Anika Gundlapalli, Ayushman Mallik, Avinav Mallik and Brooke Thayer are serious about giving of their time.
They are part of the Junior Volunteer Teen Leadership Program at Medical Center Hospital, learning as they go and making new friends.
Volunteer Services Manager Adina Crain said she has 52 active junior volunteers this year. She had about 33 last year.
Students get to help out in all areas of the hospital from the emergency department and operating room to the storeroom and pharmacy. There are some age restrictions for some of the areas such as critical care and the Emergency Department.
They earn Texas Scholar hours, as well.
Gundlapalli is president; Ayushman Mallik is vice president; his brother Avinav is the historian; and Thayer is special events.
Dimitry Dummer, who was not available to interview June 22, is the secretary for the group.
Gundlapalli and Avinav Mallik attend Odessa High School; Thayer attends George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa; and Dummer is at Midland High School.
Ayushman Mallik attends University of North Texas through a program called the Texas Academy of Math and Science. You end your sophomore grade year and skip your last two years of high school and do your last two years of high school and your first two years of college at the same time.
The program runs from June 5 basically until school starts. They call it a year-round program, though, because different activities are available during spring or Christmas break.
There are also adult volunteers and college volunteers.
The officers interviewed are all returning volunteers who want to go into medicine. Crain said about a third are not interested in pursuing medicine.
Some of their visits involve singing or playing instruments. Gundlapalli said they try to sing songs people might know like “Here Comes the Sun.” They also make cards or make penguins out of washcloths.
Thayer, who like the other officers is a returning volunteer, said the environment is welcoming. She added that it’s been helpful in deciding what aspect of medicine she wants to get involved in.
Her choice currently is physical therapy.
“I really enjoy my time here. I really enjoy seeing people and helping people and also learning more about medicine. I think this is a very good volunteer program. I’ve made a lot of good friends here and I really like how it emphasizes teamwork and friendship through service,” Gundlapalli said.
Ayushman said they choose their assignments and do those for about three years. If they’re doing an afternoon shift, they conduct the same process again.
The volunteers usually work all day, but they aren’t there every day of the week. The shifts are 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Thayer said she likes physical therapy and rehab mainly because she gets to talk to a lot of the patients, get to know them and create a bond with them.
“Also the staff over there is welcoming and nice whenever I have any questions about their career. They’re always very open to those questions,” Thayer said.
A lot of the volunteers like the storeroom because they get to go around the hospital delivering supplies, Avinav said.
Ayushman said his favorite area is the cath lab.
“The staff there was really welcoming. I asked them a lot of questions and they had answers to all my questions. They didn’t really zone me out and I got to know a lot about the procedures they do over there. I saw an angiogram over there and I learned a lot about it,” Ayushman added.
Gundlapalli said because they get to go on different rotations and different floors, they can see a variety of specialties. They can also see what medical professionals like about their specialties.
At first, Crain said the different departments aren’t sure what to do with the volunteers because they’re used to doing all these tasks themselves.
“But I’m finding that they are keeping them the full shift. They’re realizing this is some extra hands and eyes and ears … They are seeming to use the students longer. I think it’s a win-win. Kids are learning and the staff is getting some extra help,” Crain said.
Registered Nurse Ricardo Acosta, who works in wound care, said his son Izek is in his first year as a junior volunteer and it has gotten him out of his shell.
Izek who attends Permian High School is always telling his dad stories about how many people he’s meeting and that he actually likes volunteering at MCH.
“He’s met a lot of friends and so I think that was why he wants to keep doing it,” Acosta said.
He added that they have been talking about Izek starting the licensed vocational nurse program at PHS.
“And when I talked to him about it, he was actually excited about it. I said this is a plus. You get to volunteer, you get to meet new people and you get to know what the medical field is about. He’s learning a bunch of stuff,” Acosta said.
Crain said they try to have a debriefing on Fridays where they come together for a lunch meeting and listen to a speaker who tells the students about their path to medicine or how they got into their role at the hospital.
Crain, who has been at MCH for 13 years, is in her first year as Volunteer Services Manager and with this program.
“I’m seeing a lot of new friendships being formed,” she added.
They took one evening and two Saturdays for orientation.
“I just feel like from just my observations that it … basically a non-threatening environment where they can be themselves. They’re all in uniform, so we are a team that dresses alike so nobody looks different than anybody else,” Crain said.
