Clinical Volunteering in Chicago??

[ll16]

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Hey everyone!
So I'm a recent graduate in Chicago that will be applying to medical school next year, and I was wondering if others in the area would be able to give me some advice. I spent the last 3 and a half years volunteering at a hospital in the city, but unfortunately it didn't include very much clinical exposure.
Does anyone know of any places (probably clinics) that accept volunteers (preferably on the weekends because I work full time)? I've been doing my part to send out some emails/make some calls to a few clinics over the previous weeks, but I wanted to see if anyone had suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[candbgirl]

How about asking the hospital where you have 3 1/2 years volunteer experience to help you out? They know you and know if you are dependable etc.. What did you do exactly during that 3 1/2 years? No patient contact at all? I would call and not email. Ask for the volunteer office or hospice office and make an appointment to talk with someone. Call skilled nursing homes in your area or hospice centers and see how you go about volunteering. What part of Chicago?


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[ll16]

Asking the hospital was the first thing I did, which is why I'm inquiring if people in the area know of any places they've had success with. The hospital has a pretty extensive volunteering program, so they don't offer anything outside of that (as is the case with the hospital I'm employeed at, unfortunately). I've had patient contact throughout my tenure at the hospital volunteer program, but this was more focused on escorting patients, organization/administration duties, attending to waiting room area needs, etc. I feel like I've had a good amount of experience with that specific sector of volunteering, so I'm now looking for something that focuses more on the specific healthcare aspect under physician/nurse supervision instead. Experiences offered at places like Community Health (which unfortunately does not work with my work schedule) is more of what I'm looking for.

The hospice/nursing home suggestion is great though. I've had most of my experiences in the Lakeview area.

 

[chibaddie]

Have you looked into hospital internships focused on clinical exposure? CDH and NU have great ones.

 

[cjcarter]

I loved volunteering at Comer with all the kiddos 🙂


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