9
92755
volunteering
Last edited:
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2002
- Messages
- 1,678
- Reaction score
- 69
None of the hospitals I have experience with have used volunteers on the psychiatric floor. However, I still think it's a good idea to volunteer at the hospital. You want to make sure that you enjoy being in a hospital setting before you start to pursue the long path to becoming a doc. Since you're interested in working with children, you may want to ask about volunteer positions on the pediatrics floor. That shouldn't be very hard to find.
I think your best bet for getting exposure to psychiatric issues at your age would be to look into if your school has a program for "peer counselors" or if your community has some kind of hotline for teens to call for help with personal issues. While not strictly medical, it would still be a good way to work on developing empathy and interpersonal skills. Those are skills very important to being physician, especially in psychiatry.
Good luck to you. I was about your age when I first started thinking about becoming a doctor, and I am in med school now.
I think your best bet for getting exposure to psychiatric issues at your age would be to look into if your school has a program for "peer counselors" or if your community has some kind of hotline for teens to call for help with personal issues. While not strictly medical, it would still be a good way to work on developing empathy and interpersonal skills. Those are skills very important to being physician, especially in psychiatry.
Good luck to you. I was about your age when I first started thinking about becoming a doctor, and I am in med school now.
