Volunteering advice!

[Corpsman Up]

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I go to the biggest freakin school in the world, and in order to volunteer at any hospital/medically-related institution, its a a hhhuuugggeee, several month process in which they select a few people to actually volunteer.

My GPA is solid, I have 6yrs direct patient contact experience, im just trying to get a few hundred hours or so volunteer work in before summer 2012 (when I am applying).

Does anyone have any suggestions? maybe something off the beaten path?

 

[Geekchick921]

You have a ton of clinical experience already, so I would do something non-clinical for volunteering. I'm in a similar boat. I have about 100 hours from volunteering at a cat rescue my freshman year of college, and about 3000 hours of clinical experience, but not much else for volunteering/community service. I am going to start as a volunteer GED tutor (tonight, actually) though my local library.

 

[LizzyM]

^👍

If you really have 6 yrs of clinical experinece, you don't need to volunteer in a hospital. Leave that for those who haven't done anything clinical yet.

google find volunteer opportunities in [state] and you'll find lots of links that should help you find something.

 

[cpants]

Local food banks, meals on wheels, homeless organizations, community beautification, and all sorts of local volunteer organizations are always looking for help. Completely non-selective, and great experience which really helps people (unlike a lot of official hospital volunteer spots).

Your BEST course of action is to start your own gig. Find a need in your community and figure out a way to fill it. Raise funds, pound the pavement, and get something started. Get other students involved. It will be extremely impressive to adcoms if you are a volunteer leader and a self-starter. IMO, 5 hours a week in an activity like this will be a lot more impressive than hundreds of hours pushing around the book cart in the hospital.

 

[KTDseven77]

I agree with the above advice, but if you're still looking for more clinical experience, you could try looking for a free clinic for uninsured people in your area. I'm volunteering with one in my hometown right now, and it's a way better deal than any hospital volunteering I've done...since it's small, free, and independent I get to do real patient care stuff, instead of pushing carts, etc. at a hospital. I take blood pressures, temperatures, height/weight, etc. before the nurses see the patients. 👍 Plus, it shows you care about the plight of the uninsured who cannot afford a hospital stay. 👍 👍