Volunteer at Morgue?

[MedHopeful09]

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So I have a B.S. in biology and I was thinking about volunteering at the local medical examiner's office. Before I contact people about potentially working with them, does anyone have any experience with this? I would like to know what sorts of things I can legally do before I contact people so I'm at least prepared and not wasting their time. I'm hopefully applying next cycle, so doing any sort of program for more than a few months would be out of the question. I'm perfectly content with just cleaning instruments, but would like to see if there's anything else I can do.

Thanks in advance! =)

 

[Heplayer92]

I feel like what you can do will be dependent on the local medical examiner. If it's something you're interested in, then totally go for it. It would definitely pop up during your interviews, and something you would be able to write insightfully (guess that's not a word?) about in your application. I'm sure you'd do more than just clean instruments. I mean, how often do morgues have volunteers?

Sounds like a solid experience though. Good luck!

 

[kraskadva]

So I have a B.S. in biology and I was thinking about volunteering at the local medical examiner's office. Before I contact people about potentially working with them, does anyone have any experience with this? I would like to know what sorts of things I can legally do before I contact people so I'm at least prepared and not wasting their time. I'm hopefully applying next cycle, so doing any sort of program for more than a few months would be out of the question. I'm perfectly content with just cleaning instruments, but would like to see if there's anything else I can do.

Thanks in advance! =)

What you can do differs state to state and office to office. I did an internship at my local MEO and essentially functioned as a diener after on the job training, but some offices won't even let you in the door.
If you've already graduated (so won't be able to set it up with your school backing you), then your best course is just to contact them and ask what the options are and if they'd be willing to let you come in. The worst that can happen is that they say no.
What worked for me was mailing (hard copy snail mail) my resume (show some medical experience and general professional experience) and a cover letter (stating interest, why, and proving I'm not a creepazoid) to the chief . I got a call back a couple days later and was in pretty quickly after that. Actual results may vary.

Good luck. It's a really interesting experience if you can get in to do it.

EDIT: I forgot to say, but originally I just contacted the MEO asking to shadow. They were the ones who told me about their internship program. But this was a chief who is really into education and has a lot of students through there all the time.

 

[LizzyM]

My brother worked in a hospital morgue and an ME's office with only a HS diploma. I doubt there are the same restrictions on volunteers as you might find in settings where the patients are still living.

 

[Goro]

Well, this would be a novel EC!

So I have a B.S. in biology and I was thinking about volunteering at the local medical examiner's office. Before I contact people about potentially working with them, does anyone have any experience with this? I would like to know what sorts of things I can legally do before I contact people so I'm at least prepared and not wasting their time. I'm hopefully applying next cycle, so doing any sort of program for more than a few months would be out of the question. I'm perfectly content with just cleaning instruments, but would like to see if there's anything else I can do.

Thanks in advance! =)