Pre-med volunteer program

[Geekchick921]

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I live just down the street from Abington Memorial Hospital outside of Philly. They have this volunteering program designed specifically for students that want to go into medicine. It sounds pretty cool, and the details of it can be found here. http://www.amh.org/body.cfm?id=921

Does that look good to you guys? Has anyone done a similar volunteering experience that was geared towards pre-meds? Did you like it/not like it? Why? I appreciate the input.

 

[brianmartin]

That abington thing sounds sort of cool...sounds like you might get to watch a surgery or do rounds. I'm not sure how heavy the trauma load is there, could be cool. Trauma isn't really the most interesting part of EM but it can be fun if you like it.

6-8hrs/week in the summer sounds reasonable. I'd do it.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Yeah that sounds like it would be a good and meaningful experience, you are lucky to have a program like that so close by. Our hospitals wont let anyone volunteer outside of flowers, paper work, etc.

 

[Bacchus]

Definitely sounds worth it. I just finished at HUP in the ED (I think I may go back) and it was interesting to say the least. The only thing, since you say Abington is outside of the city, is that a lot of the trauma may not go there or may be "moved on" to other centers. That being said, trauma isn't as amazing as some would think. For west Philly, I was surprised at how little came through the doors. Last Saturday (week 13 of 13 weeks) was the only time that the bay may have possibly been full. It will be worth it based on the perk of possibly making rounds with house staff and getting immersion ino primary care. Go for it!

 

[pennnylane]

check out the pre-med volunteer program at st mary medical center in langhorne. I did it 2 summers ago and had an amazing experience. it is mostly shadowing rather than volunteering, but the hospital gives you the opportunity to get involved in almost anything you'd like. you have 2 days a week shadowing a doc in the ER, and 2 days a week in the OR. they will also work with you if there is something specific you'd like to see in the OR. There are weekly 'lectures' where they bring in docs from various specialties to talk to you about their education, specialty, personal life, and medicine in general. Afterwards, you can set up time to shadow any of those docs...for one day just to check it out, or many if you're really interested. It is a wonderful program because the people involved are really enthusiastic about giving you learning opportunites across the board.

http://www.stmaryhealthcare.org/body.cfm?id=132



good luck to you!

 

[Bacchus]

I wish hospitals in the city had that type of program.

 

[Koala 33]

check out the pre-med volunteer program at st mary medical center in langhorne. I did it 2 summers ago and had an amazing experience. it is mostly shadowing rather than volunteering, but the hospital gives you the opportunity to get involved in almost anything you'd like. you have 2 days a week shadowing a doc in the ER, and 2 days a week in the OR. they will also work with you if there is something specific you'd like to see in the OR. There are weekly 'lectures' where they bring in docs from various specialties to talk to you about their education, specialty, personal life, and medicine in general. Afterwards, you can set up time to shadow any of those docs...for one day just to check it out, or many if you're really interested. It is a wonderful program because the people involved are really enthusiastic about giving you learning opportunites across the board.

http://www.stmaryhealthcare.org/body.cfm?id=132



good luck to you!

I second this - did the program this past summer and learned a LOT. It was awesome. Some people commuted from over an hour away to take part in it.

 

[Geekchick921]

While AMH is a few miles outside of Philadelphia county, it's on 611, which turns into Broad Street a few miles south and then runs through some of the seediest parts of town. However, there are hospitals closer to the madness. That said, AMH is huge and regularly gets patients from 3 counties, and they do have a trauma center. When I was working for a medical answering service for a year and a half I use to get calls from their ER (I actually think they have more than one) all the time; they're definitely busy and I think I'll get some great experience there.

St. Mary's program looks great, too. I'm looking at it right now. When does it start? The blurb about it on the website leads me to believe it starts at a certain time each year, but it doesn't say when. I don't think I'll have the spare time to start either of these programs until after May.

 

[Koala 33]

While AMH is a few miles outside of Philadelphia county, it's on 611, which turns into Broad Street a few miles south and then runs through some of the seediest parts of town. However, there are hospitals closer to the madness. That said, AMH is huge and regularly gets patients from 3 counties, and they do have a trauma center. When I was working for a medical answering service for a year and a half I use to get calls from their ER (I actually think they have more than one) all the time; they're definitely busy and I think I'll get some great experience there.

St. Mary's program looks great, too. I'm looking at it right now. When does it start? The blurb about it on the website leads me to believe it starts at a certain time each year, but it doesn't say when. I don't think I'll have the spare time to start either of these programs until after May.

It doesn't start until early June, which is when you have orientation - they tend to be flexible about scheduling too. I know people who worked full-time while doing the program and they got all of their hours in. You can shadow through the ER until the end of August, so you've got a decent time frame to get everything done.

 

[coolioyo]

The program sounds good go for it!!

 

[Geekchick921]

It doesn't start until early June, which is when you have orientation - they tend to be flexible about scheduling too. I know people who worked full-time while doing the program and they got all of their hours in. You can shadow through the ER until the end of August, so you've got a decent time frame to get everything done.

Gotcha. One more stupid question for the St. Mary's program. I'm getting from your reply that it's just for the summer. Is that right?

 

[pennnylane]

yep. it runs from about may-august. basically you can be involved from when school gets out in the spring to when you have to go back for the fall. i have gone back over breaks (fall break and winter) and spent some time with 2 of the docs i really enjoyed shadowing and built relationships with. so you can use the connections for more opportunities, but the program itself is just the summer. also, a student from jefferson came and talked to us about the application process and set us up with service opportunities with jeffhope, if you're interested in getting more volunteer time too.

 

[Geekchick921]

Very cool! And Jeff is actually my first choice.

Argh... I keep thinking of "one more question"s. I'm sorry. Was it basically full-time, or do are you able to choose your hours and possible hold a job at the same time over the summer?

 

[pennnylane]

you could definitely have another job, i worked part time over the summer and was also taking kaplan. the scheduling is very flexible. monday evenings you have to keep free for the lectures. but you can cluster your shadowing hours into a few days a week and then keep a job for the other days...depending on the hours of your job. for example, mon-fri 9-5 might be difficult.

 

[Geekchick921]

you could definitely have another job, i worked part time over the summer and was also taking kaplan. the scheduling is very flexible. monday evenings you have to keep free for the lectures. but you can cluster your shadowing hours into a few days a week and then keep a job for the other days...depending on the hours of your job. for example, mon-fri 9-5 might be difficult.

Ah, yeah... I have a 10-6:30 right now, and I'm not planning on dropping down to a supplemental shift until next fall. I'll want more volunteering under my belt by the time the next summer rolls around. I might not be able to do it, then (AMH should still be doable, though), but I'm going to contact them personally to be sure.

Thanks again! 😀