Little time left: New volunteer job or add hours to old???

[cfx]

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I'm in my last semester, and will be applying in a few months. I have 3-4 semesters worth of hospital volunteering, so I figured that I should find a clinic, free health center, etc.

However, at this point (with ~10 weeks left) I realize that, even if I find an interesting new place, I would have to go through applying/background check, orientation, etc., at a bare minimum (while things like hospice could require 30+ hours of training).

Basically, at 4 hours/week, I could only get around 40 hours (likely less) of volunteering at a new location.

I've been volunteering in a hospital, and have around 120 hours there. Am I better off getting new experience for diversity's sake (with only 40 hours of volunteering there), or just adding more hours to the hospital spot that I've been doing for awhile (trying to get up toward the *magical* 200 hr mark)??


EDIT: just wanted to note that I also started shadowing this semester, which gives me a bit of exposure to another medical setting.

 

[J ROD]

Stay where you are and build the hrs there. Most schools like to see commitment to a place.

 

[Catalystik]

I'd agree that consistency and longevity are valued in an EC. Stay where you are, though maybe you could change to another hospital department for some variety.

 

[cfx]

Thanks for the replies, this is kind of what I figured. I feel like I need a bit more "diversity" in my clinical volunteer settings, but it sounds like doing so just to gain a couple of months at a new place would not be particularly helpful.

Catalystik-I've tried (several times) to switch to a new department within the hospital to avoid having to deal with the time-consuming process of starting at a new place. Unfortunately, the volunteer coordinator always says she'll look into it (one time I know for sure she sent an email out), then I never hear back from her, and she doesn't respond to my follow-up emails. I could probably blow another month not volunteering, just trying to get her to place me in another dept.

Any other opinions out there on this question??