psychiatry volunteering...

[squeakyuk]

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I'm from MA and was wondering how I get into volunteering for psychiatry. Like how do I 'shadow' a psychiatrist or work at a hospital in the psychiatric ward? Do I just call psyhciatrists and hospitals and harass them? Which would be considered better, shadowing or actually working in a hospital? And does anyone have any recommendations for better hospitals for psychiatry?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Doc Samson]

As discussed elsewhere on this forum, volunteering on psych units can be difficult. Shadowing a psychiatrist might be even more so. If you're really into it, you might look for a part-time job as a mental health worker on an inpatient unit (your profile says that you're pre-med with a bachelor's in psychology). In terms of where to look... for just volunteering (again, it's gonna be difficult), I'd avoid the large academic places (MGH, McLean, Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham and Women's/Faulkner, Children's, Franciscan's, NEMC, BMC, St. E's, Cambridge) since they're more likely to have restrictions and look at the community and for-profit hospitals (MetroWest, Emerson, Arbour, Bournewood, Westwood Lodge, South Shore, Baldpate, etc.). If you want to look into the part-time MHW option, then shoot high... if you're looking for child and adolescent, look into the units at Children's, McLean, Cambridge, and Franciscan's.