Does Volunteer Ambulance Corps look good to dental schools?

[dn6603]

The hospital near me is looking for Volunteers and i am tempted to join it but would it look good to dental schools? If it doesn't help i might as well concentrate on shadowing.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Toothinator]

Yes D-schools and Med schools love that crap. Go for it, you'll get to see some crazy stuff too.

 

[dn6603]

Yes D-schools and Med schools love that crap. Go for it, you'll get to see some crazy stuff too.

Thanks for the swift reply. Hopefully i don't see anything too crazy.

 

[polarnut]

i hated volunteering in hospitals. they treat you like garbage one day and demigods the next, you end up doing nothing meaningful at all other than picking up phones, running errands for doctors and nurses, or just end up being a hall janitor polishing the floor that mighty MDs walk on.

you might get lucky and see someone go code red on you and have piles of people rush into the room to save the poor soul while you're being pushed to the corner with your broom and bucket and actually witness someone breathe his/her last gulp of air.

you can get some kick ass letter of recs though. i got one from the director of medical administration at cedars sinai and that thing really impressed the adcoms.

 

[Legacy]

you might get lucky and see someone go code red on you and have piles of people rush into the room to save the poor soul while you're being pushed to the corner with your broom and bucket and actually witness someone breathe his/her last gulp of air.

So can anyone breathe the last gulp of air in a dentist's chair? Anyone have any stories? Surely there's always the small possibility. You watch someone die in an ER when their aorta tears and realize "Maybe that could happen while I'm drilling"

 

[mochafreak]

I was a volunteer EMT/firefighter for two years, professional EMT for a year, and worked in the ER for 6 months. I'm sure that ADCOMS looked upon that experience quite favorably because it showed a high level of committment to health care in general.

However, I did that because I wanted to be an EMT. Your post is vague as to what position you'd have, but if you will actually be working on an ambulance you'd better be doing it for the right reasons. It is very difficult both physically and mentally. Your back will take a beating, and when someone calls 911 because their premie isn't breathing they expect you to take care of it. It's a great experience if you really want to learn some patient care skills long before clinic starts. It can also be a lot of fun. Just make sure you're not doing it solely for recs and your app, because the patients, your back, and your sanity deserve better.