Students volunteer at Hillsdale hospital, get practical experience
Whitney A. Stewart
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: News
Hillsdale College students have been volunteering at Hillsdale Community Health Center for more than a decade and, this year, the hospital is hosting its biggest group of volunteers yet - 27 college students and 21 high school students.
"This year is the largest amount of college volunteers that we've ever seen, which is fabulous," said Judy Gabriele, the hospital's director of development. "[The staff is] so happy to have the students there who are willing to put in the extra effort to help out. So we really appreciate having the volunteers here."
Hillsdale students volunteer in numerous departments, from X-ray, physical therapy and obstetrics to skilled nursing, emergency room, surgery and laboratory.
Pre-med majors say volunteering at least two hours per week will help them get into graduate school, and also helps them decide which type of medicine to pursue.
The hospital houses 86 beds and is a not-for-profit community hospital serving the 47,000 residents of Hillsdale County, said senior Katie Andary, who coordinates the hospital's GOAL volunteer program.
She said doctors there care about the students and willingly talk to them about medicine
and future careers in the field.
"It provides [students] an opportunity to see which medical career they would want to pursue," she said. "Maybe they were originally considering surgery, but they get grossed out at the blood and the cutting."
For one student, that was exactly the case. Beverly Davis '05 is now working toward a doctorate of osteopathy at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Georgia.
She thought she might become a surgeon until she actually saw an operation - so she was glad to have had the experience as a volunteer before she dove into the coursework.
She said volunteering at the hospital while at Hillsdale introduced her to different aspects of medicine - in addition to surgery, she worked in the elder care facility, obstetrics-gynecology and radiology - and solidified her desire to study medicine.
"This year is the largest amount of college volunteers that we've ever seen, which is fabulous," said Judy Gabriele, the hospital's director of development. "[The staff is] so happy to have the students there who are willing to put in the extra effort to help out. So we really appreciate having the volunteers here."
Hillsdale students volunteer in numerous departments, from X-ray, physical therapy and obstetrics to skilled nursing, emergency room, surgery and laboratory.
Pre-med majors say volunteering at least two hours per week will help them get into graduate school, and also helps them decide which type of medicine to pursue.
The hospital houses 86 beds and is a not-for-profit community hospital serving the 47,000 residents of Hillsdale County, said senior Katie Andary, who coordinates the hospital's GOAL volunteer program.
She said doctors there care about the students and willingly talk to them about medicine
and future careers in the field.
"It provides [students] an opportunity to see which medical career they would want to pursue," she said. "Maybe they were originally considering surgery, but they get grossed out at the blood and the cutting."
For one student, that was exactly the case. Beverly Davis '05 is now working toward a doctorate of osteopathy at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Georgia.
She thought she might become a surgeon until she actually saw an operation - so she was glad to have had the experience as a volunteer before she dove into the coursework.
She said volunteering at the hospital while at Hillsdale introduced her to different aspects of medicine - in addition to surgery, she worked in the elder care facility, obstetrics-gynecology and radiology - and solidified her desire to study medicine.
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