Military shadowing

[PTlife2015]

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How has everybody that is interested in going to army Baylor observed in a military setting? Every place I have contacted has said that they don't allow volunteers anymore. I generally know what military physical therapists do from forums and videos on the internet, but I do know that army Baylor prefers you have shadowing hours in that area. So if you were able to get hours in a military setting would you please tell me how? I contacted the closest base and they turned me down saying they didn't allow volunteers anymore.

 

[SaraBoBara]

How has everybody that is interested in going to army Baylor observed in a military setting? Every place I have contacted has said that they don't allow volunteers anymore. I generally know what military physical therapists do from forums and videos on the internet, but I do know that army Baylor prefers you have shadowing hours in that area. So if you were able to get hours in a military setting would you please tell me how? I contacted the closest base and they turned me down saying they didn't allow volunteers anymore.

I'm pretty sure that they require 100 military hours now. From what I've read, there's a lot of applicants that drive hours to go to a clinic that still allow volunteers. You should try searching specifically for military hospitals, they're a lot more likely to still use volunteers. Just a warning though, even if you do find a place that still has volunteers, you're probably going to need to know someone. I had a lieutenant colonel email the hospital clinic for me and got no response. But when I had an acquaintance who used to be a PTA there ask for me, I got an instant response.

 

[Yshai24]

How has everybody that is interested in going to army Baylor observed in a military setting? Every place I have contacted has said that they don't allow volunteers anymore. I generally know what military physical therapists do from forums and videos on the internet, but I do know that army Baylor prefers you have shadowing hours in that area. So if you were able to get hours in a military setting would you please tell me how? I contacted the closest base and they turned me down saying they didn't allow volunteers anymore.

An option you might want to try out is becoming an American Red Cross Volunteer. I was fortunate enough to be in an area with a great variety of military PTs at different bases (Washington State). I am military so I obviously had a huge foot in the door, however I still had to go through the process of becoming a volunteer to be able to observe at Military clinics. Not sure how it would be different for you not being military already, but I think it would definitely help you get in the door. Pick a target hospital (or a few) and when the Red Cross asks where you would like to volunteer, make it known that you want to be in the PT section.

 

[DPT0311]

The key for me was talking to the right people. You really have to keep pushing and finding different ways to communicate with the PT's themselves. (emails, clinic phone numbers, face to face, etc.) I had more success talking with PT's and PTA's when compared to talking with the hospital reps. I agree with @SaraBoBara that you should try to target military hospitals. They seem to have more volunteers pass through. I would also try to avoid using the word "volunteer" and use words like "shadow". Don't be discouraged, I heard "we don't allow volunteers" as well.

However, getting on base seems to be the biggest impedance for civilians looking for military shadowing hours. I used my veteran ID to get on base for all of the military settings I was able to observe. A military PT could be your "escort" to get on base and around the clinic, but you have to find a PT that is willing to go the extra mile for you and it is never fun feeling like a burden as a volunteer. If you can not find a motivated PT to get you on base, try to look for military or VA clinics that are off base, or even a PT in the civilian setting that is reservist.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[scrawnyguy]

Even being prior service I had to fight tooth and nail to get military observation hours. At first I was told that only current military ID card holders were allowed to volunteer. I had to work some back channels and I eventually convinced someone to pretty much "sponsor" me. While I was there security procedures started to tighten up though and I think it became even harder to get base access. I drove about an 1 1/2 hours each way a couple of times a month to get my hours which was a huge pain, but in the end I think it helped my application. It's not required but it's definitely highly encouraged. With that being said, the faculty (who are also pretty much the admissions staff) understand that getting hours on a base can be difficult for many folks. I'm willing to bet half my classmates weren't able to get military clinic hours. Some people were able to get VA hours as well, but they are also restricting access in many places. I was able to get some hours at a VA as well, but in retrospect I probably didn't need to. The population there is so different (lots of geriatrics with chronic issues vs a younger population with more acute, sports type injuries) that it really doesn't give you an idea of what a military clinic is like. Military clinics do have a much different feel than civilian clinics so I can why they want to see those hours. With that being said they always ask incoming student what difficulties they encountered when applying and obtaining military hours is always near the top of the list. If you don't get those hours, however, it will be slightly more difficult to convey why you want to be a military PT vs a civilian PT, especially if you don't have prior service.