Presenter: Anastasia Lukyanov, Biochemistry, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum, I worked/am working as a volunteer for the American Red Cross, which is an affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The American Red Cross is a non-profit humanitarian organization, which provides disaster relief, education and training, blood services, and service to the armed forces. I volunteer/ed for their National Scheduling Team, which is part of their Biomedical Services division. We engage and help schedule Blood Donor Ambassador volunteers, who are vital to ensuring that blood donors have a pleasant and fulfilling experience. It’s a lot of bureaucratic-type work of connecting volunteers with possible shift opportunities, but volunteers are the backbone of many public health operations such as ours, so engaging them is key to helping communities and sometimes all they need is just a little push. Or, if they’re having troubles volunteering, we can assist with that as well. These skills I’m learning to engage with volunteers and help them do their best work will always be useful in any health field, as connection and communication is key to everything from individual doctor-patient relationships to broader community relationships.