A Brief Volunteering Question...

[ballershotcalla]

Is pushing people on wheelchairs considered "clinical experience"? Because if it is...I love my job!

The hospital that just accepted me for volunteering has given me this position...

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[mongrel]

Is pushing people on wheelchairs considered "clinical experience"?

Could you smell the person you were pushing?

If so, then yes.

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

Yes, that's clinical experience. But remember, it's not what you do, it's what you learn from it. If all you're doing is transporting patients, then it's not a good experience. If you're seeing different aspects of health care and actually interacting with all sorts of patients, it's a great experience.

 

[NN11]

Is pushing people on wheelchairs considered "clinical experience"? Because if it is...I love my job!

The hospital that just accepted me for volunteering has given me this position...

You make it sound as if this is a highly coveted position!?! I'm pretty sure it's not, you're doing them a favor, not the other way around. In other words, it's a stepping stone on your way to bigger and better things.

 

[karmega5]

You would be amazed at how hard it is to get these positions in some places. I've been at 2 undergrads, both with large amounts of pre-meds in small towns, and in both places, it was extremely difficult to get a volunteer position. In one place, you basically had to know someone, and here, at FSU, the local hospital just stopped accepting volunteers a couple of months ago.

 

[TheAmazingGOB]

It sounds like it has the potential to be a great position. Again, it's what you get out of it, not necessarily what exactly you are doing. Definitely try to talk to the patients, people in general have interesting stories and sometimes say funny things when they are still under anesthesia.

 

[GreenShirt]

Volunteering in a hospital is not the most exciting thing. It usually involves transport or standing around hoping someone will think of something for you to do. That being said, lots of pre-meds do this as their "clinical" experience for med. school. Like them, you'll just have to embellish what you did: "I got to directly interact w/ patients and alleviate their concerns while experiencing first hand the inner workings of a hospital....blah, blah, b.s."

I personally did not find volunteering in a hospital to be as satisfying as working in one, but getting a certification and landing those jobs is usually not an option for most pre-meds. So what you are doing is considered normal clinical experience for most med schools.