Advise please - gaining hours

[SolvationEnergy]

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Hi All,
So i was hoping to get some advise. I am currently trying to get as many hours as possible. I don't have alot of those, and only just recently (as in a year ago) realized how much i wanted to become a vet. I have been volunteering at a local animal shelter in the clinic and i very much enjoy it. the girls there do a great job of teaching me and letting me learn and i get hands on exposure, which is great. I also recently just started a volunteer gig at UPENN Vet. I was told from the get-go that it was a cleaning and stocking job - which i have no objections to, i completely agree with cleaning and paying dues to learn. However, i don't feel like i am learning anything. It consists of 4 hour shifts, and the girls the shift before me get all of the stocking done and major cleaning done barring what gets dirtied while i am there. You are supposed to stay busy the whole time but there is only so much busy work a person can give themselves and i am not a fan of cleaning the same surface 4 times in a row. You aren't allowed to talk to the Dr's, you can't have your phone out at all (okay, i get that but the nurses are on their phones plenty!), you can't read books or anything to learn about what is going on with some of the cases, and i feel like other than being ignored and viewed as a pee-on i am not really getting any learning out of it. Now, if i were still an undergrad and i had the time i wouldn't mind paying dues and just racking up the hours. However i am a PhD student, i am 5 months pregnant, have another volunteer job, have two dogs of my own and a house to maintain, etc. I feel like right now the time that i spend should be a productive learning experience rather than standing around for 8 hours a week and pretending to be busy. That being said, i was thinking about quitting but i also feel bad if i am wasting a good opportunity or something that really is necessary. I currently do not see any harm in quitting this and finding doctors to shadow or other volunteering opportunities that gives me a bit more of a learning opportunity. My current hope is that quality of hours can beat quantity of hours - especially given the extra boost from my PhD research experience. Is this a stupid way of thinking, or would any of you guys do the same?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Gwenevre]

If you're not learning anything pertinent at the place you're at now, drop it. You need to be in an environment where you can learn and ask questions, and it seem like at the UPENN place you're getting shrugged aside. I would definitely look into other volunteer or shadowing ops if you can. Somewhere you can talk to the doctors/techs would be best.

 

[MooVet]

If you're not learning anything pertinent at the place you're at now, drop it. You need to be in an environment where you can learn and ask questions, and it seem like at the UPENN place you're getting shrugged aside. I would definitely look into other volunteer or shadowing ops if you can. Somewhere you can talk to the doctors/techs would be best.

This. Getting hours just for the sake of having more hours may make your application look better, but it's not going to help you much in the long run.

How long have you been in this position? Sometimes you have to prove that you're motivated and willing to earn your keep in a new volunteer position before you're allowed to do the real stuff. If it has been a while and you're still not satisfied there's no reason why you can't leave a pursue something else. As long as you're polite about it and thank them for the opportunity I doubt there will be any hard feelings.

 

[Gwenevre]

Not only that, I'm not sure where in your application this would fit. Not vet, since it sounds like you're not under a vet, and maybe not even animal, since you're not working with animals