Therapy Dog as a Clinical Volunteering Option

[HopefulApplicant667]

Hi all,

Nontrad going into a postbacc here. Career so far has been exclusively public interest attorney for impoverished clients, so I have many service hours. However, clinical volunteering has been hard to find. I am finishing the sign up process for a hospital soon. However, I also just got my dog trained as a clinical therapy dog, and plan to do a lot of hours with her at cancer wards. Does handling a therapy dog at a hospital count as clinical volunteering? It feels much more impactful than the traditional ER premed volunteering, so I would love to prioritize it over hospital hours. However, I'm concerned that it would impact admissions, or that schools would see it as not as relevant. Any thoughts from AdComs? Thank you.

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[GoSpursGo]

Why not both?

Volunteering with a therapy dog I think counts as clinical, but it shouldn’t be your sole clinical exposure.

 

[HopefulApplicant667]

I definitely plan on doing both. My personal preference would be to do a ~70/30 split i.e. aim for something like 210 dog hours & 90 hospital hours over the next 2 years. However, I recognize that may be less helpful than the inverse split. Do you think that sort of ratio would be considered negatively? Thank you!

 

[AJS59]

I definitely plan on doing both. My personal preference would be to do a ~70/30 split i.e. aim for something like 210 dog hours & 90 hospital hours over the next 2 years. However, I recognize that may be less helpful than the inverse split. Do you think that sort of ratio would be considered negatively? Thank you!

Clinical is clinical. There's no one thing better than another. As long as you get at least 50 hours each, and over 200 hours (ideally over 300) combined, you'll be okay

 

[LizzyM]

You are with patients. You are in a clinical setting observing its hierarchy and its rules related to safety and security for patients, visitors, staff and volunteers. I think it is fine.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I agree it can count as clinical exposure with the above caveats mentioned by experts here. But this also reminds me of the kerfuffle around emotional support animals on planes. I think the process to get your dog certified would be interesting to reflect upon. I agree bringing in your dog to some patients is really uplifting to the patients (as would your general companionship without the dog), but I am curious how you will fit this into your narrative or purpose.

 

[HopefulApplicant667]

My ideal clinical setting would be to work in prison healthcare for incarcerated patients, but because of my history as a lawyer, correctional facilities refuse to let me volunteer for them (I'm guessing that they are scared of civil rights lawsuits). So my volunteering can't really fit my goals or narrative at this point, unfortunately. Thank you all!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

My ideal clinical setting would be to work in prison healthcare for incarcerated patients, but because of my history as a lawyer, correctional facilities refuse to let me volunteer for them (I'm guessing that they are scared of civil rights lawsuits). So my volunteering can't really fit my goals or narrative at this point, unfortunately. Thank you all!

That's unfortunate. I guess they don't want you making serious trouble. 🙂

You can work with those recently released, and I'm sure many non-profit orgs help with that.

Helping Ex-Prisoners Get Medical Care - Prison Fellowship

Helping Ex-Prisoners Get Medical Care: To get off to a healthy start upon release, ex-prisoners need to have access to medical care.

www.prisonfellowship.org

Out of prison, but struggling to stay healthy

People returning from incarceration are 13 times more likely to die soon after release. So hospitals employ formerly incarcerated people to help promote health.

www.aamc.org

https://www.cms.gov/files/document/returning-community-health-care-after-incarceration-guide-health-care-reentry-english.pdf

 

[HopefulApplicant667]

Wow, helping formerly incarcerated folks get healthcare is such an obvious way to be involved and I hadn't even considered it... This is so helpful, and I'm going to pursue this avenue. Thank you greatly!!

 

[Doodledog]

Hi all,

Nontrad going into a postbacc here. Career so far has been exclusively public interest attorney for impoverished clients, so I have many service hours. However, clinical volunteering has been hard to find. I am finishing the sign up process for a hospital soon. However, I also just got my dog trained as a clinical therapy dog, and plan to do a lot of hours with her at cancer wards. Does handling a therapy dog at a hospital count as clinical volunteering? It feels much more impactful than the traditional ER premed volunteering, so I would love to prioritize it over hospital hours. However, I'm concerned that it would impact admissions, or that schools would see it as not as relevant. Any thoughts from AdComs? Thank you.

Strongly support this as long as you give your therapy dog lots of treats. But, as a doodle, I'm biased. If interviewing you I'd ask a good bit about your experiences and how patients responded. Also, please don't limit yourself to oncology patients if possible and if possible, consider going to the pedi wards or children's hospitals.

 

[LunaOri]

I love the idea! It’s one I haven’t seen before, and should give you plenty of patient experiences to reflect on. Please do have some other clinical experience, even if it is just shadowing, because physician contact is also important.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Strongly support this as long as you give your therapy dog lots of treats. But, as a doodle, I'm biased. If interviewing you I'd ask a good bit about your experiences and how patients responded. Also, please don't limit yourself to oncology patients if possible and if possible, consider going to the pedi wards or children's hospitals.

Also, there's a reason why some of us with Student Services like to bring in therapy dogs during exam week. 😉 Ask any med students if their Student Services team does this. Craft your list.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Well gee

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2831511