volunteer vs. job

[lazgirl24]

What would you rec: volunteering at the hospital or a job as a office assistance at a optometry office?

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[liverotcod]

On whether your career goal is optometry or medicine. If you want to be a doctor, probably the hospital is a better bet. Maybe you can get a job there?

 

[lazgirl24]

the problem is that i don't know what i want to do actually yet. It is going to be either of the two.

 

[liverotcod]

Hmmmm... How about both? Earn your keep at the optometry office and volunteer at the hospital. Time permitting, of course. But hospital volunteering might be as few as 4 hours/week.

If your are too busy to do that (and believe me, I know busy as a non-trad), then I would do the hospital. But I'm biased. I think optometry would (for me) be pretty dull. "Is it better this way... or this?"

 

[LovelyRita]

hmmm....the optometry office will get you around people, and you'll have responsibilities and you'll make money.

The hospital, as a volunteer, you might not get to do that much.

I say either way, especially if you don't know what you want to do.

 

[wiboy]

You only need about a semester of volunteering. Do both and earn the money. If possible, try to observe the opt seeing patients. Also, decide on a path you want to take and focus on it. If you want to do med school an opt job may not be the most relevant.

I vol'd for 50 hours at a hosp ED, waste of time but important for my application. I spent a ton of time doing research and got published 3 times -- which is very lucky. It has helped a lot, though. To do this, check profs on campus for publications using Pubmed. Ones that have a lot, and have 2-3 in the last 2 years are the ones you want to work for. Let them know that you want to get published and they will try to accomodate.

Good luck.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

hospital-fold blankets, wipe off beds, and other meniniall [sp?] tasks.

job-well $$$ and other meniall tasks.

my pick-job.

 

[liverotcod]

Cornhusker makes a good point. What kind of work would you be doing at the hospital? Personally, I have a ball volunteering at the ER, and see lots of neat stuff. But if it's just bed making, you might as well be making money.

 

[xpert787]

I was wondering about this also, I have the chance to work in the hospital as a respitory therapist, but I dont know if I would still have to volunteer also. Any ideas?

 

[AlternateSome1]

Personal Opinion...

Volunteering is not as important as clinical experience. As long as you have spent time seeing what a doctors life is like, the volunteer work is much less important. Also, work may not show the altruistic spirit rolleyes: not that hospital volunteering does since it is consider a premed staple and most people just file or clean), it shows responsibility, work ethic, etc.

~AS1~

 

[evines]

It all depends on what the volunteering consists of, and if you have had a similar job before. If the job adds nothing new to your applications, and you can do without the money, then volunteer.