Join the Voluntary Army!
Whilst the paid staff of the NHS carry on with the highly technical business of helping the critically ill get well and ensuring those who are chronically sick do not deteriorate, a voluntary army of healthcare staff fill in alongside.
Healthcare volunteers fill in where the NHS either cannot afford to help, or where the service itself can be carried out more efficiently by other agencies. Think about it. Almost every time you go to a hospital or clinic you encounter volunteers. From the WRVS staffing the visitors' canteen or shop to the fund-raising activities of the Hospital League of Friends, voluntary effort permeates the healthcare system.
And many of the people giving their time and voluntary effort are those who have made a career decision to move into healthcare, and have realised that this is a fantastic way to get good experience on their CV.
This article discusses the value of volunteering as a precursor to entering a wide variety of healthcare professions.
If you live in or near a big city or other major conurbation, you will have a wide choice of ways to contribute - both to your own CV and to the volunteer effort. There will be a variety of hospitals, both general and specialist, homes for older people, special schools, day centres for people with learning disabilities and community centres.
Depending upon your chosen career you can make a relevant contribution. For example, if you want to be a community nurse or GP you can volunteer to assist in a day centre or local clinic - it may only be making tea or setting out furniture, but it will give you valuable experience of patient contact. If you want to move into a branch of mental health or into learning disability you can volunteer to assist with trips, activities or befriending schemes. If your interest is in acute medicine, many charities that support particular conditions can give you details of how to volunteer to support patients with their particular disease or syndrome.
However, in more remote or rural areas there may be fewer options. Services may be concentrated in one urban area and travelling to this centre may not fit in with your work, study or caring responsibilities. So you may have to think laterally.
Many healthcare-related charities offer working holidays for those prepared to act as a holiday carer for people with a variety of conditions or disabilities. You will need to make a small contribution to or cover the basic cost of your holiday, but it can be a great way of combining a holiday with gaining care experience. Many church or other faith-based organisations offer outreach work - often at weekends or in the evenings - to people who are ageing or in poor health. Often, you don't have to be a member of the faith community concerned to join in and help.
For basic level volunteering, you may need few or even no qualifications at all. It may help if you explain that your motivation for volunteering is to gain entry to a particular healthcare profession.
Many membership-based volunteer organisations such as St. John Ambulance and the Red Cross have thriving youth sections, and if you volunteer to assist with this kind of activity you may need to gain accreditation yourself beforehand.
You will often have to undergo police checks or other screening processes before you volunteer. Sadly, many abusers use voluntary work as a way of reaching potential victims, and many voluntary organisations - including faith communities - now require volunteers to undergo an application process and to experience training before they are 'let loose' on the public. However, don't worry - if your reasons for volunteering are genuine you will have nothing to fear.
For some volunteer posts, especially those that involve the handling of fresh food or contact with particularly sick patients, you may also have to undergo some kind of health screening. Once again, don't worry - this is designed to protect you and the people you are volunteering to assist.
Most important is your attitude to the volunteer work itself. Expect to be successful if you are genuinely interested in the people you are helping or the cause you have allied yourself with. Many voluntary organisations are delighted to accept help from those destined for the medical professions - they may be very willing to show you life at the 'ground floor'.
You can expect to use your voluntary work experience in a number of ways. It may be important in gaining you a place on a vocational training course or degree, or it may be vital 'CV credibility' which helps you clinch your first healthcare job. You may also find that the contacts you make in the course of your voluntary experience will be of benefit in the future.
However, don't expect the doors to swing open for you simply because you want to be a medical professional . Many charity or voluntary organisations have limited opportunities at the 'sharp end' of their work, and may simply be able to offer you the chance to make tea and coffee, and chat to patients as you're doing so. Now, this won't be of immediate help to you if you want to be a neurosurgeon, but you can learn a great deal about the way patients behave or think in a medical setting.
Do expect to put a reasonable amount of effort in if you want to take the credit for it. Two weeks doing the washing-up in a daycentre will certainly not equate with a year as a Samaritan, or a prolonged period as a 'buddy' for someone who has HIV/AIDS. You may be constrained by your other commitments, but you should expect to have a least a year's part-time volunteering experience under your belt to be taken seriously when applying for work or further training.
First, find out as much as you can about your chosen profession. You may well wish to contact the professional organisation, learning body or advisory agency responsible and ask for pointers. It may also be helpful to speak to some people who have recently qualified in your chosen profession and ask them about what experience they most valued - or wish they had themselves!
Next, contact the umbrella body or voluntary agency concerned. There are a plethora of these. Some town and cities have volunteer bureaux (often found by contacting the Citizens' Advice Bureau or through local newpaper volunteer opportunity columns). In other places, it may be more appropriate to contact the charity itself, or a professional umbrella body such as the Prince's Trust.
Many voluntary agencies offer oportunities through the Internet. Most search engines will locate you a reasonable index of voluntary bodies. Many government departments have a section dealing with voluntary work. A few useful links:
www.millenniumvolunteers.gov.uk - gives details of general volunteering projects for 16-24 year olds.
www.volunteering.org.uk - the National Centre for Volunteering
www.doh.gov.uk - gives details of volunteering possibilities in healthcare
http://www.yearofthevolunteer.org/ - 2005 is the year of the volunteer
0113 254 6091 - the Department of Health's volunteer enquiry number.
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