Any Medical Explorer can volunteer for non-medical volunteer activities, even in your first month. Different volunteer coordinators or liaisons will make a Call for Volunteers by e-mail. Make sure you are on the distribution list for "Call" e-mails. Complete your applications (Scouting American and Omega Leo) and submit them to our secretary, Pay all semester dues with our treasurer.
There are many non-medical volunteer activities you can get involved with as soon as you complete the above. Contact our Membership Secretary or Chief Volunteer Coordinator (maybe Vice-President of Operations) to make sure you get the Call of Volunteers for these events.
Get started on our required training as quickly as possible. Some members have completed these all in six weeks after joining, most take as long as eight weeks. Get into a CERT basic training class as soon as you can. These can be a series of classes during a single week or spread over several weeks. If confused about CERT, seek the advice of a student officer or our senior advisor Dr. Johnson.
You should get started on your volunteer program as quickly as possible. There are two ways to do that, 1) volunteer for any non-medical activity, or 2) get into a hospital as a volunteer as soon as possible. No job is too small for Medical Explorers so don't hesitate to volunteer in a hospital based non-medical activity such as the information desk. Start at the bottom. More advanced activities will come soon enough.
Non-Medical Opportunities
We have many volunteer opportunities open to our Medical Explorers that do not require all the training or expectations related to hands-on patient encounters. Look for calls for volunteers for these opportunities. They will always be identified as "Non-Medical." They come to us from many sources, but may come from our association with the Lions Clubs International. There are many where we work shoulder to shoulder with older Lion Club members as guests in their many community service activities.
Why volunteer in non-medical activities? It helps show the diverse range of community service activities you're engaged in. It also may broaden your community network. A good non-medical volunteer activity is the San Marcos Mission Able program. This is where many San Marcos citizens come together to serve in any activity that may help elders or less fortunate members of our community. Think of it like a "Bobcat Build" program, except anytime during the year. They can always use volunteers to help clean up yards, paint houses, or help with yard work. They will also appreciate having our trained members there to help with first-aid responsibilities. One recent Mission Able crew had a serious problem with bees, and we weren't there. After that event, we've been asked to help on all Mission Able work days.
Medical Explorers volunteer with the Texas Ramps program that builds wheelchair ramps for home-bound patients. These ramps can be life-saving in times of a house fire emergency.
There's a job for all (Spanish fluent and not Spanish fluent). No job is too small.
Let our Training Officer know that you have completed all training through CERT. We work on an "Honor Basis" so you can respond to a "Call for Volunteers" and begin to jump into our Medical Volunteer Activities. Our Training Officer will respond to you with a "Thumbs Up" confirming your status as "Fully Trained."
Some activities can accommodate limited numbers of "Shadows" where you may be an observer on a Medical Crew. Ask more about these opportunities.
You will need to be fully trained in the Level One required medical skills. Crew chiefs must have further training through our affiliation with Hays County Community Emergency Response Team.
Medical Explorers serve as a first-aid station during Sunday morning services. Our members must be prepared for any emergency thus Level One training is required, including Stop the Bleed.
There are many students enrolled at Texas State University who are NOT in Medical Explorers, but who are seeking volunteer opportunities in area hospitals. My best advice is to get out there and get registered with the Volunteer Directors at any of the area hospitals. You don't want others to get all the volunteer assignments. Yes, as a first-time volunteer you may have an unexciting place where you will be assigned, but you will be in their system. Do not hesitate to accept a simple assignment maybe at the visitor's information desk. Medical Explorers are known for our willingness to "Start at the bottom." More exciting assignment will come later.
Once they discover that you are a Medical Explorer and all the training you will soon have, you will be a better candidate for the more exciting placements like Emergency Department, ICU, or Operating Room. Some hospitals have restrictions preventing such placements, but we may be able to help. Be patient, those assignments will come soon enough. Your task as a first semester volunteer is to get into their volunteer system. Don't wait.
After you complete all requirements in the Medical Explorer Level One Training, and you submit an email requesting placement by the Senior Medical Explorer Advisors, along with a copy of your updated Medical Explorer Resume, we will review your resume and application for the placement in hospital volunteer and observation opportunities of a more advanced nature.
You are welcome to continue working with the hospital volunteer coordinator you may already have a good relationship with and who may also be able to place you in an advanced volunteer opportunity within their hospital. If you have already advanced as a volunteer within a hospital, then we suggest you seek advanced placements as soon as you can with the volunteer coordinator you know.
One of the ultimate placements in any hospital is the Emergency Department but try for others such as ICU and the OR. This may not be possible at any given hospital as some have policies against such. Seek the advice of Senior Medical Explorer Advisors.
Many Medical Explorers have turned a volunteer opportunity in an Emergency Department into a paying job as a scribe. Some who have completed EMT certification have become paid ER Technicians.
This advanced placement opportunity may be for others who might want to expand their volunteer experience to other hospitals. Seek advice from Dr. Johnson as to the procedures to follow to take advantage of advanced hospital volunteer opportunities.
Diversity is the Key to a Great Volunteer resume.
Continue with your non-medical volunteering and your hospital volunteering. As for the hospital, keep them informed about your membership in the Texas State University Omega Leo Medical Explorers and give them a copy of your MedEx Resume showing your training and other volunteer experiences. They will be impressed and you will be among their superstar volunteers who will get the BEST assignments. This may not happen until the end of your first year, but it WILL happen. Speaking of the end of the year and semester, this is when the hospitals lose so many of their more experienced volunteers, so this is your opportunity to get the BEST assignments. Don't disappear! Visit with the Volunteer Director and let them know you would like a more exciting volunteer opportunity.
If you need to, help us educate the Volunteer Director about our Medical Explorers. This is constant education problem for us as the Directors do change and new ones may not know who we are. Teach them for us. Keep your Medical Explorer Resume updated and send a copy to the Medical Explorer Vice President of Operations AND Dr. Johnson. If the Hospital Volunteer Director has changed, you should have all that contact information recorded in your resume and Dr. Johnson will pick it up from you. It does not hurt to send him an email about any changes in staff you know about. He will schedule a visit to share more of our story with them.
Medical Explorers test vision of children in Daycare Centers using equipment borrowed from Lions International. Testing children before age 5 helps prevent them from having to wear glasses.
Medical Explorer women dress as princesses and read stories of encouragement to disabled or cancer children. We have princess dresses in all sizes for the big princess and the child princess.
Below are many of the volunteer opportunities available through our Omega Leo Medical Explorers. If you see something of special interest, let a senior advisor know. We may be able to expand that activity or we may keep you in mind as a future liaison leader.
Click on the image for more information.
Number 1. Recommendations for what's next should look seriously at HOSPICE. Undergraduates typically do not volunteer where there are dying patients, but this is a great volunteer opportunity that will set you APART from other undergraduates applying for professional schools.
Look for an 11th Hour Hospice Program. This is where you will have special training in death and dying - an area not well covered in professional schools. Professional school Admission Committees will be impressed.
Number 2. EMS Ride-Along. Students in professional programs may not have a good understanding of the “mechanism of injury.” As a PT student, you will be working on patients who may have been involved in a serious life-threatening accident.
As a Medical Explorer EMS Ride-Along volunteer you may see a patient before they use the Jaws of Life. You'll understand how your patient may have shattered their leg bones and now have a better understanding of what that patient may need to do to recover.
