Volunteering choices...

[Jfz]

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So I was checking out volunteer opportunities at the teaching hospital near me, they have quite a few spots where I could potentially volunteer. How much does the exact spot in the hospital where I volunteer matter?

Here is the list of current opportunities
http://www.hsc.mb.ca/volunteers/copportunities.html

I'm thinking ICU support has the most relevance but I honestly don't know if I could give patients the kind of support they're looking for. I'd be pretty clueless and awkward. Will med schools just laugh if I say I volunteered at the hospitals retail store, or if I just told people where to go?

Another thing is I was considering an opportunity with the Salvation Army. I figure it could show that I care about my local community, in ways outside the hospital, something I hear schools like. What do you guys think?

 

[fried rice]

You'll be clueless and awkward most places that you'd volunteer at. My time volunteering mostly involved me feeling like I was constantly in the way and utterly useless. Choose the opportunity with the most patient interaction.

 

[schrizto]

I think ICU is the way to go. Doesn't sound like much, but you'll get the most contact with patients and interaction with docs.

 

[Jfz]

Any thoughts on the benefits of the salvation army (or similar organization) vs the hospital?

 

[Kimaris]

You could do both but you still are going to need some clinical hours.

 

[schrizto]

Any thoughts on the benefits of the salvation army (or similar organization) vs the hospital?

What do you do in the Salvation Army? The name sounds familiar but I don't know what they do.

 

[Jfz]

You could do both but you still are going to need some clinical hours.

Of course, but I consider shadowing different from volunteering. Right now i'm just asking questions on volunteering.

Salvation Army concentrates a lot on inner city life, homelessness, that kinda thing. They have people who ring bells for donations around Christmas time (at least here in Canada). When I was younger I would deliver food and presents with my parents to a lot of less fortunate people for the salvation army, so I think its definitely a worthwhile organization.
http://www.salvationarmy.ca/volunteer/

 

[Ignition]

Here is what I did in these types of situations:

Set aside thoughts on your resume for a second.

Which do you think you would most enjoy? Which would offer you the greatest opportunity to participate and make a difference? Which one could offer you the most opportunity to meet new/different people and help answer interesting questions you are still have about life, in general, or medicine, in particular?

Made a decision? Good...now go do something with it to make it worthy of adding to your resume 🙂

 

[fried rice]

So now I have a question to ask of you all as well...

My work coordinator is setting up a volunteering event with Habitat for Humanity in a few weeks. Now, I've done this sort of thing before and it can be sort of cool at times despite the fact that most of us were really ****ty home builders, but I'll be perfectly honest in saying that I'd be primarily doing it to pad my application. It's a seven hour deal, do you think it would be worth it to participate, especially since I'm not volunteering anywhere at the moment?

 

[Ignition]

So now I have a question to ask of you all as well...

My work coordinator is setting up a volunteering event with Habitat for Humanity in a few weeks. Now, I've done this sort of thing before and it can be sort of cool at times despite the fact that most of us were really ****ty home builders, but I'll be perfectly honest in saying that I'd be primarily doing it to pad my application. It's a seven hour deal, do you think it would be worth it to participate, especially since I'm not volunteering anywhere at the moment?

I guess the question you should ask yourself is if there is a volunteering activity you'd actually enjoy doing? Assuming you like to help people and like to do volunteering in general, there's tons of cool things out there that just require a bit of searching and a phone call or two 🙂

Often times the path of least resistance isn't the path that yields the most fruit. Some time investment up front to find the real gems of volunteering can go a long way to giving you new perspectives on life.

 

[mvenus929]

Here is what I did in these types of situations:

Set aside thoughts on your resume for a second.

Which do you think you would most enjoy? Which would offer you the greatest opportunity to participate and make a difference? Which one could offer you the most opportunity to meet new/different people and help answer interesting questions you are still have about life, in general, or medicine, in particular?

Made a decision? Good...now go do something with it to make it worthy of adding to your resume 🙂

I second this. You really shouldn't be making your decision based on what schools will like, because if you're only doing it for that reason, 1) you've missed the point, and 2) you're not as likely to really get something out of it.