Volunteering Confusion

[panicatthedisco]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

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[8744]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

Hi.

Don't sweat it. At most hospitals, especially very large ones, nobody really knows who anyone is. With this in mind you can go wild and do anything you want, pretty much with impunity because, think about it, who are they gonna sue?

I hung out in the waiting rooms and the gift shop eating peanut M&Ms thinking about how I would spin this activity on my application until I got bored of it. Then I decided to actually do some volunteering. I got a white coat and cheap stethascope and walked around the hospital looking for good volunteer exerience.

As you know, patients spend most of their time in the exam room waiting. If you walk in with a white coat and a stethascope around your neck you can do a complete history and physical and be out before anyone knows you were there.

Did you know that some chicks will put their feet up in stirrups when you walk in? Incredible! Of course some of them were real hosers so sometimes I had to say, in my best butch doctor voice, "Lady, please, I just ate."

So I kicked around a little at various clinics getting the feel of things before I moved up. I had done two colonoscopies and part of a third before they called security, at which point a I put on a thick foreign accent and said I was "Dr. Gombalwa, from Eulopotamia." In the ensuing confusion I ditched the white coat and slipped out.

The cool thing is that I used Dr. Gombalwa as a letter writer for my AMCAS essay.

Medical admissions is tough. You have to be smart and you have to be flexible.

Glad I could help.

 

[ADeadLois]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

With little experience, I would imagine there's very little else you could do. In an ER, they're not concerned about you want to do, only what needs to be done. I would say be patient and work hard for a little bit, and then maybe after a while you'll move up to more exciting stuff. Also, working in the ER would be a great way to make connections for other jobs and also meet docs to shadow.

 

[LizzyM]

You've got your foot in the door, now make the most of it.

Of course, stuff needs to get done & you have no skills so you are going to be asked to do the grunt work. This isn't much different than third year of med school so grin & bear it. Show everyone that you can do what you're asked to do & then ask for more. Go beyond that, observe what else needs to be done and offer to do that, too. If there isn't anything to do, chat up any health care professionals who are also twiddling their thumbs -- this is a great place to get their opinions on "problems in health care" questions that you should be thinking about and ready to discuss at interviews.

Once you get the reputation as a hard worker & a self-starter, you may get more interesting assignments. You can also grab opportunities that you get to introduce yourself to docs and ask if, in addition to your volunteer work, you can come back & shadow them in varioius venues. Nurses, too, if they know that you are trying to see "everything" (and you don't have an attitude about nurses) may offer to let you watch while they start an IV, etc.

Good luck.

 

[UIC Killa]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

Hey,

I volunteer in the ER and I know exactly what you mean. However, those are jobs you are expected to do (cleaning up and stuff)...after a while everyone else will gets more comfortable of you and you are of them and you can go beyond expectations, some nurses let me do some of their work (hook up ekg machines, blood pressure...etc)...of course with their supersvision in case I miss things up. They started asking me to wheel patients to catscan, radiology...etc. My hospital is a trauma hospital, so when things get really busy you don't even need to ask nurses and doctors to help them out. If they need blood drawn you know where to go for the materials. Sometimes patients (especially babies) need help when they are getting blood drawn and a lot of lab work takes place so I have to help bring things to the lab. On down times I go around the ER rooms and ask patients if they need anything to drink, some want to talk so you can converse with them. Overall, its up to you to make the experience worth while. If you are just there to pad your applications you will be bored and just clean beds and take out trash. If you are there for the experience then you go above and beyond those things. Follow a doctor or nurse during your shift and you will see exactly what they do and they will start to feel comfortable about letting you do some of those things. Just to warn you though, you will never get comfortable having to take a rectal tempt...those things are brutal, but you get the experience. Good luck.

 

[Robizzle]

wtf how come u got to put food in the fridge and i couldn't...

 

[rcd]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

I'm in the same boat, in fact I was halfway through making this topic last night before having to cook dinner.

Had orientation Wednesday, will be volunteering tomorrow and then M-R. Keep in touch.

 

[BlackBantie]

I agree with what some previous posters said. You have to start small somewhere. Most likely you'll be stuck doing menial tasks, but if you do a good job and seem dedicated, you should get to do/see more. Be persistent and speak up. When I first started volunteering in the surgical pathology department, I was stuck filing specimen transcripts in a small closet. I soon became an excellent filer (haha, what an accomplishment) and after dropping some "hints" that I wanted to do other stuff, they finally let me into all of the labs to shadow doctors and techs.

I think a large part of the quality of your volunteer experience depends on your department and your "supervisor." In the path department, they weren't used to having volunteers so they didn't know what to do with me. But I had my introduction/orientation today volunteering in the ICU and my supervisor is the most outgoing guy I've ever met. During my first hour I was already getting stuff ready for patients and he's letting me follow him wherever he goes. It was just my introduction and I've seen tons of stuff.

I hope you have fun!

 

[rcd]

dropping some "hints" that I wanted to do other stuff

How'd you drop the hints?

 

[BlackBantie]

How'd you drop the hints?

One of the cytotechnicians was an old friend of my family so I would occasionally ask if I could go see her in the lab. I'd also ask if I could do errands where I'd definitely would have to go to the lab, and that's where all of the interesting stuff is.

This I don't recommend, but it worked: I went to the lab for some errand and while I was there, one of the residents let me watch her prepare some tissue from the OR. When I returned to my closet, one of the transcriptionists (I filed the papers for her) asked me if I had fun. I said "YES! It's a lot better than what I do here!" Very blunt, kind of rude, but after that I was allowed to go to the lab a lot.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Hi.

Don't sweat it. At most hospitals, especially very large ones, nobody really knows who anyone is. With this in mind you can go wild and do anything you want, pretty much with impunity because, think about it, who are they gonna sue?

I hung out in the waiting rooms and the gift shop eating peanut M&Ms thinking about how I would spin this activity on my application until I got bored of it. Then I decided to actually do some volunteering. I got a white coat and cheap stethascope and walked around the hospital looking for good volunteer exerience.

As you know, patients spend most of their time in the exam room waiting. If you walk in with a white coat and a stethascope around your neck you can do a complete history and physical and be out before anyone knows you were there.

Did you know that some chicks will put their feet up in stirrups when you walk in? Incredible! Of course some of them were real hosers so sometimes I had to say, in my best butch doctor voice, "Lady, please, I just ate."

So I kicked around a little at various clinics getting the feel of things before I moved up. I had done two colonoscopies and part of a third before they called security, at which point a I put on a thick foreign accent and said I was "Dr. Gombalwa, from Eulopotamia." In the ensuing confusion I ditched the white coat and slipped out.

The cool thing is that I used Dr. Gombalwa as a letter writer for my AMCAS essay.

Medical admissions is tough. You have to be smart and you have to be flexible.

Glad I could help.

LMAO This is my vote for post of the year.

 

[gujuDoc]

LMAO This is my vote for post of the year.

Agreed

 

[star22]

You've got your foot in the door, now make the most of it.

Of course, stuff needs to get done & you have no skills so you are going to be asked to do the grunt work. This isn't much different than third year of med school so grin & bear it. Show everyone that you can do what you're asked to do & then ask for more. Go beyond that, observe what else needs to be done and offer to do that, too. If there isn't anything to do, chat up any health care professionals who are also twiddling their thumbs -- this is a great place to get their opinions on "problems in health care" questions that you should be thinking about and ready to discuss at interviews.

Once you get the reputation as a hard worker & a self-starter, you may get more interesting assignments. You can also grab opportunities that you get to introduce yourself to docs and ask if, in addition to your volunteer work, you can come back & shadow them in varioius venues. Nurses, too, if they know that you are trying to see "everything" (and you don't have an attitude about nurses) may offer to let you watch while they start an IV, etc.

Good luck.

I would hope that 3rd year med students are doing more than making beds and putting food in the fridge.

 

[Hard24Get]

LMAO This is my vote for post of the year.

Hesus! It's clearly tied between this one and his "personal statement"

Anyway, just wanted to suggest that all you bored volunteers switch to ICU. You will get to do a lot more stuff and will leave with a greater appreciation for nurses and how precious and fragile human life is

 

[gujuDoc]

Hesus! It's clearly tied between this one and his "personal statement"

Anyway, just wanted to suggest that all you bored volunteers switch to ICU. You will get to do a lot more stuff and will leave with a greater appreciation for nurses and how precious and fragile human life is

Good call. I totally forgot about the Personal Statement post. Someone should bump it back up so I can read it again just for the sake of laughing my rear end off again.

 

[bearMD]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

it's good for the the resume but that's bout it if you really want some experience why not just volunteer at a smaller clinic? we have a small student run clinic here and the premeds actually take pts from the waiting room, take the cheif complaint and do the basic vitals and then if theyre not busy can follow us into the room to see the pt. plus it gives a good exposure to some of the barriers to health care some people have. Hopefully your town has something similar.

any other ?s letme know

jmr ms3 (two weeks two days till ms4..whoo hoo)

ps..it's summer now and u can see all of the premed volunteers here at the hospital. I really do think the hospital enjoys all the free labor..along with making them buy the snazzy matching uniforms.

 

[Carmenita79]

Hi. Ok this may be a really stupid question but i'm new to this.

I am going to volunteer in the ER of a local hospital. When I went for orientation it seemed like they were going to have me making beds and putting food into the fridge. I know I am not qualified to do anything, but is this the type of clinical experience I need?
Any suggestions or other people's experiences would be very helpful. Thanks!

I agree with other posters, with time, they will probably let do more.

If you want to get some quick qualifications, you could look into getting CNA certified (in my state it is a 3 week course) and be able to get a paid PT job where you could contribute more than a volunteer. It is still a lot of scut work, but lots more patient contact than you have described.