<p>Are there any places I could apply to for clinical experience during the summer/school year in the NYC area. </p>
<p>Any clinics or hospitals that will give me a great opportunity to engage with medicine, instead of doing the typical hospital volunteering like making beds, etc.</p>
<p>Volunteers don’t make beds. Ever.</p>
<p>^ I volunteer at a private hospital right now and all I do is serve food, and make beds. So yes they do make beds.</p>
<p>We get a lot of whining (yes, that’s what it is) about the quality of work available. Medical school and residency involves a lot of similarly tedious work (at least, relative to the training you then have). The objective is to put you into proximity with sick people and nurses and see what you do with that proximity.</p>
<p>Find a way to turn making beds into a chance to meet and talk with sick people. Be encouraging. Keep your eyes open for other opportunities. Be entrepreneurial about it.</p>
<p>^That’s a great way to look at things and that’s the usual response to a lot of these things, but in all honesty there is very little opportunities to learn or even give back in a private hospital setting. </p>
<p>It’s easy to say hey be proactive, make the best of it, etc, etc. But no matter how hard one tries to be proactive a lot of times the person is just stuck doing nothing. It happens to me all the time. </p>
<p>I’m looking for a more I guess public setting, like a clinic, etc that can actually use all the help they can get.</p>
<p>Soup kitchens are great volunteering opportunity in nyc. Look into free clinics like the door and young mens clinic. </p>
<p>Or go volunteer at a more peripheral hospital such as in the Bronx where maybe they aren’t as bombarded with volunteers.</p>
<p>D2 volunteers at private hospital. Has for several years now. Mostly she sits with neuro rehab patients while they do various therapies (drawing pictures for art therapy, playing cards for OT, holding convos with them as part of speech therapy). Pretty boring stuff. But she keeps asking very good questions about the specific patients and their specific brain injuries. She directs these questions to whoever will respond–the nursing aides, therapy aides, nurses, various therapists, med students/residents doing rounds. It has eventually gotten so people actually expect her questions and do their best to answer her. So much so that the chief resident has allowed her to sit in on a couple of weekly patient eval sessions along with the therapists and med students doing their neuro rotation. Priceless stuff for someone who wants to go into neurology. But it took her a couple of years and a good deal of persistence to get there.</p>
<p>I should mention that before she was allowed to volunteer in neuro rehab, she spent a year fetching magazines and drinks for pediatric patients and their parents—not exactly glamorous. That year she showed up on time, notified in advance if she was going to be delayed or couldn’t make it, was nice to patients and staff, did what she was asked without whining–and earned herself a reputation as dependable and helpful person. All of which led to her being allowed to volunteer in neuro rehab in the first place.</p>
<p>BTW, the volunteer environment at some public hospitals and clinics may actually be more restrictive than at private hospitals. It is in my city where none of the public hospitals or clinics will accept any medical volunteers unless they are there as part of their training and under the direct supervision of their program. All other volunteers are restricted to non-patient portions of the hospital due to liability and patient privacy concerns.</p>
<p>^That sounds good, but I don’t want to waste a year fetching magazines and serving food. It’s a total waste of time to be doing these things.</p>
<p>You’re missing the point of WOWM’s message. I added the emphasis to what she’s said.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re not going to get a sexy volunteer position without demonstrating yourself to be professional and reliable. That year spent “wasted” fetching magazines and serving food is how her D proved herself. How will you prove yourself?</p>
<p>^I understand that, but I feel like some of you guys are saying the typical cliche answers when you yourself know that it’s not true. </p>
<p>It doesn’t take much effort or thinking to give out food to a sleeping patient. Or to make a bed. Also no matter how reliable I am, there isn’t really much leeway for moving up and doing more. The most I can do at these private hospitals in NYC is what I do now, which is not beneficial to my learning and really gives me no opportunity to make an impact. You can say the typical answers about hospital volunteering, but it really is something I don’t want to waste my time with if it’s going to be as useless as it is right now. </p>
<p>What I’m looking for is a program or opportunity where I can see different things, and actually take part of in. Something similar to Project Healthcare at Bellevue for those of you know that know that. Also clinics I feel have more opportunities since they need more staff.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If we KNEW they weren’t true, then we wouldn’t be saying them. You must just think we’re WRONG. In that case, best of luck finding a more helpful board.</p>
<p>pump:</p>
<p>Think about it from the employer’s perspective, i.e., the health care facility. They receive literally thousands of apps each year from potential volunteers from all walks of life. They can’t just throw them into patient contact without a chance to review their work and demeanor first.</p>
<p>Sometimes just being around the facility at the right time is all that it takes. Last year my D was volunteering in an outpatient center of a local community hospital. She was doing “important, but mind-numbing data entry into a computer.” Monday morning the Director had a heart attack, which was the same week that several other staff members had an offsite training program. Since my D had been there working diligently for a month, they put her at the front desk of the infusion center, helping/sitting with patients, and being admin for the docs (pulling files, faxing scripts, etc.). She stayed there for a week, unitl the hospital brought in back up help. Voila: ~40 hours of clinical.</p>
<p>It really does happen just like bluebayou said. Older d was volunteering in the ER. Her job— fetch drinks, magazines, blankets, talk reassuringly to those people waiting for attentions, stock supply drawers—and one Friday night the ER got alot of business (think gang war shooting or multiple car accident). She got “drafted” to help assist with a bunch of procedures (including a spinal tap on a patient who later turned out to have meningitis). She got a whole of clinical exposure (in more than one sense of the word) in just one night. Because she kept her head, didn’t puke or pass out, was pretty calm about the whole being exposed to meningitis thing, and most importantly came back the next week–she got to start doing slightly more glamorous stuff. Like fetching drinks, magazines and blankets for people waiting in the ER…and occasionally being allowed to ask questions of the docs on duty.</p>
<p>Pump, as someone who is in NYC right now and has a lot of experience with hospitals, you are wrong in your statement and perhaps just expecting a little too much. People make their own experiences in the hospitals there. The fact of the matter is that thousands of pre-meds have gone through those programs in NYC hospitals. Plenty of them have gotten meaningful experiences out of them. I never did formally anything more than wash/change beds and transport patients, but I still had experiences through all of that. Those experiences, not the hours of what you clearly see as chores beneath your pay grade, come to those who wait with a good attitude. You are not likely to find an (ethical) experience to satisfy what you are looking for. Even as a medical student much of my patient interaction is monotonous and not particularly memorable. In order to “engage with medicine” in the way that you desire you must first know medicine, which requires formal education and much repetition. </p>
<p>When the health care staff is familiar with you they will be much more likely to let you experience things beyond just handing out food. You will still be doing that too, but most people are willing to throw you a bone on occasion. Try to gain pleasure in the act of service rather than grumbling that every minute isn’t an action packed learning experience. Perhaps you should consider EMT training once you are old enough (IDK what NYC’s laws are on that).</p>
<p>You should just list the kind of things that you want an opportunity to do and I will do my best to point out what is feasible and where to do it. What above and beyond service stuff do you desire to do? What do you mean by take part in?</p>
<p>I understand everyone’s view point, but maybe it’s because people aren’t in my situation. The floor I work on consists of patients who are going into surgery or coming out of surgery, mostly for bone replacements and things of that sort, etc. The floor consists of mostly Nurses and Techs, while the doctors come in simply for quick rounds. There really isn’t much “interaction” with the staff so there wouldn’t really be any “throwing me a bone” type of situations present.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help mmmcdowe. I’m looking for a hospital or clinic that probably will allow me to be in an Emergency Department perhaps or an area that is busy. Maybe take vitals, do EKG’s etc. I know there are hospitals that allow for volunteers to learn/do these sorts of things.</p>
<p>What part of the city do you live in?</p>
<p>Manhattan. Any borough except Staten Island is good.</p>
<p>Well if you are that nonselective then just call up the hospitals one by one and find an ER job… St Luke’s has a big ER volunteer program.</p>
<p>^Sounds good I’ll look into it. Have you had experience with them?</p>
<p>One could say thats yes, but I never volunteered there as a pre med. Many of my friends who went to nyc colleges did. There are three major functions that you can perform. You can just be a volunteer, you can be an interpreter, and you can work in their er research program.</p>