Patients hurt in an accident, those suffering with musculoskeletal disorders and stroke victims benefit greatly from a physical therapy program. The physical therapist must have graduated from an accredited program and passed both state and national exams before being qualified to administer treatment. There are ways to volunteer your services, if you have the credentials and are inclined to do so.
Instructions
1. Contact your local hospital. Ask to speak with the volunteer services department. Tell them you are a licensed physical therapist wishing to volunteer your services in acute care. This is usually the rehabilitation department for post-operative hip and knee surgery. Your volunteering, however, will go through the hospital's physical therapy department.
2. Visit a rehabilitation center. Ask to speak with the person in charge of the volunteer department. If no one holds that title, ask to make an appointment to speak with the director of the rehabilitation center. Make it known to the receptionist that you would like to volunteer your services as a physical therapist--this will more than likely get you the first available appointment with the director.
3. Try treatment centers. An unlikely place a physical therapist would think to volunteer is in a cancer treatment center. Here you can assist with patient treatments and rehabilitation work. One caution here is that it is vitally important to maintain emotional boundaries when working with cancer patients.
4. Sign up with a volunteer services program. A volunteer services program coordinator will interview and screen all participants according to their skills. Be specific with wanting to work with patients that are in need of physical therapy. You are then matched up with recipients who would best benefit from your services.
5. Go abroad. There are ongoing projects that specifically work with those in need of medical services abroad. Working with this group as a physical therapist, you travel to the homes of families, teaching them simple exercises. You also get the opportunity to pass along your knowledge to local physical therapy teams. One such group works with patients in Ethiopia (see Resources). What better way to help others than by volunteering your time to help others?
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