Quality Volunteer Experience?

[deleted1089232]

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Is volunteering in the ER to stock things and clean/set-up rooms a worthwhile experience? I would not get much patient contact (maybe get to see them from a distance) but it's more of an ER support type gig is from what I was told. I'd imagine most ER volunteering positions are similar even pre-COVID. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[Planes2Doc]

It's fine. That's what I did. Sadly I was treated like garbage, but it was 4 hours per week. I got the rest of the time to study for classes and MCAT. In my opinion, it's far better to pay for the convenience of ED volunteering once weekly than do an entry-level clinical job that will be far more time-consuming and not neccesarily give you the leg up. If you can smell the patient, it's clinical experience. That's what you're getting here, and it's what the ADCOMs want.

 

[deleted1089232]

It's fine. That's what I did. Sadly I was treated like garbage, but it was 4 hours per week. I got the rest of the time to study for classes and flowers. In my opinion, it's far better to pay for the convenience of ED volunteering once weekly than do an entry-level clinical job that will be far more time-consuming and not neccesarily give you the leg up. If you can smell the patient, it's clinical experience. That's what you're getting here, and it's what the ADCOMs want.

I would imagine it being tough to write a solid personal statement with this as the major source of clinical exp imo.

 

[beattheprocess]

I would imagine it being tough to write a solid personal statement with this as the major source of clinical exp imo.

I wouldn’t say so if you knew you were going to choose medicine before committing to volunteering. Your PS is more than a resume.

 

[Planes2Doc]

I would imagine it being tough to write a solid personal statement with this as the major source of clinical exp imo.

Not necessarily. It takes one or two meaningful moments. You would experience these moments the same whether you are a volunteer, scribe, nurse, physician, or anyone else. You will definitely find those scattered throughout your shifts. The moments are few and far between, even if you are an ED physician seeing multiple patients per shift.