Types of Clinical Experience

[icevermin]

Is one type of clinical experience better than the other?

I am currently shadowing a Vascular Surgeon and I am a volunteer EMT at my local rescue squad. I've been trying to volunteer at the local hospital as a general volunteer for a while, but for some reason the secretary or whatever down there always gives me a hard time about volunteering.

I don't really know what happened before between us but she's always very negative towards me. Quick example: I was set to volunteer tomorrow but I had another commitment that I forgot about; this past Monday I was at the hospital shadowing the surgeon and I walked into the volunteer office to tell her I couldn't go (I was in scrubs, didn't have time to change in-between surgeries) and she flipped out at me and said that they're always over-booked and they won't need me for a long time

She also said that the department takes volunteers on a weekly basis but the thing was I had scheduled myself to volunteer two weeks in advance which she didn't understnad.. I don't know if it's worth it to try to keep trying to get her to allow me to volunteer...

Is it better to get shadowing and EMT clinical experience or try to actually make amends here? Thanks

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[murfettie]

i have a similar problem.
some of the volunteer people are quiet jerky..

 

[Jli]

Try different hospitals then, you don't have to volunteer at that particular place right? or maybe you could complain about her to someone.

 

[Mattabet]

As a rule, non-shadowing is better than shadowing (as you're doing things). The EMT stuff sounds good. As above, I'd probably just try somewhere else. For whatever reason, the volunteer person doesn't seem to want to accept your free help.

If you want more volunteering, you can probably get more hours with less hoops to jump through elsewhere.

 

[Mobius1985]

Maybe call a nursing home or local clinic and see if they could use your help.

 

[Narmerguy]

Definitely try to get the experience somewhere else. Nothing wrong with working/volunteering at separate hospitals.

 

[icevermin]

The only problem with other places is that the other local hospital isn't accepting volunteers until September. I wanted to put in a bunch of hours now but it's becoming really difficult with this non-cooperative coordinator.

I had a run-in with her before over something that didn't even happen; she complained to her boss about me who like, attacked me for something I didn't even do. It was really weird but I think I'm SOL at this place... I don't really know any other places either but I'm gonna try to re-apply at the other hospital.

Nursing homes also freak me out. I don't know if I should explain why or not, but I'm like, mortally afraid of them. I hate going to them too when we have calls and stuff.

 

[FuturaDocta]

i have a similar problem.
some of the volunteer people are quiet jerky..

I know what you mean. Today, I could hardly get a coherent answer from some a couple of the volunteer coordinators. I was wondering what I was suppose to do for the day and couldn't get an full answer out. She flipped out like I was a some idiot that couldn't understand anything (which my sister can vouche wasn't the case at that moment). I'm not gonna go into details, but let's just say she wasn't very approachable.

On the other hand, there are some really good volunteer coordinators that are just amazing and nice to be with . Try to stick with those folks if you can find them.

 

[ninetynine]

im a director of a student volunteer program at a hospital. having been on both sides of the spectrum - volunteer and administrator - here is how we see people who cancel shifts.

from your point of view, youre just a busy student who was responsible enough to schedule in advance, right?

how we see it, A) volunteering is a job B) you are doing this for your future C) therefore we expect the utmost professionalism. canceling is the equivalent of flaking. if you signed up, doesn't that mean you can do it? now we have to worry about missed shifts and try to find someone to make up your lost time. if we don't make up lost time, then we lose manpower for that hour/shift. if you cancel, no matter how early you schedule, you are flaking out.

you say, you have a life and issues come up. yes, that may be true. however, it doesn't give you any credit. there are so many volunteers, we don't have time to worry about special circumstances. we might have 400 volunteers; how are we supposed to remember everyone's special situation? i know this sounds mean, but it's merely a consequence of the hard task of management. administrators are already hard pressed for time themselves - they feel just as stressed as you are - so don't give them the feeling you are flaking on them. i'm not trying to criticize, just to show you why the secretary might have flipped out. i totally get it - i've been in the same place like you.

if we don't like a volunteer, it usually has nothing to do with their personality. don't take it personally. a volunteer is as good as their output, and cancelling shifts is one of the best ways to decrease output. output is measured by:

A) demeanor (this includes maturity, timeliness, effeciency, effectiveness, etc.)
B) attendance
C) the compliments they get from staff (extra bonus points)

if you just show that you're motivated and deeply care about your job and really really want to help, she'll start liking you. it's really not too hard to impress.