Is volunteer experience in hospital or lab necessary?

[grettlin]

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Hi all,
I am a freshman of premed program. I don't know if the volunteer experience in hospital or medical lab is necessary/required? I think I have to plan my summer in advance. Could you guys input some advice?

Thanks!

 

[Coalboy]

I don't know about "required," but you should definitely do it. Most hospitals have some sort of volunteer program. I did that for a summer in an emergency room. The next summer I took an EMT class, and I have been volunteering w/ the Fire Department for a little over a year now. It's good experience, and a hell of a rush every now and then. This may or may not be an option depending on the area you live in. There are more volunteer ambulance/fire opportunities in rural areas.

So, in short, definitely do something. If nothing else, it will help you figure out if you really want to go into medicine.

Hope this helps.

 

[none]

Volunteer at a VA Hospital if at all possible.

 

[dustinspeer]

Most schools say that clinical experience is not required, but I don't see how it could not be. Unless a person can first hand see what the job is really like, then they can't really make an educated decision as to what they want to be. What I did was take some time off between high school and college and worked at a rural hospital in Central America. There you can do more because of lax requirements (such as certification). The doctors I worked with were top rate though, because it was mostly humanitarian. They did that to feel good about themselves. But I also worked with some great American doctors from all over the States. And learned spanish. So look into doing something like that for a summer. Besides, if I ever return to Honduras, I am now a RN there! 🙂