What would you do?

[lee9786]

I'm currently taking prereqs for admission to DPT school. I have almost all but physics I and II which I plan on taking the next fall and spring semester. The plan is to have my application in by this December. I currently have no experience working in a PT setting. I need to get my volunteer hours in and my plan is to hopefully get a job from that.

Currently I'm a part-time science tutor at the college I'm taking my prereqs at. I have no time from 8am to 5pm mon-fri to volunteer anytime because I'm either in class or at work. The only time I'd have to volunteer would be wed-fri after 5pm and all day on the weekends. In what setting could I volunteer with these hours of availability?

In the summertime I will not be taking classes. I guess this will be better time to volunteer. The problem is I also need to be making money in the summertime to survive. Unfortunately how I've done this for a number of years in my life has been to work in the food service industry as a fine-dining server. I would rather not be doing this though this summer. I'd rather be utilizing my skills in a healthcare area helping people as opposed to working in the hospitality setting.

I guess my plan is right now to start volunteering on Saturdays somewhere? Would Hospitals be a good place to volunteer at? Ideally I'd like to be making contacts now with intentions of possibly getting a job as a PT aide for the summer and hopefully longer. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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[SuperKirby]

I use to work and volunteer at a hospital inpatient rehab and acute rehab on weekends only. Its good that we're in a health care field, because many places are open on weekends.
Just keep calling, calling, calling. You're bound to find a weekend place that will let u volunteer.

 

[truthseeker]

Weekends and holidays work. Make contact with one or more PTs in different settings and find a way.

 

[jbizzle]

You can get plenty of volunteer hours on weekends from acute care PT. Even while your in school. I got 64 hours from volunteering only on weekends from acute care. They actually need your help during the weekends b/c only one or two PTs work on the weekends at the hospital. And at the hospital that I volunteered at actually let me do stuff with the patients, (place ice packs, tell you what they are in the hospital for, etc.), not like the outpatient clinics I volunteered at where they were too concerned about the HIPAA stuff and didn't even let you talk to the patients and just asked you to clean the exercise mats and do the laundry.

I was able to get 140 hours of volunteer work working full-time (3-11)...I volunteered during the morning then went to work in the afternoon. You can try doing that this summer. You wont be going to school in the AM right?

 

[lee9786]

Ideally I'd like to volunteer this Spring and have this experience progress into a paid PT aide position. Then work in as a PT aide throughout the summer. From what I understand PT aides aren't really used much in an inpatient setting but more in an outpatient. Am I correct with this statement?

I guess I can volunteer my time in an inpatient, acute care setting at this time while applying for paid PT aide positions in outpatient settings to begin work in the summer? Does this sound like a viable plan to you?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[jbizzle]

that sounds about right, where PT aides aren't used much in acute care, but mostly PTAs. But i was thinking if you didn't get a job as an aide you could work nights, volunteer during the days this summer.

By the way, Its a great plan. Most pt aides or exercise techs were probably applying for PT school anyway and they are on their way out to attend pt school, so there should be some openings. The thing is, others may be doing the same thing so you have to make yourself look better than the others (i.e. volunteer hours, etc.)

 

[thorn22]

Your plan sounds good.

My advice is to visit www.apta.org and click on the "Find a PT" at the top. Put in your Zip Code, and hit enter. Copy down all the outpatient clinics near you and contact them, one by one, to inquire about Aide or Volunteer positions.

This is what I did and it served me well. I am a bit shy on the phone, so I contacted them through email and attached a resume as well as told them a bit about myself and how I wanted to pursue a career in PT.

Hope that helps.