- Joined
- Mar 12, 2008
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Hello,
I have volunteered many hours as a phone counselor at the local crisis hotline. I have handled calls including suicide intervention, depression, drug/alcohol addiction, self-mutilation, depression, nursing home patients, and many others. I received 3-4 months of training and several screenings before they even let me get on the lines.
While some of the calls are non-crisis, and sometimes you sit around waiting for calls, but many calls are intense and emotionally draining. It seems to me that handling 4 hour suicide intervention calls should, at the very least, be considered equivalent to working with patients at a local clinic or hospital.
Does this count as "patient contact" or will medical schools prefer face-to-face contact in a doctor's office or hospital? Should I try to volunteer at a hospital or clinic in addition to this?
I have volunteered many hours as a phone counselor at the local crisis hotline. I have handled calls including suicide intervention, depression, drug/alcohol addiction, self-mutilation, depression, nursing home patients, and many others. I received 3-4 months of training and several screenings before they even let me get on the lines.
While some of the calls are non-crisis, and sometimes you sit around waiting for calls, but many calls are intense and emotionally draining. It seems to me that handling 4 hour suicide intervention calls should, at the very least, be considered equivalent to working with patients at a local clinic or hospital.
Does this count as "patient contact" or will medical schools prefer face-to-face contact in a doctor's office or hospital? Should I try to volunteer at a hospital or clinic in addition to this?