Volunteer work

[roysonmercado]

Hi everyone!

Am not very sure if 'classified ads' would be the proper forum venue for this.

Just another area for discussion, what are you insights regarding the present trend in the Philippines of professional physical therapists doing 'volunteer work' in different hospitals and clinics? What do you think are the motivations or reasons of PTs doing volunteer work? What do you think are the motivations or reasons of hospitals and clinics accepting PT volunteers?

I really hope to hear from you soon.

[Meriadoc]

you may not remember me sir, I applied for PPTA membership earlier this year at PGH and you were the one who entertained me at the rehab dept.

my two cents about this issue: I believe that many PTs dwell on volunteer work for the purpose of HAVING EXPERIENCE... let's face it, not all PT schools give quality internship programs especially for some PTs who graduated from batches 98-00 due to the huge number of PT students that time. Interns were relegated to poorly conceptualized "community rehab" programs that didn't clearly emphasized "continuity of treatment" (patients and PTs can't clearly delineate effectiveness of Tx in weeks to a month) or to far flung "mushroom" clinics (mushroom, in a sense that everybody started putting up PT clinics just so to cash in on the huge number of interns, without regard for probable patient numbers).

PTs end up doing nothing on these kind of rotations, robbing them of experience that coulda been earned; hence, it being the reason for them to cull more experience from hospitals and clinics in need of additional staff.

Also, nowadays due to the decline of PT enrollees in schools, some volunteers are being taken advantaged of by some hospitals and clinics, binding them to their facility for months or a certain period before a certificate can be issued... sometimes up to a point that PTs have to come to the facility everyday, 4-6x a week, up to 3-6 months. The PT goes thru the routine with no salary and intense pressure exerted on him/her by the CS/paid staff (I personally had the worse experience of "having to make up" a day of absence... to think I was a volunteer and not an intern who missed a day of duty; for some sobriety I would not mention the name of the hospital).
Clearly, the motivation of some of the the hospitals/clinics in this manner is to get free labor at the expense of the PT.

[eduptrp]

hi sir! first of all hi to all readers especially therapists like all of us...you could email me at; [e-mail] www.facelink.com/edwin92 im in the process of looking for fellow PTRPs coz i have no contact with my fellow batchmates. im a graduate of batch 99.. My opinion on the matter why PTs volunteer in a hospital or clinic to be frank is not really the experience per se but merely the certificate that would be given for the certain amount of time rendered for the volunteer work notwithstanding the time, money and effort spent. The reason why hospitals accept them or rather persons like me is that to lighten the patient loads of paid or rather employed PTs in a certain hospital or clinic...most hospitals if i may say rather give or demand just a certain time one must volunteer to think that PTs like us are not even paid...it is to their advantage isn't it...just wondering.... ;D TEXT[glow=red,2,300]TEXT[/glow]

[SirCharlesBell]

Hello Sir,

Based on my experience being a clinical supervisor and also a volunteer; I can say that the real intention of the PT is to have the certificate and at the same time have an avenue of practice, to get that feeling of professionalism after graduating. And hospitals and clinics just take advantage of that. Hospitals, especially the ones with big names, accepts volunteers for free labor, hold the certificate and even give sanctions for not showing up on the time or day of work which is definitely an unfair labor practice. I hope the PPTA can do something about this, or I wonder if the PPTA is even aware? Maybe that is also the reason why memberships with the PPTA is not that much representative of the number of licensed PTs. I hope this condition can be alleviated, maybe a campaign about PT and what we do and our importance to society can be a good start.

[chizms124]

SirCharlesBell said:

Hello Sir,

Based on my experience being a clinical supervisor and also a volunteer; I can say that the real intention of the PT is to have the certificate and at the same time have an avenue of practice, to get that feeling of professionalism after graduating. And hospitals and clinics just take advantage of that. Hospitals, especially the ones with big names, accepts volunteers for free labor, hold the certificate and even give sanctions for not showing up on the time or day of work which is definitely an unfair labor practice. I hope the PPTA can do something about this, or I wonder if the PPTA is even aware? Maybe that is also the reason why memberships with the PPTA is not that much representative of the number of licensed PTs. I hope this condition can be alleviated, maybe a campaign about PT and what we do and our importance to society can be a good start.

very well said! hmm...i just finished internship and just waiting for garduation and of course the much-awaited boards...but i know friends who opted for volunteer work just for the sake of doing something with their time because they couldn't find any job openings for their chosen profession. It's sad to know that PT's in the Philippines (licensed/ interns) are being abused by corruption even in the medical "industry." This is not also a corruption against professionals like us, but it is also an unethical practice for hospitals to be just relying on PT interns and volunteers to do real professional paid services. If only these patients know what the hospitals are doing to them... I am not saying that the schools here are producing low-quality interns...but interns are not licensed to do the real PT jobs and they even get more load than the staff PT! and even if volunteers are already licensed, i believe that the total lack of renumeration for their services can affect the kind of therapy they will give to these patients.

PPTA must really look into these matters. I know they have a noble mission/vision for their fellow professionals and they mustn't just treat this as an isolated issue because this is REALITY!

It is of no surprise why professionals like us would rather serve foreign brothers and sisters...We need, not only the occasional HH's...we need to survive!