volunteering is boring...

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I understand your rant is in response to the frustration you feel, but have you ever thought of changing where or how you gain experience? Perhaps you could volunteer in a pre-hospital setting as an EMT or maybe even work part-time in the ED as a tech. At least you'd be getting paid to clean beds and bag urine. 😀 Maybe the ED isn't for you. Maybe you'd rather be in a different part of the hospital. Only you really know, the point being that you're more aware of your likes and dislikes than us, so get out there and do something you enjoy. Yes volunteering can be boring, but it doesn't have to be.
 
i completely understand, but keep a few things in mind.

1) i am a "filer" for oncology dept. It sucks b@lz, and a Dr. there asked me if i like doing it. I said, it's not THAT exciting, and he told me that i should def. try something that i like, because med schools will ask about 'whether you enjoyed your volunteer experience'.
~ while it's not terribly exciting, my answer for this would be, "Yes, i had the opportunity to read through charts, and ask questions regarding diagnoses", etc.

2) Use the opportunity to NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK...i got set up with the director of a major dept. at my hospital from chatting with RNs, etc. Also offered the opportunity to get involved in a research. I orig. volunteered a TON of hrs at the hospital, now i only do a few a wk to upkeep, and the rest i use shadowing w/ Dr.s i met there, research, etc.

Whatever you do, DO NOT waste your time: learn (take HW with you), ask questions, talk to Dr.s, voice your interests...Above all, find something you like to do. I hated the first part of volunteering, but then i networked and have gotten to see various dept.s, etc. But find OTHER ways to get exposure, REd Cross, Psych Hospitals, etc.

Life is too short to waste your time. Enjoy it.
 
I understand where you are coming from. I also found my experience boring and useless at first, then I told my volunteer coordinator that I wanted something where I could do more that was fast-paced. She then proceeded to put me on three different areas until I found my current position which fits perfectly for me (women's health area which is my interest, I talk to patients, nursese and docs). It just takes initiative to find something you like more. It took me a couple years of lukewarm volunteering to ask for a better assignment, but don't let it take you that long.
Also I recently started volunteering at a free clinic. Talk about hands on experience! They are training me to take vitals, etc for free! I definately heard people recommend free clinics before and I second that. You just have to be ok with working with a lot of low income people. Since I work with mostly immigrant populations there, I love it. (as an immigrant myself I relate well to them.) I am exposed to med students who are going to the schools that I want to go to, to residents, attending doctors, patients, nurses, administration, etc. Good luck.

If all else fails, find volunteering outside the hospital walls: red cross, marathon, girld/boys clubs, big bro/sis, etc. That way adcoms see you giving back and you can talk about it more excitedly.
 
i'm starting my volunteer service in a couple of weeks so i'm not really speaking from experience, but i think it would help to work in your area of interest. i'm interested in ob/gyn and good with babies so i'm planning to spend one shift a week volunteering in the nicu and am hoping to add a second shift, if i can find something connected to women's services. if you can get exposure to what you're interested in, you'll either be less bored or discover you're not so interested after all 😉
 
maybe you should try another type of volunteer work?

I volunteer 8 hours a week at a children's hospital

I spend 4 hours doing Child Life- games, holding, spending time etc with patients and the other 4 hours are spent teaching/tutoring in the school room. I started with just the school room but I love it so much I asked for a full day!

My biggest challenge now is getting a shadowing position to watch a doctor a few times.
 
Perhaps you could volunteer in a pre-hospital setting as an EMT
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Trust me.....75% of the time, that is about as exciting as watching paint dry. As for the other 25%, 20% of it is mediocre....about as exciting as your average cricket match.....3% are the calls are the things that attract most people to the field of EMS to begin with, and the last 2% are the calls that make you question the existence of a just and loving God (read as disturbing, terrifying or just plain horrible).

Mind you, this is not x% of every day, but rather x% of all the time spent. Mostly you spend a lot of time sitting on your butt doing absolutely nothing.
 
Also I recently started volunteering at a free clinic. Talk about hands on experience!
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:laugh: Talk about experience that would probably make you wish you didn't have a functional sense of smell. I'd rather have my toenails pulled out with pliers than do that if I wasn't being paid for it.

They are training me to take vitals, etc for free!
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*hysterical laughter* God, I'd give anything to be that easily amused again.....but alas, I graduated kindergarten. :laugh:
 
AlkaIL said:
If all else fails, find volunteering outside the hospital walls: red cross, marathon, girld/boys clubs, big bro/sis, etc. That way adcoms see you giving back and you can talk about it more excitedly.
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:laugh: Nice......or you could learn to fake it like most premeds. If you're female, chances are you have experience with faking things already.
 
justin984 said:
I hope I don't get flamed here, but am I the only one that finds volunteering mind numbingly boring? I've been trying to get my ass back into the ED and volunteer between semesters but good god, I'd rather watch paint dry. Not to mention that there really isn't much to do so I feel like I'm just taking up space or like the nursing staff would rather not have me there. 2 doctor's have let me follow them around a bit which I can't complain about, that was pretty cool. But I spend most of my time bagging urine cups and cleaning beds. blah. Ok I'm done ranting.
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Do you have an opportunity to talk to patients or to hospital workers? If not, it might be useful to look for a position with more patient contact. You want to be talking with patients, hearing their stories, meeting their relatives, etc. Personally I have found that to be the best possible experience, more useful than taking vital signs and such.
 
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You want to be talking with patients, hearing their stories, meeting their relatives, etc.
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To paraphrase one of the ADCOM members who frequents here, if you can't smell the patient, it does not count.
 
Well, you could try to find a busier ED but your best bet is probably to tell whoever's in charge of volunteers that you don't have enough to do - heck, filing or restocking is better than standing around with nothing to do. Maybe they can send you up to the floors on slow periods in the ED.

But, the truth is, as a medical student there are going to be days when the doctor or resident you're assigned to doesn't have time to come and find you, the nurses don't want you around, you're not licensed to do anything useful, and you'll end up standing around twiddling your thumbs. By volunteering, not only are you showing your willingness to serve mankind for free, you're also showing that you can tolerate frustration and that you're willing to talk about your volunteer experience like it was the most exciting thing you ever did when it was actually quite boring.

That's how the admissions game is played. :laugh:
 
justin984 said:
I hope I don't get flamed here, but am I the only one that finds volunteering mind numbingly boring? I've been trying to get my ass back into the ED and volunteer between semesters but good god, I'd rather watch paint dry. Not to mention that there really isn't much to do so I feel like I'm just taking up space or like the nursing staff would rather not have me there. 2 doctor's have let me follow them around a bit which I can't complain about, that was pretty cool. But I spend most of my time bagging urine cups and cleaning beds. blah. Ok I'm done ranting.
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I agree with the people who suggested that you should volunteer somewhere else then. There are more clinical volunteering opportunities out there besides candystriping (which I agree with you is not the most exciting). Think about what you're interested in doing ultimately, and try to volunteer somehow in that capacity. For example, I want to do clinical research, so I started volunteering for a clinical trial. This turned out to be a boon on many levels: I got an excellent LOR from the PI, I wrote about this experience and how it solidified my desire to go to medical school in my PS, and I was able to talk about it with my interviewers. If you don't know what you want to do, then I agree with the poster who suggested volunteering with kids, because it's a lot of fun. I was a Big Sister and I also did science demonstrations for kids before I started med school.

On a separate note, clsr2nrvna, I don't think that you should tell interviewers that you were reading patients' charts. Unless you are directly involved with their care, reading their charts is probably a HIPPA violation and you shouldn't be doing it. We've had several training sessions about how reading patients' info violates their privacy unless it is for medical, research, or quality control reasons. Even though I'm now ostensibly part of the medical team, I am not supposed to read any patients' charts unless I am seeing those patients.
 
justin984 said:
I hope I don't get flamed here, but am I the only one that finds volunteering mind numbingly boring? I've been trying to get my ass back into the ED and volunteer between semesters but good god, I'd rather watch paint dry. Not to mention that there really isn't much to do so I feel like I'm just taking up space or like the nursing staff would rather not have me there. 2 doctor's have let me follow them around a bit which I can't complain about, that was pretty cool. But I spend most of my time bagging urine cups and cleaning beds. blah. Ok I'm done ranting.
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I know one poster found EMS/EMT work boring, but I loved it. If you have the inclination (you have to take a 100+ hour course), you could try that. I found my experience as an EMT very helpful and enjoyable. I was asked several times what got me back interested in medicine and I could truthfully tell them that it was my EMS experience.



Wook
 
QofQuimica said:
Unless you are directly involved with their care, reading their charts is probably a HIPPA violation and you shouldn't be doing it.
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Actually Q, I'm not sure this is true. I used to review patients pathology reports all the time in a fellowship at the NCI and also reviewd charts whiel shadowing a urological oncologist in the NIH clinical center. Ditto for my experience as an AIDS volunteer. My understanding in these types of teaching situations (usually teaching uniervsities/medical schools), is that the patient gives consent through the numerous forms they fill out before seeing their doctor, to have their medical info reviewed by people involved with their care and/or treatement. Of course, the person reviewing the info has to follow the rules of confidentiality which is usually presented in a form they fill out before beginning the activity or experience.
 
1Path said:
Actually Q, I'm not sure this is true. I used to review patients pathology reports all the time in a fellowship at the NCI and also reviewd charts whiel shadowing a urological oncologist in the NIH clinical center. Ditto for my experience as an AIDS volunteer. My understanding in these types of teaching situations (usually teaching uniervsities/medical schools), is that the patient gives consent through the numerous forms they fill out before seeing their doctor, to have their medical info reviewed by people involved with their care and/or treatement. Of course, the person reviewing the info has to follow the rules of confidentiality which is usually presented in a form they fill out before beginning the activity or experience.
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If you were involved in patient care or research using those charts, then you'd be allowed to read them. Access is given for personnel involved in patient care, and for research purposes when people sign informed consent forms (or if the IRB allows it). But for someone who is just filing charts, I don't think it follows that they have permission to read those charts just because they've physically handled them. I have access to lots of patients' charts whose care I am not involved with, and I definitely do not have permission to read them. The medical school has made that very clear to us on numerous occasions; it could actually get me kicked out of school if I knowingly violate HIPPA rules and read patients' charts for personal reasons. So, just because I have the physical capacity to access and read charts of patients who are not mine doesn't mean that I am allowed to do that. Anyway, maybe Law2Doc or someone else with more knowledge of legal things can clear this up for us, but I'm willing to bet that simply handling a chart to file it does not warrant having permission to read that chart. And it's definitely not a good idea to tell an interviewer that you've been reading people's charts if you're not supposed to be. 🙂
 
QofQuimica said:
The medical school has made that very clear to us on numerous occasions; it could actually get me kicked out of school if I knowingly violate HIPPA rules and read patients' charts for personal reasons.
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What exactly is meant by "personal reasons"? I'm thinking "personal reasons" means being vindictive against a person, ie spread rumors about a person's health? It makes sense that that would be a violation no matter who does it but I don't think that what's were talking about here unless reading for "educational purposes" is considered personal to HIPPA??

Over th ecourse of almost 20 years, I've been in many clinical environemnts where patient files are kept in hallways, pretty much for anyone to "see". In THIS case, unless I have been instructed to extract a patient file, I can't just arbitrarily go looking through patient files. OK, THAT sounds like a violation. But if some aspect of my work, paid or volunteer, requires that I have access to the information, I don't see how that could be a violation unless I decided to discuss the contents with someone outside the scope of the work I'm supposed to do with it.
 
1Path said:
What exactly is meant by "personal reasons"? I'm thinking "personal reasons" means being vindictive against a person, ie spread rumors about a person's health? It makes sense that that would be a violation no matter who does it but I don't think that what's were talking about here unless reading for "educational purposes" is considered personal to HIPPA??

Over th ecourse of almost 20 years, I've been in many clinical environemnts where patient files are kept in hallways, pretty much for anyone to "see". In THIS case, unless I have been instructed to extract a patient file, I can't just arbitrarily go looking through patient files. OK, THAT sounds like a violation. But if some aspect of my work, paid or volunteer, requires that I have access to the information, I don't see how that could be a violation unless I decided to discuss the contents with someone outside the scope of the work I'm supposed to do with it.
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I was actually talking about simple curiosity; I agree with you that this is a more likely scenario versus vindictiveness. I didn't think that the previous poster was being vindictive; she's just curious about the charts because she's a pre-med. But it's still a HIPAA violation if you read patients' charts out of personal curiosity even with no malicious intentions. For example, let's say that you come to my school's hospital to be treated. I am not involved with your care in any way, but I'm just curious about you for whatever reason. Maybe you are a celebrity and I want to find out why you're here. Maybe a friend or relative of yours has stopped me randomly in the hallway and asked me to check on your status. Maybe I am just bored, and your chart happens to be sitting out where I can see it. I would NOT be permitted to check your chart in any of those cases, even though my motivations are in no way vindictive, because that would violate your privacy and I don't have any medical, research, or quality improvement reason for accessing your chart. True, I am here to be educated, and that does mean that I will get to see some people's charts. But it doesn't mean that I can just go and rifle through any random patient's chart for no apparent reason. Again, I don't think that a volunteer who files charts and who almost certainly does not need to read them in order to get them filed would be entitled to read them.

BTW, even though HIPAA was passed ten years ago (in 1996), the regulations have only been in effect since 2003. So the things you were allowed to do twenty, ten, or even five years ago are not necessarily still things you could get away with doing today. 🙂
 
I look at personal reasons to be reasons other than in a professional capacity. Even if you just "come across" someone's chart, unless you are a medical provider, should you honestly be reading charts? From what I've gathered, policy states no. Just my interpretation.
The example of a filer just looking through random patient files (which you agree) could be a violation. Or even just a volunteer. So I won't be playing around with anyone's chart nor advertising about it either. 😀

When I was helping a unit secretary on a general ward I had to work with charts but that didn't give me the right to read them. And reading them doesn't help very much anyways sometimes if you don't understand the context they were written and start from the beginning to finish. I have copies of previous charts on myself and half the time it takes me a while to decipher what they were actually saying!


But on topic of volunteering ... find something that you like to do. I've tried various hospital gigs and nothing really panned out for me. I currently tutor middle schoolers in math and I shadow a few doctors. I would like to find a volunteering position at a hospital but its hard to fit that in my schedule ... we'll see what pans out. I have volunteered in a hospital before (probably about 100 hrs over the past 2 years) but I'd like to do it again if I had the chance. Also I would check with various positions because every facility is different about what they will allow you to do. Some places have worked with me on this aspect. :luck:
 
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I think we're all on the same page with this issue of reading charts, unless there's some premed out there who decides to list as one of their EC's their decsion to rifle through patients charts when they got bored volunteering.😕 I mean it almost seems silly to have to mention that I'm not talking about random rifling through patient charts!

What's more important I think is how vague this issue really is. One person's rifling through charts could very well be anothers "educational activity"whose to say??? I'm assume the people I work for and around are professional but apprently some of you have had some very different experiences.
 
Wook,
I didn't mean to imply that it's not worth doing....just that it's not the exciting "Third Watch" or "Rescue 911" lifestyle that many people think (especially premeds). I get so sick of my students and rookie partners being disappointed that they realize this that I like to point it out any time I get the chance.

If anyone is interested in EMS, please check out www.fieldmedics.com and go to the forums there. You will learn a lot from the senior EMS personnel who frequent the site, including a few EM physicians.
 
1Path said:
I think we're all on the same page with this issue of reading charts, unless there's some premed out there who decides to list as one of their EC's their decsion to rifle through patients charts when they got bored volunteering.😕 I mean it almost seems silly to have to mention that I'm not talking about random rifling through patient charts!

What's more important I think is how vague this issue really is. One person's rifling through charts could very well be anothers "educational activity"whose to say??? I'm assume the people I work for and around are professional but apprently some of you have had some very different experiences.
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The reason why this topic came up is that someone mentioned filing charts and telling interviewers that what she got from it was experience reading through charts. I was saying that I would recommend NOT telling any interviewers that she read patients' charts (and not reading them in the first place), if her job capacity was simply to file the charts and did not relate to patient care or research.

Anyway, my apologies to the OP for my part in this thread going completely off topic. 😳
 
I remember putting on my ugly blue jacket and thinking, "Please God, let something cool happen" every Sunday. But I made myself go, realizing there are those who are trying their hardest to get a volunteer position, and I made everyone who worked in the ED feel like I was glad to be there and help. I did my "job" to the best of my ability, and whaddya know, it got my foot in the door to a program which where I basically shadow EM docs (MD's and DO's) as a paid job. I also meet a lot of med students and residents since it's a teaching hospital affiliated with a top med school.

So suck it up. You never know what might come out of it. 😀
 
QofQuimica said:
I didn't think that the previous poster was being vindictive; she's just curious about the charts because she's a pre-med. But it's still a HIPAA violation if you read patients' charts out of personal curiosity even with no malicious intentions.
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Where I work and many of the surrounding hospitals are going electronic. They're also placing securities on them so they know when a chart is being viewed. The person looking at it needs to have a good reason for doing so.

One hospital fired a bunch of people because a famous person went in for treatment and a bunch of employees looked at their chart. The next day, they no workie there. 😱
 
Wackie said:
So suck it up. You never know what might come out of it. 😀
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This is a great point. Pretty much every job volunteer or otherwise has aspects that are less fun than others. But almost every volunteer activity I've ever had resulted in an offer of a "real" job which as you mention, is a great plus!👍
 
Wackie said:
Where I work and many of the surrounding hospitals are going electronic. They're also placing securities on them so they know when a chart is being viewed. The person looking at it needs to have a good reason for doing so.

One hospital fired a bunch of people because a famous person went in for treatment and a bunch of employees looked at their chart. The next day, they no workie there. 😱
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Yeah, major no-no there. I have been a patient at the same hospital at which I work, and I appreciate the strict confidentiality rules because I don't want my colleagues/supervisors/anybody I know looking up my notes, lab results, etc., even though I know they would just be doing this out of curisosity (even concern), not vindictiveness.

An unbelievable thing happened at the hospital where I'm doing my residency. Charts and stuff are just all around, and I think any of us would (should) actively avoid a chart regarding a friend, celebrity, etc. But in our daily life this doesn't come up often and you just find yourself looking at millions of charts in the course of doing your job.

A surgical resident here was going to be switching teams and working under a certain attending who was a stickler about his notes - wanted them "just so." He looked up a random chart on a patient from a resident going off this service for the purpose of looking at how his new attending wanted the notes written. This patient ended up requesting an audit of who had looked at her records (computerized medical record) and there was no reason to explain how he could legitimately have been in her chart since he was not involved with her care. 😱 :scared:
 
Hey OP, the volunteer thing is a tough one. I think the best way to go about it is to find something you actually care about. It sounds obvious, but it can be tricky when you're responsibilities are as limited as many volunteer positions allow. Personally, I wish I would have done something with kids and my dog, like visiting sick kids. That way, the kids, my dog, and I would have had a ball!

While I did have a worthwhile hospice experience (the dude was a class act up until the end), some of the other stuff I got involved with was pretty painful. However, the key is to realize that some of this jazz is just part of the game. You don't have to LOVE doing boring ED volunteer work in order to be a highly "qualified" applicant, and a great future physician. So, if your circumstances are making it difficult for you to be doing something you're more passionate about, don't worry too much or get down on yourself. Just bear with it, and it'll serve it's purpose. Use IT, and don't worry about it using you....lol

That being said, you can always do something to maximize your experience. There were times in the ED when I'd just BS with patients. To hell with the towel stocking, if there were lonely patients to chat with. But, every situation is different. I had a lot of flexibility. Good luck, but don't sweat it too much. Also, remember the strategic value of staying the course....

Oh, and one more thing... When in doubt, smile, suck it up, and keep a positive attitude. Like others have said, you can use these opportunities to network and/or launch into other areas and possible job offers.
 
DropkickMurphy said:
Trust me.....75% of the time, that is about as exciting as watching paint dry. As for the other 25%, 20% of it is mediocre....about as exciting as your average cricket match.....3% are the calls are the things that attract most people to the field of EMS to begin with, and the last 2% are the calls that make you question the existence of a just and loving God (read as disturbing, terrifying or just plain horrible).

Mind you, this is not x% of every day, but rather x% of all the time spent. Mostly you spend a lot of time sitting on your butt doing absolutely nothing.
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I'll not argue with that. We had 14 calls last shift and zero today.

One of the reasons I suggested EMS for a student is because it usually allows me to work on homework while still giving me some patient contact experience. Not all EMS systems will be like mine, but he/she should investigate it before writing it off.
 
I just finished up a rotation in the Oncology Ward in my hospital that I am volunteering in and I started my rotation in the ER and I can't tell you how much of a difference there is between the departments but the experience is worth the pain at points.
 
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I know that voluteering can be boring at times, but ARCIN is correct that all of the experience is worth it in the end. My experience was mostly on a med-surg floor and then the OR for my second phase.

My advice to you is, do a lot of extra things independently. Obviously not anything clinical, but as far as talking to patients and helping nurses. I was probably looked at as kind of annoying by some of the nurses b/c I was always wanting to do something or ask something, etc. A lot of them would seem annoyed cause it was more work for them to explain something or show me something, so some of them would seemed agitated. But I just said F*** it, I'm going to get as much out of this as I can. I did the same with the doctors as well, and most of them were much more receptive than the nurses. Some of them would look at you like you had 3 heads for asking a medical question, but that's just something you have to not worry about, cause you are there for you, and most of them appreciate your interest and inquisitiveness.

You can also learn a lot from the patients. I was always talking to them and finding out as much about them as I could. When they heard that I wanted to be a doctor, they would volunteer their medical problems to me and tell me what it was, and what they were on for it, and what the symptoms were and so on. I actually learned a lot and their is no HIPPA violation there. Just do as much as you can and don't worry about it as much as I did at first, cause you are their to learn, and the busier you keep yourself, the less boring it will seem. But I know, even at times I was bored to tears and just waiting for it to end for the day, you just gotta battle through it.
 
Faze2 said:
I know that voluteering can be boring at times, but ARCIN is correct that all of the experience is worth it in the end. My experience was mostly on a med-surg floor and then the OR for my second phase.

My advice to you is, do a lot of extra things independently. Obviously not anything clinical, but as far as talking to patients and helping nurses. I was probably looked at as kind of annoying by some of the nurses b/c I was always wanting to do something or ask something, etc. A lot of them would seem annoyed cause it was more work for them to explain something or show me something, so some of them would seemed agitated. But I just said F*** it, I'm going to get as much out of this as I can. I did the same with the doctors as well, and most of them were much more receptive than the nurses. Some of them would look at you like you had 3 heads for asking a medical question, but that's just something you have to not worry about, cause you are there for you, and most of them appreciate your interest and inquisitiveness.

You can also learn a lot from the patients. I was always talking to them and finding out as much about them as I could. When they heard that I wanted to be a doctor, they would volunteer their medical problems to me and tell me what it was, and what they were on for it, and what the symptoms were and so on. I actually learned a lot and their is no HIPPA violation there. Just do as much as you can and don't worry about it as much as I did at first, cause you are their to learn, and the busier you keep yourself, the less boring it will seem. But I know, even at times I was bored to tears and just waiting for it to end for the day, you just gotta battle through it.
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Well put. Especially the bolded. I had a similar attitude and similar outcomes, I'd imagine. It's pretty much all you can do. Just say F..ck it, and do the best you can under the circumstances.....lol
 
At least you CAN volunteer. The only hospital in my area doesn't allow volunteers in the ER, even as an EMT. That totally sucks, since I love being in the ER. I guess for now I'll just volunteer at clinics and so forth.
 
I told the volunteer coordinator at our hospital that I wanted as much patient contact as possible. The first summer I volunteered she placed me in PICU. I helped the nurses some (stocking the supply carts, etc.), but mostly I spent time with the patients and their families. I would go to each room and ask if there was anything I could do for them. I rocked and fed babies, answered parents' questions, let them talk about their kids. This would go a long way to calming the parents' and patients' fears. The following year, though, I finally managed to volunteer in the ED. Fantastic! Even though it's not a level 1 trauma center, it's the busiest ED in Oklahoma and the surrounding area (busier even than the OKC level 1 trauma center). My time is spent almost exclusively with the patients and families. Sometimes all the patient/family wants is someone to talk to. And since it's easier for me to find their nurse or doctor, I can take their questions to the medical staff. Once the nurses realized I was happy to do some of their non-medical tasks (supplying a blanket or pillow to the patient, getting them food or drink if they were allowed such, etc) they were happy to see me. The doctors were happy to let me stay with the patient during the exams as long as the patients were ok with that. It gave me a chance to watch how each doctor related to the patients and to see their different interview "styles". Most patients express extreme surprise and gratitude that I would happily help them in whatever way I could. I make it a point to spend time particularly with young children (whether they're patients or family members), the elderly, and anyone who is alone. I've gotten to meet some amazing people (patients, family members, and medical staff). The truly amazing thing is that even though I'm seeing people who are certainly not at their best, there have been only 2 patients who have been what I would call "whiners". One was a woman who had emotional problems. The other was a man who whined non-stop about the way he was treated by the nurses and the doctors, swearing he was going to sue the doctors, the hospital, and anyone else he could think of.

Wherever you volunteer, find a way to make the job "yours". Check with the charge nurse to find out if there are things you are NOT allowed to do (beyond the obvious). You might be pleasantly surprised at how grateful they will be once they realize you are serious. One nurse in PICU told me they weren't sure at first just what to do with me since the only volunteers they ever saw were high school students who would just sit there and gather dust just so they could meet their volunteer requirements for school. Once the PICU nurses realized I was serious, they would let me know when a procedure was occuring that I might be interested in watching. I watched some nurses debriding a patient who had been struck by lightning. And I watched as two ortho docs got a patient set up in traction (which included drilling through the patient's femur).

All of my volunteering experience has reinforced my decision to become a doctor. It has been enormously rewarding.
 
justin984 said:
I hope I don't get flamed here, but am I the only one that finds volunteering mind numbingly boring? I've been trying to get my ass back into the ED and volunteer between semesters but good god, I'd rather watch paint dry. Not to mention that there really isn't much to do so I feel like I'm just taking up space or like the nursing staff would rather not have me there. 2 doctor's have let me follow them around a bit which I can't complain about, that was pretty cool. But I spend most of my time bagging urine cups and cleaning beds. blah. Ok I'm done ranting.
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Then don't volunteer. Do something that you enjoy more and you'll get more out of it.

You could also bribe the nurses to get them on your side. Many will accept pizza and Chinese food.

Or you could change nights. I volunteered Saturday nights from 7pm to 3am and that was always a good time. Ahhh yesss...I'd start just in time to get the end of the rush-hour accidents and post-dinner stabbings, and once they were taken care of, it was time to get ready for the bar-closing fights and accidents. 😀
 
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