Where/How to get "inpatient" hours

[800shoes]

Really I'm lost here.

I can shadow outpatient easy and have 40 hours completed.

I tried to shadow at a hospital, but they said no, you have to volunteer. So I met with the volunteer coordinator, explained my situation (i.e. can i volunteer here 10 hours a week for a while), she said YES, said she'd contact me soon, then ghosted me. No returned emails, No follow-ups after I took my Tuberculosis test, nothing.

Where should I got to get hours (volunteer or shadow, idc) in an "inpatient" setting? Kind of desperate here, I'd like to get 50 hours and a letter of recommendation within the next 4 months.

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[amlope03]

Nursing home! I was in a similar situation to you and they let me in with no problem.

 

[TheDancingWriter]

I was lucky. I'm a trainer, and I had a client who gave me the hook-up to the head PT at the VA. So I called the PT, got in, and am considered an occasional volunteer. I frankly have not had the time to go through the lengthy process of becoming an official volunteer, but it just means keeping track of my own hours and not getting free lunches.

 

[Captain_America_]

Unfortunately, this seems common for the hospital setting. It took me several months to finally get a yes from the rehabilitation department at one of my local hospitals. I had already tried two others. I was also required to go through the volunteer process. If possible I would suggest you try other hospitals. If not, then try a skilled nursing facility (as mentioned above). It was much easier for me to get hours at a SNF.

 

[DPTTELl]

I feel you! I tried to get in patient hours, but it was impossible. I was only able to do over 150 hours, but they were all outpatient in 3 different settings.
When it came to applying to schools I had to limit my applications to only those that didn’t require in patient shadowing hours.

 

[Smash Atoms]

I called several hospitals in my area over the course of a few months and had no luck. Eventually one of the hospitals made the mistake of telling me to call back in a few weeks and check in... And I called them every 2 weeks for 6 months before they finally let me shadow.

While I was there I made positive relationships with most of the rehab staff and the following year I contacted the rehab director in mid august requesting to come specifically shadow pediatric inpatient the following january and they obliged.

A bit of a pain, but well worth it in the end. Both of my letters ended up coming from the hospital.

 

[papahlayo]

Really I'm lost here.

I can shadow outpatient easy and have 40 hours completed.

I tried to shadow at a hospital, but they said no, you have to volunteer. So I met with the volunteer coordinator, explained my situation (i.e. can i volunteer here 10 hours a week for a while), she said YES, said she'd contact me soon, then ghosted me. No returned emails, No follow-ups after I took my Tuberculosis test, nothing.

Where should I got to get hours (volunteer or shadow, idc) in an "inpatient" setting? Kind of desperate here, I'd like to get 50 hours and a letter of recommendation within the next 4 months.

Yeah, you can't really say you want to shadow a physical therapist. But, what I did for my inpatient hours is start by filling out online applications for volunteer work. From there, hopefully you get interviewed and in the interview you can mention how you are aspiring to pursue a career in Physical Therapy & how you would like to volunteer for the PT department. If you get lucky, they'll place you there and you can "shadow" from there by speaking to PT Director. If not, just continue with volunteering in the hospital as this still counts as "inpatient hours".

 

[Krazykrates]

Shadowing at an inpatient hospital or skilled nursing facility often requires some degree of connection (knowing someone). Many facilities don't allow volunteering and/or shadowing because of the HIPPA laws (patient privacy) and they want to avoid the paperwork/TB testing. With that being said, it's not impossible, but requires diligent effort on your end. As some of the other posts have mentioned, they might give you the cold shoulder or just ask you to call back the following week or so. After a couple of discouraging months, I was able to volunteer at a SNF. At the end of the day, persistence prevails.