Volunteer ideas

[KababMD]

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Just wondering, what are some good volunteering ideas, besides the hospital.

 

[anony mouse]

If you have any free clinics in the area I would definitely look into that. I'm sure it varies place to place, the work where I am is mostly clerical, but you get to help counsel folks on low cost insurance and prescription plans, and it is a great chance to observe a different cross section of people / medical cases than you might see at a hospital. It has seemed to make a positive impression when it comes up in interviews as well.

 

[Mobius1985]

Consider a local Family Planning Clinic or nursing home.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Im volunteering at a peds clinic, with a predominantly hispanic population. I get to take vitals and work on my spanish. Might be a good thing to do if given the opportunity.

 

[justme456]

Just wondering, what are some good volunteering ideas, besides the hospital.

I did Extra Hands for ALS... Every week I visit people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease).. and i help them do tasks around the house.... It was a very good experience and I even wrote about it in one of my essays... and my interviewers asked me alot of questions about it, and they thought it was a very neat program. I like it alot. It allowed me to see how patients and their families deal with illnesses at home. And I get to sit and talk to them about what its like having an illness that has no cure. www.extrahands.org

 

[taponthecloud]

Get involved on election day.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

I have done volunteer work at a medical summer camp and am also doing some volunteer work at a local community theater.

Consider things like Boys and Girls Club, your church (if you are religious), and stuff like community rec centers or even schools (tutoring)

 

[sunny1]

The VA. Okay, I know it's a hospital, but it's different than your typical hospital.

 

[shiftingmirage]

Just wondering, what are some good volunteering ideas, besides the hospital.

You can probably find a volunteer gig somewhat related to anything your interested in. I volunteer at a support group for women affected by HIV/AIDS. I basically entertain their children for three hours while the clients have their meeting. It's nice because it allows the inner child in me to be released.

 

[Chemist0157]

Do you think it's a good idea to "mix it up" with volunteering? I have 3 semesters before I go off to medical school, and I'm planning to spend one semester each at a medical group, private practice, and the hospital...ya know, to get a more broad perspective of the world of medicine. Do you think adcoms would take this as a sign of a lack of committment?

It probably doesn't matter anyways. lol 🙂

 

[Bacchus]

I would say do something that isn't medically related. Remember, adcoms, medical students, residents, and attendings have lives outside of medicine.

Try volunteering with Habitat, go on a Spring Break trip, or organize a group to help at a soup kitchen, Ronald McDonald House, etc.

For your own sanity, don't pour all your volunteering resources into medically related areas. Diversity, Diversity, Diversity.

 

[MSU2012]

For something medically related, try hospice care. This will be much more meaningful than transporting patients or observing procedures in a hospital.

Non-medical volunteer work is all around. Almost every community has a place that serves free meals to those that need them, and they usually need help preparing and serving the food. Habitat, tutoring... find something you love and I guarantee you there's an organization that could use your time.

 

[Piyush]

If you live in a cold enough place, shovel out snow around schools the night after it has snowed...

 

[unsung]

Find something you're truly interested in.

For ex, I love psychology and am interested in mental health, so I'm volunteering as a counselor at a crisis hotline. It's like the most ideal volunteer position I can think of, because I'm learning new things all the time, and I actually feel useful, since I'm doing "skilled" work. Of course, there's the benefit of having patient contact too-- everything from the depressed, to schizophrenics, to sex perverts. Good stuff, good times. 👍

The other volunteering I do is through an institute aiding new refugees to the country. I'm trying to learn Arabic, and thought it'd be a good way to get some practice at the same time. Did a web search, and found the perfect position!

Other things I've thought about doing: volunteer at the library (they have an ESL program for new immigrants, plus it's just fun to be at the library 😎), volunteer at a free clinic for Chinese immigrants, Nabuur.com (volunteer right from home!), volunteer teaching tennis to kids from low-income families, volunteer for Hillary's campaign, etc. etc.

So... don't know what you're interested in. But it's quite possible to kill two birds with one stone, and actually enjoy volunteering instead of just sit around being bored and feeling useless 😉.

 

[johndorian32]

habitat for humanity is a great volunteer experience. if you are looking to stick to the medical field, but want to venture outside a hospital, try going to www.ipsl.org. i did the summer program in siena, italy. it gave me a chance to get involved in international medicine, plus it was a lot of fun.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

nursing homes and hospices are excellent places to volunteer. unfortunately there aren't any near my school or id definitely be volunteering there over the boring hospital

 

[Concordia]

A friend of mine is volunteering at a call-in crisis counseling (or something like that). It's pretty intense and she had to got through a month of training but she really seems to like it. From what she told me it sounds like an interesting people-centered opportunity that is not medically related. Although the hard parts, according to her, are the role-playing exercises and the emotional toll it can take. So if you are not particularly laid back and empathetic (and if you have to always put your two cents in) it might not be a good volunteer opportunity for you.
Another idea is volunteering at a local food-shelf. I've done that for about a year and it's pretty interesting. It's a plus if you know another language if you end up working in a diverse neighborhood.

 

[unsung]

A friend of mine is volunteering at a call-in crisis counseling (or something like that). It's pretty intense and she had to got through a month of training but she really seems to like it. From what she told me it sounds like an interesting people-centered opportunity that is not medically related. Although the hard parts, according to her, are the role-playing exercises and the emotional toll it can take. So if you are not particularly laid back and empathetic (and if you have to always put your two cents in) it might not be a good volunteer opportunity for you.
Another idea is volunteering at a local food-shelf. I've done that for about a year and it's pretty interesting. It's a plus if you know another language if you end up working in a diverse neighborhood.

Actually I think it is considered clinical experience. I volunteer at one and we get all kinds of calls- from people just needing advice on their relationships to the seriously mentally ill (i.e. schizophrenics, bipolar, PTSD war veterans, etc.). We're not qualified to provide therapy per say beyond immediate crisis management, but just that experience itself of managing serious emergencies (say suicide) is pretty relevant to medicine, not to mention exposure to that segment of the patient population.

 

[DrZhivago1240]

If you live in a cold enough place, shovel out snow around schools the night after it has snowed...

Why bother when they pay people to do it? It would be a good work out though...