Volunteering in a nursing or hospice home to see if that feels right
By Salina Sahawneh UA’26 and Jim Stellar
SS is headed toward medical school. So, when I asked her what she wanted to do this summer of her sophomore-junior year, she said what is in our title. That surprised me as she previously said her medical practice interests were in dermatology or maybe pediatrics. So why nursing homes?
I said that because it is actually very hard to get positions such as PCA, as I’ve come to realize. Here in Albany, I would only be able to work at night, which is difficult to do as I do most of my studying and assignments at night. Not to mention, I have early classes that this commitment would be difficult to make. Back home in Poughkeepsie, everywhere I applied/intended to apply required at least 1 year minimum experience. I’ve applied to several hospitals and private clinics, and none of which provided me with a position, and sometimes I didn’t even receive a reply. How is one supposed to get experience, if I am not being hired in the first place to get experience? I decided to take a step back and start volunteering at nursing or hospice homes instead, in order to gain that experience. I am in the process of looking for those kinds of positions now.
I think it is terrible that they did not get back to you, but unfortunately that happens a lot. You raise a good question of how you get started when to get started you first need experience. Back in the day when I was Dean of Arts and Sciences (and a Psychology professor) at Northeastern University – a cooperative education school – you would have had someone who knew the hospitals and clinics. And they had prior experience hiring other Northeastern students for a 6-month paid internship and knew the benefits of that arrangement. You are on your own.
I’ve definitely been looking around with fingers crossed, but I haven’t had any luck yet. I decided to call around to different offices local to me back home, and everyone I spoke to either shut me down, or said gave me an email address to ask the same question to. I also believe where you live plays a big part in opportunities like this. For example, Albany is a huge hub for opportunities in the hospital, while over in Poughkeepsie, it is much more difficult to find any position, let alone a temporary one.
One can ask if Nursing is in such a shortage in the country, why is it so hard to get a volunteer position to see if you want to be in this field or in the medical field in general? Be that as it may, there is another question in here. That is how it makes you feel. Are you getting discouraged or does it come down to the old saying “pain that does not kill you makes you stronger?”
It definitely does discourage me. I need these experiences to get into the field and if I do not have them it makes it harder to get into medical school. What about this do they not understand? It seems like my peers can get these positions a lot easier than I can. I do not see them with the same struggles I have. been experiencing.
OK. But how does it make you feel?
I feel upset, but I can not give up. This morning when I called around, I had some people shut me down completely, however a select few referred me to other numbers and emails in order to help me. That when I have to have some trust that it will all work out in the end. If this does not work in my favor now, when I am back to Poughkeepsie for the summer, I will go to these offices in person and give out my resume instead. I just can not give up.
This honest exchange was written last May. It is now October and we are re-connecting to see where SS is now. But we wanted to preserve the tone of the previous interaction as all good things (or at least some) in life come with a struggle.
I am now looking for a position back in Albany where I can get more patient-care hours to support my application to medical school after I graduate this upcoming May.
So how is that going? Then maybe we can chat about needing experience to get experience to get the job (in this case medical school admission). It seems like that old phrase “a catch-22.”
That is exactly what it feels like! Over the summer, I thankfully managed to get a position as a nursing assistant back in Poughkeepsie! I loved my job and loved interacting with all the patients and the staff. This position even further cemented my decision for a future in health care. Now that I am back in Albany, it feels great to have this experience under my belt and I am glad I can use this on my resume.
I have been drowning in assignments, exams, quizzes, and research and have not gotten the chance yet to apply to any positions nearby. However, this weekend, I was planning on updating my resume and applying to a few places. There are two doctors’ offices right across the street from campus, one GI doctor, and another an orthopedist. Along with those offices, I will try to apply to Albany Med again as a PCT. I look forward to seeing if my experience at the nursing home will give me an advantage to getting these positions.
