My Medical Volunteering Experience
1. Hospital Volunteering in Rural India
I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) hospital, a village hospital in rural India. Their goal is to provide high quality healthcare to indigenous tribes living in the forests who were not trusting of modern medicine enough to go to the hospital. They had a mobile health unit in which I traveled along with the hospital staff to bring care to the different tribes. I had the opportunity to observe and interact with patients while learning from watching how skillfully the hospital staff provided care to each patient. It was an eye-opening experience for me to learn about the great disparities between healthcare here in America and in rural India and how to provide personalized care to each patient irrespective of socioeconomic disparities
Please visit the SVYM website to learn more
2. Hospital Volunteering at Los Robles Regional Medical Center
My first application to volunteer was at a hospital in NJ during my freshman year. I attended the orientation and was looking forward to starting but was disappointed when we went into a lockdown due to the pandemic that had just hit us. Words can hardly express what our world witnessed as we lived through the pandemic. During that time my family relocated to California, and I submitted an application to volunteer again at the Los Robles Regional Medical Center. The student volunteering program was still on hold due to the pandemic and I was put on a waitlist. As we returned to a new normal post pandemic the program opened, the waitlist eventually cleared and my opportunity to volunteer finally came through. I was humbled and grateful to have gotten this opportunity.
Working as a volunteer, at the Los Robles Hospital here in California, I get to see how the physicians interact with the patients. Every single nurse and doctor are fully committed to each patient. Not only are they treating them as doctors, but they also communicate with patients as if they were old friends, providing the patients with comfort during their difficult times. I have also trained and been volunteering in the hospital’s emergency department and at the front desk checking in patients and their visitors as part of general hospital duties. As I continue to learn each day I volunteer here, I look forward more and more to being a physician one day.
3. Shadowing at Pediatrician’s Office
I had the opportunity to shadow a family medicine doctor and pediatrician. This being the post pandemic times I experienced how much technology has helped patient care. Telehealth visits enhanced the ability for patients to receive the care. I appreciated how patient interaction in pediatrics is a completely different skillset.