Volunteering at the Duke Hospital
Volunteering at the Duke Hospital and Duke Student Clubs
Duke Swim Academy Volunteer (Spring 2019 – January 2020)
Duke Hospital Patient Experience Volunteer (January 2020 – Present)
Duke HANDS Creative Engagement Patient Volunteer (January 2021- Present)
I have been involved as a volunteer for the Duke Hospital for over a year now and I plan to continue to keep it as a constant part of my time as a Duke student. These two programs allow me to directly interact with patients, through swimming lessons and engaging in ward conversations respectively. I am currently volunteering with the Duke HANDs Club in creative engagement sessions to bring meaning and purpose to the lives of elderly people, some who suffer from Alzheimer’s, to enrich their time and demonstrate to them that they have capacity for creativity and imagination and that their ideas have validity and meaning. Creating these sessions involves developing the right techniques to best serve their individual needs as a patient which is in many ways a form of medical care and support.
As a premed, volunteering is beneficial as it allows me to experience one important aspect of practicing medicine: patient interaction. It allows me to serve those around me in a genuine and caring manner and understand how I can improve the basic conditions of a patient’s experience and quality of care.