My volunteer position at a hospice has zero medical/clinical tasks for me. Should I volunteer somewhere else?

[RichardHurtingOW]

I'm putting in about 40 hours a month.

First of all, I'm really enjoying my work -emotionally rough as it often is- ,and I have been told by my patients that they're grateful for my help. I'll continue seeing the patients I have as long as they want me to. The problem is that I'm only allowed to do clerical work, provide companionship for patients, and do whatever odd task the patient asks. The only tenuously medical thing I can do is call the nurse when the patient is in pain. I haven't even talked to a doctor yet, and with my current duties I probably won't.

Should I find a volunteer position that will give me medical experience? I understand that there is an interpersonal/empathy aspect to being a doctor, and I certainly value that and feel like this has helped me with that; I just don't know if med schools will value this as much as hospice positions where I'm getting hands-on medical experience.

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[Dr panda]

provide companionship for patients, and do whatever odd task the patient asks.

This is fine, you don't have to perform surgeries to get clinical experience.

 

[and 99 others]

I'm putting in about 40 hours a month.

First of all, I'm really enjoying my work -emotionally rough as it often is- ,and I have been told by my patients that they're grateful for my help. I'll continue seeing the patients I have as long as they want me to. The problem is that I'm only allowed to do clerical work, provide companionship for patients, and do whatever odd task the patient asks. The only tenuously medical thing I can do is call the nurse when the patient is in pain. I haven't even talked to a doctor yet, and with my current duties I probably won't.

Should I find a volunteer position that will give me medical experience? I understand that there is an interpersonal/empathy aspect to being a doctor, and I certainly value that and feel like this has helped me with that; I just don't know if med schools will value this as much as hospice positions where I'm getting hands-on medical experience.

What medical work do you expect to do? I have been volunteering at a hospice for years and what you described is basically all I have been doing. And that is as it should be because, you know, I'm not a licensed medical professional. Clinical service isn't for showing you can treat patients before even getting to med school. It's to show that you actually care for the population you will one day hopefully serve and understand the patient experience/what you'll be encountering as a doctor.

 

[RichardHurtingOW]

What qualifications/training do you have to perform medical tasks?

You're right! I appreciate the division of labor, and I'm certainly not qualified for a lot of things. I just thought I'd be doing something different.

 

[RichardHurtingOW]

What medical work do you expect to do? I have been volunteering at a hospice for years and what you described is basically all I have been doing. And that is as it should be because, you know, I'm not a licensed medical professional. Clinical service isn't for showing you can treat patients before even getting to med school. It's to show that you actually care for the population you will one day hopefully serve and understand the patient experience/what you'll be encountering as a doctor.

I don't know what I expected. I just didn't want to make a mistake that'd bite me in the rear end later on.

 

[and 99 others]

I don't know what I expected. I just didn't want to make a mistake that'd bite me in the rear end later on.

Nahhh you're fine. What you're doing is super important and will give you skills in emotional intelligence that are equally as important as physiological acumen.

 

[siliso]

If you’re spending time with patients (close enough to smell them, per the sages advice), it is absolutely adequate clinical exposure. It’s not expected that you’ll be providing medical or nursing care, you can’t.

 

[Moko]

I'm really enjoying my work -emotionally rough as it often is- ,and I have been told by my patients that they're grateful for my help. ... provide companionship for patients, and do whatever odd task the patient asks. ... call the nurse when the patient is in pain.

You just described what is essentially the perfect clinical volunteering experience. Moving forward, you need to be more introspective if you are unable to appreciate the full value of this experience.

 

[RichardHurtingOW]

You just described what is essentially the perfect clinical volunteering experience. Moving forward, you need to be more introspective if you are unable to appreciate the full value of this experience.

I mentioned in the OP that I appreciated it, saw the value in it, and would continue to help the patients I'm working with. What I was worried about was whether or not medical schools valued it much! I wouldn't be putting in so many hours (while wondering if I needed a different experience for my application) if I didn't feel so satisfed volunteering there. I should have been clearer in the OP, I guess.

 

[LizzyM]

I mentioned in the OP that I appreciated it, saw the value in it, and would continue to help the patients I'm working with. What I was worried about was whether or not medical schools valued it much! I wouldn't be putting in so many hours (while wondering if I needed a different experience for my application) if I didn't feel so satisfed volunteering there. I should have been clearer in the OP, I guess.

What you are doing, face-to-face with patients who are dying, is clinical. It is volunteering. It isn't a window into the practice of medicine but that's what shadowing is for. What do you think that other hospital volunteers are doing? They are going door to door offering reading material from the library cart, or loading blankets into the warmer, playing video games with sick kids, or making coffee in the surgical department's family waiting room. What you are doing is at least as valuable, if not more so.