Suggestions for Volunteering in the ER

[Snuke]

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I am volunteering in the ER of my local hospital. Here is what I am doing:

Cleaning rooms after patients leave
Making rounds among the rooms to give comfort to patients/family (food/drink for family, blankets, adjusting lights or bed, etc)
Communicating between doctor/nurses and patients
Taking samples to lab
Helping people find their way around the hospital

Occasionally, I do get to see x-rays and have them explained.

This is the bulk of my volunteering. I also have some at the local free clinic, plus some tutoring as well as shadowing doctors. I do not have any philanthropic volunteering, unfortunately.

What can I do to maximize the time I spend in the ER? Is there anything else I should be asking about? While there are a few other options for volunteering, this is the one I have chosen, and being in a rural area, my options are limited and this is the best.

Also keep in mind that, at the same time, I am studying for the MCAT for August, substitute teaching, and will take Physics 2 in July, with a research internship abroad in the fall. My GPA is 3.91 (sGPA 3.9) and I attend a second-tier university.

The crux of my question is this: Given my situation, what should I push to do?

 

[Poliscidoc]

I am volunteering in the ER of my local hospital. Here is what I am doing:

Cleaning rooms after patients leave
Making rounds among the rooms to give comfort to patients/family (food/drink for family, blankets, adjusting lights or bed, etc)
Communicating between doctor/nurses and patients
Taking samples to lab
Helping people find their way around the hospital

Occasionally, I do get to see x-rays and have them explained.

This is the bulk of my volunteering. I also have some at the local free clinic, plus some tutoring as well as shadowing doctors. I do not have any philanthropic volunteering, unfortunately.

What can I do to maximize the time I spend in the ER? Is there anything else I should be asking about? While there are a few other options for volunteering, this is the one I have chosen, and being in a rural area, my options are limited and this is the best.

Also keep in mind that, at the same time, I am studying for the MCAT for August, substitute teaching, and will take Physics 2 in July, with a research internship abroad in the fall. My GPA is 3.91 (sGPA around 3.8) and I attend a second-tier university.

The crux of my question is this: Given my situation, what should I push to do?

Everything looks good, just take a deep breath and don't worry about trying to save the world.

 

[Snuke]

Thanks, but isn't that why we want to be doctors? Trying to save the world!

Oddly enough, you are not the first or even the tenth person to tell me to take a deep breath, and you certainly will not be the last.

 

[tremulousNeedle]

If you are looking to get more out of the ER experience, the first thing you can do is ask more questions (at the appropriate time though). The second thing you can do is independently read about what ails the patients you interact with.

The bulk of learning medicine is reading about your patients as you care for them, all under the supervision of a more experienced practitioner. I understand that you haven't taken med school equivalent anatomy, physiology, or pathology yet, but that shouldn't stop you from exploring a basic understanding of their problems. For example, a patient comes in with acute heart failure. You also notice that their ankles are swollen, their neck is engorged, they are having difficulty breathing, and they cannot walk more than 10 feet. You should ask yourself, why? This is when you should try to ask questions or do a little reading. If you don't have the time at that moment, keep pen and paper with you and right down your questions to look up later. Don't over do it with the reading; considering where you are in the game, a couple minutes should be sufficient for each topic. Once you start doing this, you'll never forget the look of the patient in acute heart failure. Even if you cannot explicitly define the signs and symptoms of heart failure yet, you start to learn what they are at some level and recognize similar patients. This is a skill that only comes with patient experience.

Obviously, don't let any of the learning activities I mentioned above interfere with activities such as studying for school or the MCAT.

-Emergency medicine resident who worked for years as an ED tech before and during medical school.

 

[Snuke]

While this is an awesome idea, the confidentiality thing is very stringent where I work. I usually have no idea what is wrong with someone, and no one is technically allowed to volunteer the information.

What I can do is observe - as you said - and then ask questions later, unrelated to that specific person. I'm actually about to head off to the hospital, and I will bring a pen and paper to jot down anything odd that I see.

Thank you; that is helpful.

 

[chman]

Honestly, the best way to get the most out of your experience is to just show up and do the best you can. Also, keep an eye out for the doctors and nurses that seem the most enthusiastic toward you and get to know them; they will be your allies. Take a humility pill and realize you are low on the totem poll, have no credentials, and can get in the way pretty easily for a while.

 

[chman]

If you are looking to get more out of the ER experience, the first thing you can do is ask more questions (at the appropriate time though). The second thing you can do is independently read about what ails the patients you interact with.

The bulk of learning medicine is reading about your patients as you care for them, all under the supervision of a more experienced practitioner. I understand that you haven't take med school equivalent anatomy, physiology, or pathology yet, but that shouldn't stop you from exploring a basic understanding of their problems. For example, a patient comes in with acute heart failure. You also notice that their ankles are swollen, their neck is engorged, they are having difficulty breathing, and they cannot walk more than 10 feet. You should ask yourself, why? This is when you should try to ask questions or do a little reading. If you don't have the time at that moment, keep pen and paper with you and right down your questions to look up later. Don't over do it with the reading; considering where you are in the game, a couple minutes should be sufficient for each topic. Once you start doing this, you'll never forget the look of the patient in acute heart failure. Even if you cannot explicitly define the signs and symptoms of heart failure yet, you start to learn what they are at some level and recognize similar patients. This is a skill that only comes with patient experience.

Obviously, don't let any of the learning activities I mentioned above interfere with activities such as studying for school or the MCAT.

-Emergency medicine resident who worked for years as an ED tech before and during medical school.

This is true. I am fairly confident that I can spot a chest tube waiting to happen, hep patients, and diabetics who have not taken care of themselves. Not that those are especially hard to spot, but it is more than I knew before.

 

[Frazier]

Thanks, but isn't that why we want to be doctors? Trying to save the world!

Oddly enough, you are not the first or even the tenth person to tell me to take a deep breath, and you certainly will not be the last.

Your idealism makes me upchuck. 👍

With your GPA, you shouldn't need to ask how to maximize your volunteering experiences. 👍

I guess the crux of my post is: take a deep breath.

 

[Bbon]

I admire your ambition. For me, a good day volunteering in the ER is not getting yelled at by any patients along the lines of: a) the wait being too long, b) what does it take to get some pain medication c) why did those people get to a bed before me when I've been waiting much longer d) why aren't you running the wheelchair over here, I'm about to have a heart attack e) unintelligible rambling + expletives.

 

[addo]

sounds like you do a lot... I agree with taking a deep breath.

 

[Hope0913]

If you are looking to get more out of the ER experience, the first thing you can do is ask more questions (at the appropriate time though). The second thing you can do is independently read about what ails the patients you interact with.

The bulk of learning medicine is reading about your patients as you care for them, all under the supervision of a more experienced practitioner. I understand that you haven't take med school equivalent anatomy, physiology, or pathology yet, but that shouldn't stop you from exploring a basic understanding of their problems. For example, a patient comes in with acute heart failure. You also notice that their ankles are swollen, their neck is engorged, they are having difficulty breathing, and they cannot walk more than 10 feet. You should ask yourself, why? This is when you should try to ask questions or do a little reading. If you don’t have the time at that moment, keep pen and paper with you and right down your questions to look up later. Don’t over do it with the reading; considering where you are in the game, a couple minutes should be sufficient for each topic. Once you start doing this, you'll never forget the look of the patient in acute heart failure. Even if you cannot explicitly define the signs and symptoms of heart failure yet, you start to learn what they are at some level and recognize similar patients. This is a skill that only comes with patient experience.

Obviously, don’t let any of the learning activities I mentioned above interfere with activities such as studying for school or the MCAT.

-Emergency medicine resident who worked for years as an ED tech before and during medical school.

this is the best advice I've heard so far on volunteering at a hospital. Thanks

 

[Snuke]

I admire your ambition. For me, a good day volunteering in the ER is not getting yelled at by any patients along the lines of: a) the wait being too long, b) what does it take to get some pain medication c) why did those people get to a bed before me when I've been waiting much longer d) why aren't you running the wheelchair over here, I'm about to have a heart attack e) unintelligible rambling + expletives.

Luckily, I avoid (a) by being in the back after they have been triaged, (b) means I ask the nurse/doctor, (c) never happens because I'm in the back, I am usually hear (d) complainers from a corridor away and avoid them like a plague (along with those with uncontrollable vomiting), and have yet to encounter (e). I'm sure my time will come.