So I'm in the middle of trying to grab volunteer opportunities in hospitals, and surprisingly, it's much more difficult than I thought it would be. You would think that since my university has a medical school not even a mile from the main campus, that there would be volunteer positions in abundance!
Not really.
Apparently, since there's such a demand for volunteer positions (too many pre-meds here), it's actually very competitive to get myself one unless I apply 7-8 times. Yay. However, all hope is not lost! There are ways around this in order to get your required amount of volunteer work in.
First off, let's go over why it is so dang important to get volunteer work specifically in a hospital setting. Medical schools stress the fact that they want you to know what you're signing yourself up for. Hate hospitals? Probably shouldn't apply...So, volunteer work shadowing a doctor is your way of saying "been there done that, I'm still applying". Additionally, when you do apply, some of the most important recommendation letters are going to come from the physicians you shadowed. To emphasize further the importance of shadowing doctors: IF YOU HAVE NOT VOLUNTEERED IN A HOSPITAL SETTING DO NOT APPLY. I REPEAT: DO NOT APPLY. They will quite literally toss your application in the trash if they don't see any hospital work on your resume.
Now that we've gotten that covered, for those who have an easily accessible hospital within driving distance, email the hospital and/or doctor and you'll be fine. For those in my position, where it's abnormally difficult to get in because of the competitive applicants in the area, we'll have to be a bit more creative.
Out of staters: we have a little advantage since we have two areas of hospitals to choose from. Unfortunately for me, I'm actually from Houston, one of the largest medical centers in the world, with over 4 medical schools and several universities with plenty of pre-meds. So lots of competition. The way I'm getting around this is going through all of my high school contacts and checking to see if they have a parent or family member that is currently a physician. So far I've found several, and I'm emailing all of them to beg their parents to let me shadow them for a month or so. This should work perfectly.
This also applies to non-out of staters as well. If you do not have connections through friends or family to physicians, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. Email every physician you can google in the area. I can guarantee you guys that the physicians will probably NOT answer back. Why? They're doctors. They're busy, and they get hundreds of emails per day. It's too much extra work and mental energy to get everything organized to teach someone that will shadow them.
Persistence is key. Email these guys on almost an obnoxious level. As much as it takes for you to get their attention. The funny thing is, even though they'll be jerks about ignoring you at first, if you actually become the squeaky wheel, the doctors will completely understand. They were once pre-med too. They had to fight for every opportunity they got to make it to the next step. They know. So, if you show persistence, one of them is bound to notice and think "sure, let's give him/her a try".
Boom. You have your volunteer position. From there, it's super easy. You now have a contact that will know several other doctors that you can talk to. Not as fascinated with gastroenterology as you thought you were? Talk to the physician you're shadowing, and chances are they'll know someone from every possible facet of medicine you can think of.
Side note: Another easy way to get opportunities is joining pre-medical oriented clubs. A lot of times they have shadowing events scheduled just for club members. Personally, I am involved in Alpha Epsilon Delta, the official national pre-health honor society for universities. Look them up! There's probably a chapter at your school.
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