Central Services volunteering

Started by sieg5
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sieg5

sieg5

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10+ Year Member
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So i'm volunteering in "central services" i'm hoping some of you know what that is but just to clarify, it's on the lower level of the hospital, moving supplies around. Is this relevant at all? I'm happy to be helping but is this the kind of volunteering I'm looking for?
 
sieg5 said:
So i'm volunteering in "central services" i'm hoping some of you know what that is but just to clarify, it's on the lower level of the hospital, moving supplies around. Is this relevant at all? I'm happy to be helping but is this the kind of volunteering I'm looking for?
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No, this is not the kind of volunteering you want. You want hospital volunteering that will allow you to see (and hopefully talk to) patients. Just moving supplies around without contact with doctors, nurses, or patients isn't really going to help you learn about the clinical environment or garner you any clinical experience. You would rather have non-hospital volunteer work like tutoring or helping at a homeless shelter instead of this. But that said - if your hospital allows volunteers who work for a while to shadow the physicians, then maybe you can try sticking around. You should ask the volunteer coordinator if there are any more patient-interaction opportunities for you.

Good luck!
 
hobbity said:
No, this is not the kind of volunteering you want. You want hospital volunteering that will allow you to see (and hopefully talk to) patients. Just moving supplies around without contact with doctors, nurses, or patients isn't really going to help you learn about the clinical environment or garner you any clinical experience. You would rather have non-hospital volunteer work like tutoring or helping at a homeless shelter instead of this. But that said - if your hospital allows volunteers who work for a while to shadow the physicians, then maybe you can try sticking around. You should ask the volunteer coordinator if there are any more patient-interaction opportunities for you.

Good luck!
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I should note that I haven't begun my bachelor's or anything for that matter, I spoke with the volunteer coordinator, she said that the people who come in contact with the patients have more experience with that sort of thing, she also said that shadowing is for med-students, where as I'm pre-med (not in med school yet) I'm just paranoid that she's trying to stick me there because I'm stupid.
 
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sieg5 said:
I should note that I haven't begun my bachelor's or anything for that matter, I spoke with the volunteer coordinator, she said that the people who come in contact with the patients have more experience with that sort of thing, she also said that shadowing is for med-students, where as I'm pre-med (not in med school yet) I'm just paranoid that she's trying to stick me there because I'm stupid.
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Ah, I see. If you're in high school then this should've been posted in the high school section. But anyways, it's more important to do the volunteering and shadowing once you're in college. I know that the hospital I work in lets high school patients discharge and transport patients (wheel them out of the hospital or between locations). Just note that med schools like to see shadowing in some form (either with a primary care physician or a specialist) so they know you have a better idea of what physicians actually do. There are a bunch of threads on SDN about how to find a doctor to shadow.

But really, all of this volunteering stuff and shadowing is important in college and not really important before then.
 
Unless, of course, you want to do volunteer work and service out of the sincerity of your heart. In which case, tutoring kids in underserved/underperforming schools, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or volunteering at a retirement home would be a better use of your time (all of which are also good to continue to do through college).
 
sieg5 said:
So i'm volunteering in "central services" i'm hoping some of you know what that is but just to clarify, it's on the lower level of the hospital, moving supplies around. Is this relevant at all? I'm happy to be helping but is this the kind of volunteering I'm looking for?
Click to expand...
You are providing a nonmedical community service and learning about different departments in a hospital, both of which have value. Something more patient-oriented may become available to you after the volunteer office gets to know you. There's no rush, since you have many years to go before you apply to med school.
 
OP, do you know what kind of hospital you're volunteering for? (a for-profit, nonprofit, etc?) If it's a hospital serving the underserved or has trouble with funding or whatnot, then stay - because you will be helping the community. I'm kind of skeptical because there are hospitals I live close to that actually have EXCESS volunteers (and I'm sure have no lack of funding - so if they needed extra manpower, they could just hire people). If you think that your hospital is pretty set, I think a better use of your abilities would be to serve in a place that truly needs it and hopefully that interest carries with you into the future.

Learning about different departments in a hospital is good. If you like what you're doing (you have fun with it or you're able to talk to different members of hospital staff - then do that (chatting with the staff can be fun and informative)) - then stay. If you don't like it, then you could try volunteering with transport (in my hospital that means carrying specimens and charts from place to place and wheeling patients around).

Good luck!
 
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