember there being a shockable rhythm, but the patient still wouldn't come back. After bicarb didn't do anything, the PGY4 running the trauma called it.

 

[Ismet]

What? That's awesome. The volunteers at the hospital I work at show patients to rooms and give them blankets. Was the patient pretty much dead on arrival? Just seems pretty crazy to me they'd let a volunteer do CPR haha.

Anyone can do compressions. And there are plenty of people around who will correct you if you're not doing it right. It's pretty exhausting doing high-quality compressions, so the more people there are, the less fatigued compressors will be.

 

[DokterMom]

This is why I never signed up to volunteer at the hospital.

There are easier ways of getting exposure than going through all of that nonsense.

Think outside of the box.

Seriously -- There are 'cushy /convenient ' places that have waiting lists for volunteers and less desirable places that will snap you up in a second. Look for those.

 

[235009]

Does all of the rescheduling hurt my chances with getting a position? Did my rejection of the first time put the department off of me volunteering so they put me a week later? The site says they're conducting volunteer interviews from the end of August through 9/23... I'm just worried spots will fill up by the time I'm interviewed.

Sorry if I'm neurotically ranting. I'm just really eager to start getting real exposure and don't want to miss out over a silly mistake gah!

Sounds like you're quite new to this whole real world and being an adult thing.

The sooner you stop sweating the little things the happier you'll be.

 

[genericscreenname]

Essays and LORs for a generic hospital volunteer spot? Talk about overkill. It seems you're pretty close to getting it so stick with it, but there's so many other places that are easier to get into if you want to volunteer elsewhere in the future. I had to interview for one but I'm sure there's others that don't even ask for that.

And no, I highly doubt that would affect anything at all.

 

[stitch_rose]

If the hospital did penalize you for rescheduling due to class then you probably shouldn't volunteer with them...