In this blog post, I will consider whether the mandatory volunteer work in the pre-medical course at the Seoul National University College of Medicine really has any meaning.
Currently, the Seoul National University College of Medicine in Korea requires students to complete at least 60 hours of volunteer work at a hospital as a mandatory requirement for completing the pre-medical course. This is forcing students to do volunteer work in terms of the mandatory completion requirements. I wondered if such compulsory volunteer work would have a positive impact on students.
First of all, it is necessary to look back at the purpose of volunteer work. Volunteer work is an important activity for fostering altruism and gaining experience contributing to society. In particular, medical schools believe that volunteer work plays an important role in fostering the mindset to empathize with and care for patients as a doctor. However, if this volunteer work becomes “forced,” students are likely to do it only to meet the requirements for completion. This can undermine the original purpose of volunteer work.
Let’s think about the types of volunteer work we do. Although it is volunteer work at a hospital, pre-med students have little to no medical knowledge, so they cannot provide medical services. In other words, they do volunteer work at the hospital, but it is not medical volunteer work. In this respect, it can be said that there is a certain degree of difference because it is volunteer work that involves dealing with patients, but the actual work is almost basic chores or guidance, so there is no significant difference from volunteer work outside the hospital. In fact, all I did during my volunteer work at the hospital was to give directions, help with prescriptions and receipts, stamp documents, and wash patients’ hair. Even washing patients’ hair, which could be said to have some meaning, only accounted for a small portion of the volunteer hours. The situation of other friends was not much different. Most of the time, they just sat around and did nothing during the volunteer hours. Of course, it is difficult to always do only work during volunteer activities, but there are still few jobs suitable for students in terms of hospital volunteer work, and the hospital often has volunteers working separately, making more meaningful volunteer work difficult. In this respect, I think there is a problem with limiting the required volunteer hours to hospitals.
Other volunteer activities may have a better meaning than volunteering at a hospital. If pre-med students participate in various volunteer activities in the community rather than at a hospital, they will be able to learn a sense of social responsibility with a broader perspective. For example, through volunteering at a welfare center or working at a support center for the disabled, they can meet various people who are not patients and understand their needs. This provides a broader experience than volunteering in a hospital, which is limited to a space where medical knowledge is not available.
Next, let’s talk about the fact that these volunteer activities are compulsory. Before entering university, elementary, middle, and high schools required students to do volunteer work. This kind of volunteer work can be a good opportunity and experience for students who are still minors. However, university students are now adults. They know what volunteer work is and most of them are well aware of the need for volunteer work. In other words, there is no need to force them to do volunteer work as if they were minors. And as mentioned above, the categories of volunteer work that they can do are not much different from those before high school, so they are just repeating the volunteer work they did before.
In addition, it is necessary to consider the voluntary nature of volunteer work. Many students start volunteering as a compulsory activity at first, but if they experience a sense of joy and fulfillment through the process, they may continue to volunteer. However, if students are forced to volunteer, they are likely to see volunteering as a chore and develop a negative attitude toward it in the long run. When volunteering is no longer compulsory, students may become less willing to volunteer.
If the compulsory nature of the service is removed and voluntary participation is encouraged, the issue of the sustainability of the service may change slightly. For example, if the school provides students with various opportunities for volunteer work and allows them to participate naturally, the attitude towards volunteer work is likely to change positively. The sense of accomplishment that pre-med students feel when they voluntarily participate in volunteer work can be an important motivator for them to become doctors in the future.
In conclusion, the current 60-hour mandatory volunteer service system has many problems. It is important to find a way to provide students with a beneficial experience without compromising the essence of volunteer service. It would be more desirable to reduce the number of hours of volunteering at hospitals and provide various volunteering opportunities so that students can participate voluntarily. In particular, the goal of medical schools is not only to accumulate medical knowledge, but also to grow into doctors who understand and care for patients and society. Therefore, when volunteering is done voluntarily rather than forcibly, its value will be much deeper.
