AUBURN - Shelby Cole didn't have to wait for nursing school to figure out which area of medicine she'd like to practice.
Chet Susslin / The CitizenAuburn Memorial Hospital volunteer Shelby Cole, 16, checks in with a patient, Calvin Lee, on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 29. Cole plans to attend the BOCES program for certified nurses aids and eventually to get her degree and become a nurse practitioner.
Roaming the halls as a junior volunteer at Auburn Memorial Hospital this summer, Cole, 16, of Weedsport discovered the maternity ward and a passion for obstetrics and gynecology.
“While here, I am able to do rounds and go to the maternity ward and see the infants and interact with the mothers,” she said. “Just being around new life is a great feeling, and I like being able to be a part of that.”
Cole, a rising junior at Weedsport High School, sees herself becoming a nurse practitioner. To achieve that end, she decided to spend her summer as a volunteer at AMH to gain experience and insight into the various aspects of the health care field.
Judy Santillo, director of volunteer services at AMH, said many high school and college students turn to volunteer work at hospitals to do just that as well as fulfill community service requirements for academic programs.
While that holds true for AMH, the opportunities offered in Auburn differ from that in other hospitals.
Santillo self-designed a courier service program which takes volunteers from one stretch of the hospital to the other running necessary errands like bringing specimens from the floor to the lab, transporting patients to medical tests, interacting with and discharging patients, working in the medical records department and in the emergency room, among other things.
“I think they gain an inside look at how a hospital is run, especially those participating in the courier service because they see so many disciplines in the hospital,” she said.
While there is certainly a professional and vocational benefit to the program, volunteering also provides a forum to hone social skills.
“I think they take away with a variety of health care career choices along with learning how to work with other people, learning how to deal with sick people,” she said. “Some of the kids here never had to speak to strangers, and part of being a volunteer is the customer service end of it.”
Stacy Hennick, 20, of Cayuga, joined AMH as a volunteer to fulfill her clinical experience obligation while studying biochemistry at SUNY Geneseo. She hopes to attend medical school upon her graduation, specializing in genetic engineering and gene therapy.
“All the stuff we learn and everything we've seen (volunteering),” she said, “that experience is pretty invaluable.”
Since starting at the end of May, Hennick has seen a natural birth and cesarean section, shadowed an AMH surgeon, worked in the ER and blood bank, where she tested blood for HIV/AIDS.
But she also enjoys the simple things. Making a patient smile is oftentimes the highlight of her day, she said.
Ryan Tucker's decision to volunteer at AMH is two-fold: “firstly, to make sure I have what it takes to be a physician, and secondly, to give back to the community,” he said.
A rising senior at Cornell University majoring in biology in the pre-med track, Tucker, 22, of Kalamazoo, Mich., initially wanted to be a cardiac surgeon. But after spending the summer in AMH's ER, he realized that practicing emergency medicine is something he'd like to do for the rest of his life.
“I see what (ER doctors) deal with on a daily basis and I find that really interesting,” he said. “Everyday there are new patients, new cases, and I find that really attractive.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
“While here, I am able to do rounds and go to the maternity ward and see the infants and interact with the mothers,” she said. “Just being around new life is a great feeling, and I like being able to be a part of that.”
Cole, a rising junior at Weedsport High School, sees herself becoming a nurse practitioner. To achieve that end, she decided to spend her summer as a volunteer at AMH to gain experience and insight into the various aspects of the health care field.
Judy Santillo, director of volunteer services at AMH, said many high school and college students turn to volunteer work at hospitals to do just that as well as fulfill community service requirements for academic programs.
While that holds true for AMH, the opportunities offered in Auburn differ from that in other hospitals.
Santillo self-designed a courier service program which takes volunteers from one stretch of the hospital to the other running necessary errands like bringing specimens from the floor to the lab, transporting patients to medical tests, interacting with and discharging patients, working in the medical records department and in the emergency room, among other things.
“I think they gain an inside look at how a hospital is run, especially those participating in the courier service because they see so many disciplines in the hospital,” she said.
While there is certainly a professional and vocational benefit to the program, volunteering also provides a forum to hone social skills.
“I think they take away with a variety of health care career choices along with learning how to work with other people, learning how to deal with sick people,” she said. “Some of the kids here never had to speak to strangers, and part of being a volunteer is the customer service end of it.”
Stacy Hennick, 20, of Cayuga, joined AMH as a volunteer to fulfill her clinical experience obligation while studying biochemistry at SUNY Geneseo. She hopes to attend medical school upon her graduation, specializing in genetic engineering and gene therapy.
“All the stuff we learn and everything we've seen (volunteering),” she said, “that experience is pretty invaluable.”
Since starting at the end of May, Hennick has seen a natural birth and cesarean section, shadowed an AMH surgeon, worked in the ER and blood bank, where she tested blood for HIV/AIDS.
But she also enjoys the simple things. Making a patient smile is oftentimes the highlight of her day, she said.
Ryan Tucker's decision to volunteer at AMH is two-fold: “firstly, to make sure I have what it takes to be a physician, and secondly, to give back to the community,” he said.
A rising senior at Cornell University majoring in biology in the pre-med track, Tucker, 22, of Kalamazoo, Mich., initially wanted to be a cardiac surgeon. But after spending the summer in AMH's ER, he realized that practicing emergency medicine is something he'd like to do for the rest of his life.
“I see what (ER doctors) deal with on a daily basis and I find that really interesting,” he said. “Everyday there are new patients, new cases, and I find that really attractive.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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