A key component of your podiatry school application is gaining a variety of experiences inside and outside of the field, as well as giving back to your community. This experience is gained through shadowing, health care volunteering and/or patient care experiences, and community engagement. Explore the ways to get experience in and out of the field before you attend podiatry school on this page.
Check out some of these resource guides to get some ideas before exploring further:
Volunteering
Competitive applicants will have both health care related volunteering and general community engagement volunteering in their application. They both serve different purposes. Health care volunteering allows you to learn about the health care system as a whole and what it means to be a part of that system. Whether you are volunteering in a hospital gift shop supporting patient families or taking vitals at a walk-in clinic, these experiences are vital to understand the multiple roles that make up the health care system. General volunteering shows your dedication and involvement in your community, as health care professionals ultimately serve the community they work in.
Check out some of the opportunities below for recommendations to get started. This isn't an exhaustive list, and we encourage you to do your own research in your local community.
Podiatric Medical Clinics in Austin
Healthcare Volunteering Opportunities
Healthcare volunteering opportunities do not have to be strictly related to podiatrist duties or direct interactions with patients to be relevant. However, we do encourage finding those experiences where you can.
- Ascension Texas Foundations - Various Austin metropolitan area volunteer sites, including but not limited to Dell Children's Medical Center, Dell Seton Medical Center, and Ascension Seton Medical Center. Requires a 6-month commitment.
- St. David's Medical Center
- St. David's North Austin Medical Center
- St. David's South Austin Medical Center
- People's Community Clinic
- CommUnity Care Services
- Austin/Travis County Communicable Disease Clinic Tel: (512) 972-5430
- Hospice Austin
- Austin Volunteer Healthcare Clinic
- Heart Hospital of Austin (Requires a 6-month commitment)
- C.D. Doyle Clinic
- US Dept of Veterans Affairs - Student Volunteer Program
- Austin Speech Labs
- University Health Services
Community Volunteering Resources
Austin Volunteering Opportunities
This is not an exhaustive list of opportunities in Austin. Please do additional research if there is a community or cause that you would like to support through your volunteering efforts.
- Volunteer Match - Volunteer Opportunity search function, filterable by location
- Do512 - Volunteering in Austin
- Austin Partners in Education
- Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team
- Central Texas Food Bank
- El Buen Samaritano
- Habitat for Humanity (Austin)
- Inside Books Project