Volunteering

[silverpaw54]

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Hi,
I was wondering if volunteering is worth it if you don't do anything of any importance. I basically surfed the web for 2hours and was trained, made one bed yesterday. There were no patients around and the nurses were bored out of there minds as well. Should I just stick with it or is it not worthwhile if interviewers ask me what I did and all I can say is that I made a bed, took out trash and made coffee?

Thanks for any feedback,

 

[DrMike24]

I would say get out of it. I was in a similar situation about 2 years ago, just about when I decided to go into medicine. I was volunteering at an ER, sunday nights from 5-9. It was soooo boring. I couldnt do anything, just change linens, stock the rooms, etc. I ended up leaving after about 6 months (95 hours) when I found the place I currently volunteer at. I absolutely love the place I volunteer at now, and I'm so glad I dropped the ER. I would say stick it out till you find something else.

 

[silverpaw54]

I dont think I have much of an option. I just recently (last semester) decided to go to med school and I don't have many ECs. I'm kind of overloading myself with ECs this semester, but I'm enjoying the challenge. I feel like I need some kind of experience and this is the most exposure to a hospital I'm going to get.

Any other suggestions?

 

[relentless11]

Maybe try clinical research, or just research in general. For most of my hospital volunteer time, it was walking around with nothing to do, or resupplying medical carts. I mainly did ER, so as ER works, the patients tend to come in waves, and most of the time, its pretty slow during my shift. Although I had an amazing experience once, and observed a few interesting cases, overall, as motivating as it is, it was pretty uneventful.

I eventually got my hands into research, and the lab I work for does both bench and clinical research. It has been WAY more rewarding, especially the clinical stuff. As an undergrad, and now as a grad student, I see patients, and diagnose them for my thesis, not to mention our attending physicians treat myself and the other grad student just like med students...as in asking us questions about this patient, the etiology of their problem, and what to do.

If you don't like research than that is no problem either. Try shadowing a physician. I have found pediatricians to be the most approachable but that will vary among people and hospitals. Also volunteering doesn't have to be at a hospital. Clinical exposure and volunteering can be two seperate things.

Hope that helps!

 

[silverpaw54]

I am doing research as well this semester. I just had my first real day actually. It was a nice review of a lot of concepts I learned in my Bio labs a year ago. I'm also working at our Health Center on campus. I wish I could shadow a physician. I was hoping to be able to talk to a doctor this semester so I could maybe shadow him over the summer, but all I got to see were 5 angry, bored nurses.

Can overloading on ECs be a bad thing?

 

[scotttennis]

I dont think I have much of an option. I just recently (last semester) decided to go to med school and I don't have many ECs. I'm kind of overloading myself with ECs this semester, but I'm enjoying the challenge. I feel like I need some kind of experience and this is the most exposure to a hospital I'm going to get.

Any other suggestions?

If you are fluent in Spanish it is quite likely that you can find a volunteer program at which you could act as a medical translator for a doctor. I know around here there are a few programs that work in cooperation with a jail and with some free clinics. These ECs would look good on any application but, more importantly, would be fun and provide needed help.

 

[relentless11]

Can overloading on ECs be a bad thing?

Yes, if it impacts your grades, and life..

Its called the "EC Trap".

Grades come first, EC's are icing on the cake. Always got time to do EC's, like summer, etc. Adcoms want to see a balance between academics, EC's, and other...with more emphasis on academics to some extent. Just know what you limits are. I don't want to make it sound like grades are everything but they are important nonetheless.

 

[silverpaw54]

Yes, if it impacts your grades, and life..

Its called the "EC Trap".

Grades come first, EC's are icing on the cake. Always got time to do EC's, like summer, etc. Adcoms want to see a balance between academics, EC's, and other...with more emphasis on academics to some extent. Just know what you limits are. I don't want to make it sound like grades are everything but they are important nonetheless.

I don't think they are hurting my grades or taking time away. If anything, I might be losing a few hours per week, but that's just me being a sloth. I don't expect myself getting a full 8 hours a night in med school anyways.

I was thinking in terms that adcoms see my resume or whatever and see pretty much nothing until my junior year. Will it look like I'm just trying to cram everything in?

 

[adcomm]

volunteering with anything (soup kitchen, big brothers) plus shadowing a physician is fine.

 

[LizzyM]

Any other suggestions?

Can you switch to a more lively shift? (Friday or Sat. night?) Barring that, give it time. Learn to talk to the nurses, pick their brains. Most people love to tell stories. Get them to tell you stories about difficult patients and how they deal with them. What sorts of things make them angry about the health care system? Who are the best doctors to work with and what makes them "the best"? Who are the worst and why? Once the nurses know you & trust you, you will be called on to help in more significant ways. (As a H.S. student & candy striper, my sister was called on to help clean up an crash victim who was DOA.)

 

[scotttennis]

Can you switch to a more lively shift? (Friday or Sat. night?) Barring that, give it time. Learn to talk to the nurses, pick their brains. Most people love to tell stories. Get them to tell you stories about difficult patients and how they deal with them. What sorts of things make them angry about the health care system? Who are the best doctors to work with and what makes them "the best"? Who are the worst and why? Once the nurses know you & trust you, you will be called on to help in more significant ways. (As a H.S. student & candy striper, my sister was called on to help clean up an crash victim who was DOA.)

That's a very good suggestion. One of my favorite things to do was to find a patient that was awake and doing okay and then see if they wanted to talk. Most people love talking about themselves and their kids. I met one older lady (about 92) who was partially blind but still attended our university's band performance each year and hadn't missed a home football game in 30 years. One of her son's (or maybe it was grandson) was a doctor. She loved talking to me, and I was able to get out of making up beds and checking the gloves for about an hour. This extent of human-to-human interaction is something that we probably won't have time for when we are actually doctors; we should take advantage of it as much as we can.

 

[adcomm]

there's a lot to be said for befriending nurses

 

[jbar]

Hi,
I was wondering if volunteering is worth it if you don't do anything of any importance. I basically surfed the web for 2hours and was trained, made one bed yesterday. There were no patients around and the nurses were bored out of there minds as well. Should I just stick with it or is it not worthwhile if interviewers ask me what I did and all I can say is that I made a bed, took out trash and made coffee?

Thanks for any feedback,

I think you should more than one shift before making a decison to quit. I've worked in a bunch of hospitals and sometimes you sit around looking at the ceiling, sometimes it is packed and you run around, or maybe there is just one patient with a really interesting case. If it is usually real slow then bail.

 

[Lindyhopper]

I think a job in a clinical setting gives much more "real" experience. Phlebotomy is good way to go. If you want to invest more time in training consider becoming an EMT.