Volunteering at a hospice vs other clinical experiences during COVID

[doctorrr-t]

I just heard that volunteering at a hospice is still available for those who want clinical experience during the pandemic. Because this is my first time hearing about it (I usually heard about and got involved traditional hospital volunteering), could someone with experience discuss the clinical values of volunteering at a hospice? In the eyes of admissions, is it viewed as a valuable clinical experience? Are there any other forms of obtaining clinical experience during this time?

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[Doctoscope]

I've been a hospice volunteer for ~3 months now, and it's a bit different from your average clinical experience. You're not interacting with "normal" patients - a lot of the patients I visited were suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's, so it can be difficult to converse or talk with them. You need a lot of patience, and you end up repeating a lot of what you say. It's not something where you just sit next to a senior and have a normal conversation with them for an hour or so. Even getting 30 minutes of interaction can be hard at times. It's definitely a humbling and eye-opening experience, and it's not for everyone.

Onboarding/training also takes some time as well, as you need to go through like 12 different modules, and take a quick test after each module.