Does every premed volunteer at a hospital? Anybody know of openings in Vancouver?

[blues]

So do every pre med student volunteer @ a hospital? I've been wanting to volunteer @ a hospital but it seems that they usually have no weekend shifts available, and on weekdays nothing over 5pm. I live in Vancouver btw, if anyone knows of any openings @ any of the hospitals please let me know!

[peachy]

No, you don't need to volunteer at a hospital.

 

This has been discussed in numerous threads, for example:

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=319

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=362

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15711

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12692

[Ollie]

So do every pre med student volunteer @ a hospital? I've been wanting to volunteer @ a hospital but it seems that they usually have no weekend shifts available, and on weekdays nothing over 5pm. I live in Vancouver btw, if anyone knows of any openings @ any of the hospitals please let me know!

 

There are lots of opportunities at the Vancouver hospitals, definitely with evening and weekend shifts. I know VGH has an info session about every couple of months (there's probably one soon).

[Kuantum]

Not every premed volunteers at a hospital, but a lot do. To try and get the experience most of these premeds expect but usually don't receive, I'd try a hospice or a group home instead.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

You could always say nuts to the hospital volunteering idea altogether and focus your energies towards something that you really enjoy. That would definitely help you to stand out at interview time, rather than banking on volunteering at a hospital just like everyone else (it seems).

[Smurfette]

I'm not sure I agree with the don't-volunteer-at-the-hospital idea. I found that some of my (formerly) premed friends volunteered at the hospital and decided they hated the hospital setting and decided not to apply for medicine after all (good thing - it would suck to be in 3rd year of med school before they figured that out). And I think that volunteering helped me understand a little bit more about how the Canadian health care system works (including some of the flaws in it).

 

Having said that, if volunteering at the hospital is your only volunteer or extracurricular experience, then that's probably not so great. Go and pursue other activities you enjoy. But spending a little bit of time in the hospital (or hospice, or other health care setting) can be useful.

[peachy]

I'm not sure I agree with the don't-volunteer-at-the-hospital idea. I found that some of my (formerly) premed friends volunteered at the hospital and decided they hated the hospital setting and decided not to apply for medicine after all

There are tons of ways to learn about what medicine is like without volunteering in a hospital. Being able to understand what the job of a physician entails is necessary prior to applying; volunteering in a hospital, on the other hand, is not.