What you can expect of the college volunteer experience

• Who you will be interacting with as you volunteer

  Volunteers primarily interact with patients, their family members and visitors. While you may report to or occasionally check in with a unit clerk, charge nurse, patient experience representative, or other staff member, you are not likely to have frequent interactions with doctors, nurses or other clinical staff.

• What you might be doing as part of your role

  We have many volunteer roles throughout the Medical Center. While they are all a bit different, most are focused around non-clinical tasks you can perform to make someone’s hospital visit a bit easier and less stressful. You might help escort someone to an appointment or a family member’s room; offer snacks or comfort items to people in waiting areas; or help re-stock supplies (just to share a few potential tasks).

• Where you may be volunteering

  We place volunteers within University Hospital, Ross Heart Hospital, East Hospital, and several outpatient sites. As part of the activity selection process, you will be able to choose the location where you’ll be volunteering.

  Please note The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute has a separate college volunteer program. (Learn more about volunteering at The James) Students may only apply to volunteer either with the Wexner Medical Center or The James in any given semester.

• When you will be volunteering

  Volunteers come in once a week, the same day and time each week, over the course of an entire session (semester). Each shift is between 2 and 4 hours long depending on your activity. Most shifts fall between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, but we do have some shifts that fall outside those hours.

• How the process works

  We will be accepting applications for new college volunteers two times this academic year — before the start of Autumn and Spring semesters. See the section below for important details related to our next application cycle and volunteering session.

  The application window is typically open for a full week (see below for specific dates). We review all applications for completeness and eligibility. Applicants who meet all program requirements are then randomly assigned to a group for the scheduling process. When your group’s window for scheduling opens, you will be granted access to our system where you can select a volunteer activity from the remaining openings.

  We have a limited number of available positions each semester, so not every applicant will receive a placement. The scheduling process will continue until all open positions for the semester are filled.

• Who can apply

  You are eligible to apply through our College Volunteer program if you are:

  • A current Ohio State undergraduate student
  • At least 18 years old
  • All Spring Semester applicants will also be required to submit proof of having received an annual flu shot before the start of the volunteering session.