Volunteer opportunities

[DrET]

Radiation oncology fascinates me, however I have had little exposure to it. I recently decided to defer medical school for a year and was hoping I could get some experience/exposure to the field in the next 12 months (I live in San Diego and will attend UWisc next August 2006). I've been having a difficult time finding someone to shadow or volunteer with. The local hospitals (including teaching hospitals) provide a general volunteer training followed by you selecting a position from many departments and usually rad onc is not one of them. Does anybody have any suggestions about volunteer opportunities or how to gain exposure to this field? Thanks a lot!

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[DrBowtie]

I was wondering the same thing. I think I am just going to shoot the Chair or PD a letter or email entailing my CV and a cover letter of my intent. I hope they will be able to take me on as a volunteer autonomously since as you mentioned, rad onc usually isn't on the list.

 

[stephew]

Radiation oncology fascinates me, however I have had little exposure to it. I recently decided to defer medical school for a year and was hoping I could get some experience/exposure to the field in the next 12 months (I live in San Diego and will attend UWisc next August 2006). I've been having a difficult time finding someone to shadow or volunteer with. The local hospitals (including teaching hospitals) provide a general volunteer training followed by you selecting a position from many departments and usually rad onc is not one of them. Does anybody have any suggestions about volunteer opportunities or how to gain exposure to this field? Thanks a lot!

uwisc has one of the best programs out there.

 

[DrBowtie]

Stephew, have you seen or heard of any volunteers within your department? I am interested but I think that I would need some sort of training in order to make sure I follow the safety protocols. Do you think my above way would be the correct route to investigate the possibilities?

 

[stephew]

Stephew, have you seen or heard of any volunteers within your department? I am interested but I think that I would need some sort of training in order to make sure I follow the safety protocols. Do you think my above way would be the correct route to investigate the possibilities?

we get a few folks who come to do research. there isnt much (anything?) to learn with regard to safety as you wouldnt be exposed to anything. The only open sources are brachytherapy and that's only if youre practicing in the clinc. It depends if youre donig research or some clinic related volunteer stuff. id have to ask how one gets hooked up w/that.

 

[penumbra]

Radiation oncology fascinates me, however I have had little exposure to it. I recently decided to defer medical school for a year and was hoping I could get some experience/exposure to the field in the next 12 months (I live in San Diego and will attend UWisc next August 2006). I've been having a difficult time finding someone to shadow or volunteer with. The local hospitals (including teaching hospitals) provide a general volunteer training followed by you selecting a position from many departments and usually rad onc is not one of them. Does anybody have any suggestions about volunteer opportunities or how to gain exposure to this field? Thanks a lot!

From what everyone has noted on the forum, forget volunteering. Do RESEARCH! If you're interested in this absolutely AMAZING field, shadow someone at a local hospital. Make sure you get to see some brachytherapy, some simulation and talk to the physicists and dosimetrists. If you have a feeling that you might like it, DO RESEARCH. If you're not sure, then just work on something with cancer. That's general enough to help you in the future for surgery or medicine if you decided that radonc is not for you. At this point, volunteering in this area is not very helpful, especially since you've been accepted into med school