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#1
06-13-2009, 07:31 PM
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Favourite Hosipital Volunteer Experience
Out of all the hospitals that you've volunteered at which is your favorite?
Can anyone recommend a good one in Toronto where I could get a great reference letter? The problem is I am currently doing volunteer work at Sunnybrook (few hundred hours) but my placement is quite boring (basically organizing stuff, not much exposure to patients or doctors) so I doubt that they would be able to write me a good reference letter. Also, has anyone received transportation reimbursements (like they'll give u ttc tickets for each time you volunteer?) because I heard of some ppl who got them but others who didn't? Thanks Last edited by nonzerosum : 06-14-2009 at 09:09 PM. 
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#2
06-13-2009, 07:39 PM
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TGH is your best bet. I'm in TWH, and the only reason I'm still there is because I'm in a volunteer team-leader position (which is bull, I'm planning to quit it soon
 ). Otherwise I'd jump ship to TGH.On the other hand, if (like me) you need very flexible hours then TWH is ideal. UHN has no reimbursing program for transport. Although that is something I wanted to bring up with volunteer resources, I'm sure it'll be shot down. I think its kinda bull because I checked out the volunteering program at a US hospital and they offer their volunteers a parking pass or a bus pass. FREE! Last edited by deeman101 : 06-13-2009 at 07:43 PM.
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#4
06-14-2009, 01:16 AM
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I was at Credit Valley for a number of years and of all my placements the Pediatrics garden was the best for me. Lots of hard labour, but watching the kids play after was definitely worth every ounce of sweat and blood. I also worked with an old couple who had been maintaining the garden for over 10 years. They were very appreciative of my willingness to return every summer and help out and they were a joy to work with, always lots of stories to share.
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#5
06-14-2009, 02:09 AM
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#6
06-14-2009, 02:03 PM
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Hospital volunteering is lame...honestly, 99.9% of the positions are there to exploit premeds into doing things that the hospital should be paying others to do. That said, I used to volunteer at the hospital in an ER, and I actually did really enjoy it. It was my only exposure to patient care in the hospital that I could get, and I liked seeing all the people come in and be able to do at least *something* for them, even if it was just something simple ike grabbing some ice for their broken bone. Of course when I became a paramedic, it quickly lost its appeal. I remember bringing a stabbing victim into the same ER, and there was a volunteer there about my age just staring at my partner and I all wide-eyed in surprise/excitement, or disgust, I'm not sure what.
 The important part is finding a position where you can actually do something meaningful, where you are actually making a difference, even just a small one. Organizing paperwork, working in the gift shop, or pushing a cart around don't really seem to fit that criteria. I think they help the hospital, but not the patients.
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#7
06-14-2009, 05:07 PM
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I volunteered at a hospital for a few years, and honestly, I mostly hated it. It was usually quite boring, and mundane work when there was any to actually be done. Most of the time it just involved doing nothing much of importance. Even when I was responsible for keeping the patients company, it was hard to find anyone who wanted to chat.
I had two much better volunteer experiences that offered a lot of experience in health care settings and were MUCH more enjoyable: 1) Volunteering at the local cancer care centre - It was very hands on, especially when I got to work in the chemotherapy room and assist the nurses, and it kept me a lot busier 2) Volunteering with a therapy dog program - Basically taking the dogs to visit various health care facilities, thereby being exposed to everything from the Psychiatric ward to Physiotherapy rooms to Women's abuse shelters, and people are actually much more interested in talking to you, and I found I got to learn a lot more about the different areas of medicine that way than doing the same thing over and over Just wanted to throw it out there that volunteering at a hospital isn't the ONLY way to get exposure to the healthcare field, and sometimes isn't even all it's cracked up to be (and I was accepted by 4 med schools without having done any hospital volunteering, as the hospital volunteering I'd done was in high school so I didn't bother including it on my application).
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#8
06-14-2009, 06:01 PM
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Thanks for all the replies
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I know right now is very late to try to get some exposure to health care for this summer but does anyone know of anywhere I can still possibly get some good experience for this summer? Thanks Last edited by nonzerosum : 06-14-2009 at 09:07 PM.
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#9
06-14-2009, 07:01 PM
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What cities are you looking at? I think the Halton Region Hospital are underserved and could use more volunteers, and they have some pretty good placements. I personally also enjoyed Day Surgery where you just chat with patients and bring them juice, etc. Palliative Care can be nice, though a bit depressing at times. ER...was mostly paperwork when I was there.
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#10
06-14-2009, 07:14 PM
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If you go into a volunteer position with that goal you'll probably end up with a pretty crappy experience no matter where you go.
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