Future of Clinical Volunteering under COVID-19

[koolkat12]

Hi all, as many pre-meds do, the vast majority of my clinical volunteering has been through a hospital. As of now, I have around 120 clinical hours total + shadowing, and a lot more of nonclinical volunteering and plan to apply next cycle. What are y'all thinking will happen in regards to hospitals allowing volunteers again, such as in the fall when many college students come back to school. I go to a university with multiple hospitals within a mile so pretty much all their volunteers are from university students. How do you all recommend planning ahead in case hospital volunteering isn't a viable option in the future year before applications?

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[medicaldoctor041815]

i reached out to hospitals to ask about this actually, and they said to touch base mid june so I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask your nearby hospitals that you were volunteering at when the program might resume (if they can offer any date at all). However, it seems extremely unlikely that they'll allow volunteers given the current situation, and it might take quite a long time before they allow us again. It's hard to get any clinical experiences during this time (was also volunteering at a hospice center but obviously that came to a halt as well), but I'm continuing to work as an EMT/volunteer.

 

[deleted1040417]

I was told the same to message back later in the summer about how things will go. They are questioning patient contact for volunteers as well if they do resume near me.

 

[PapaGuava]

Yeah it will be tricky to work around but as things begin to open up, I have hope they will let more volunteers cycle back in when the necessary precautions are in place.

 

[allantois]

You should be ok if you’ve been volunteering up to this point.