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- Jan 22, 2015
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Hello all,
I was wondering what types of clinical volunteering programs I should do or look for as I plan on doing an accelerated summer hospital internship next summer and in the meantime I want to do things such as shadowing or volunteering in various clinical settings to get a well rounded feel of what medicine is actually like. I go to a good public university in CA and some clinical opportunities are tough to come by.
I thought about volunteering at local private offices, but given the smaller work setting I thought that it would be more ideal to approach doctors working at these types of clinic in order to ask them about shadowing opportunities. However, I could still gain a lot of insight from volunteering here, especially since its farther from campus and thus less pre-meds at my school pursue these kind of opportunities.
The free "non-profit" clinics locally are packed and the only positions they offer are menial tasks in the front desk because of the so many people who apply there.
I thought about volunteering at a mental health institution or a convalescent home as I did this once before in high school as required for community service hours and I really didn't like it, but now that I think that now that I am more mature I will gain a more beneficial experience if I volunteer in the same setting once again. Plus it's great to be pushed out of my comfort zone!
Last option of course I could volunteer at a local hospital that won't be too difficult to get to and I'll have the ability to rotate through many settings over time, but this would defeat the purpose of the summer hospital internship I previously mentioned as I would rotate through multiple departments. Not that I am trying to be a "cookie cutter" applicant, but I want to be exposed to as much medical perspectives as I can.
Also, where else outside of private practice/hospitals should I look for shadowing and any other types of clinical settings would you recommend I can do besides EMT and scribing?
Thanks for the help!
I was wondering what types of clinical volunteering programs I should do or look for as I plan on doing an accelerated summer hospital internship next summer and in the meantime I want to do things such as shadowing or volunteering in various clinical settings to get a well rounded feel of what medicine is actually like. I go to a good public university in CA and some clinical opportunities are tough to come by.
I thought about volunteering at local private offices, but given the smaller work setting I thought that it would be more ideal to approach doctors working at these types of clinic in order to ask them about shadowing opportunities. However, I could still gain a lot of insight from volunteering here, especially since its farther from campus and thus less pre-meds at my school pursue these kind of opportunities.
The free "non-profit" clinics locally are packed and the only positions they offer are menial tasks in the front desk because of the so many people who apply there.
I thought about volunteering at a mental health institution or a convalescent home as I did this once before in high school as required for community service hours and I really didn't like it, but now that I think that now that I am more mature I will gain a more beneficial experience if I volunteer in the same setting once again. Plus it's great to be pushed out of my comfort zone!
Last option of course I could volunteer at a local hospital that won't be too difficult to get to and I'll have the ability to rotate through many settings over time, but this would defeat the purpose of the summer hospital internship I previously mentioned as I would rotate through multiple departments. Not that I am trying to be a "cookie cutter" applicant, but I want to be exposed to as much medical perspectives as I can.
Also, where else outside of private practice/hospitals should I look for shadowing and any other types of clinical settings would you recommend I can do besides EMT and scribing?
Thanks for the help!
