- Where can I log my OUCHA hours?
You can log your OUCHA hours for the Community Health courses >> HERE
- How do I sign up to volunteer at clinics?
*NOTE: this answer applies to students at the OU College of Medicine ONLY*
Please see the Clinic tab and review the “How to Sign Up” instructions for each clinic. Not all our partner clinics use the same sign up method. If you have any questions, please contact the Student Clinic Liaison also listed in the Clinic tab under each clinic.
- When is the deadline to log my OUCHA hours?
Clinic hours must be logged in the OUCHA student portal within 60 days after the clinic shift.
Community and education hours must be logged in the OUCHA student portal within 6 months after the event.
- I missed the deadline to log my hours! Can you help me?
Nope. There’s no way for us to go in and log the hours for you. We also don’t want people waiting to log all their hours in their fourth year, so the deadlines will remain in place and continue to be enforced.
- I am having trouble getting signed up to volunteer at clinics because: it doesn’t work for my schedule or I never get to the sign ups fast enough. What can I do?
Every single month, the Clinic Liaison Coordinator and OUCHA President track the sign ups for each partner clinic. We can absolutely guarantee that among all the partner clinics, we NEVER fill 100% of our shifts (excluding Manos Juntas Clinic which has no maximum cap on volunteers they accept per shift). In addition, because we have a large variety of partner clinics, we are able to offer shifts every day of the week during both the mornings and afternoons with some evening opportunities.
Not all our partner clinics use the same sign up method. We would advise that you click on the Clinic tab above and review the “How to Sign Up” instructions for each clinic. Once you have exhausted that option, please feel free to contact the Clinic Liaison Coordinator or OUCHA President (contact info on homepage) and relay to them what you have already tried. We will work with you to get you in to volunteer!
- What are the clinic volunteering rules?
1. Maximum number of shifts you can sign up for per clinic vary per clinic
- If there are ≥ 10 spots per month at that clinic, you may sign up for 2 slots maximum for the first 24 hours
- If there are < 10 spots per month at that clinic, you may sign up for 1 slot maximum for the first 24 hours.
2. Advance notice for absences
- You must give the clinic liaison AND the alternate at least 24 hours notice if you are unable to attend clinic!
3. Please observe dress code that are listed in the clinic tab and elaborated under “Dress Code” for each clinic.
4. No shows, repeat offense of the signup maxima, and inappropriate actions reported by clinic coordinators will result in a warning.
- Two warnings = 6 month signup suspension
- 4 or more warnings = professionalism report to Dr. Fergeson
- Why are you limiting the number of times I
can sign up at a certain clinic per month?
Two reasons:
1. In the past, students would sign up for a large
majority of the shifts for 1-2 clinics and then either not show up to the ones
they could not
actually attend or monopolize all the spots and not give
other students a chance to sign up. We do this so that every student will have
an equal opportunity to volunteer with us.
2. We believe that you will get a better experience
if you volunteer at several different clinics! Our clinics all serve different
populations and some have different specialist services (pediatrics,
Dermatology, Cardiology, etc.). We want you to explore all of what each clinic
has to offer to get the full educational experience!
- How do I get my event approved for OUCHA
hours?
Short answer: Request to get your event approved for Community and/or Education hours by filling out THIS FORM.
Clinic Hours: Can only be completed at
OUCHA Partner Clinics. A local free clinic can become a partner clinic by
filling out a Memorandum of Agreement with OUHSC. If you’re interested in
having a clinic added to our roster, please email the OUCHA President (contact
info on homepage) and they will walk you through the process.
Education Hours: Can only be granted if
students are teaching the general public about disease prevention (i.e.
teaching a session about why high blood pressure is bad for future health
outcomes, what lifestyle changes can be done to modify the disease, and
providing further resources on how to follow up on blood pressure measurements)
OR in special cases when students are leading/attending a session that will
teach clinical techniques and knowledge needed to serve a typically underserved
population. The OUCHA President and Vice President (contact info on homepage)
will decide which events qualify for education hours so please fill out
this form providing information regarding your event and how it will fulfill one of the above
criteria.
Community Service Hours: All other
volunteer activities typically fall under this category. Please fill out
this form to be reviewed by the OUCHA President and Vice President.
ALL events that are approved for Education
and Community Service hours will be listed
here. If a
group is advertising that their event can be logged for OUCHA hours and it is
NOT listed in the aforementioned link, they have NOT gone through the
appropriate approval process and their event is not eligible to be logged for
OUCHA hours.
- My event was approved for OUCHA hours. Do I
need to do anything after the event is over?
Yes! The student coordinator of the
event
must send us a list of participants after the event is over.
Please include the amount of hours completed if it is different than what was
agreed upon when the event was approved.
All student coordinators are given the
right to deduct hours given to students if they: do not show up on time or at
all or behave unprofessionally at the volunteer event. Student coordinators in
rare circumstances can also re-contact the OUCHA President and/or Vice
President to see if they could grant additional hours for students who went
above and beyond in their service to the community.
- Can I complete more than the required number
of hours for OUCHA?
Of course you can! We always support
our students going above and beyond to serve our community and further their
education!
Two things we ask:
1. Please continue to log those hours, even if they
go above the requirement. We can use those numbers to help track what our
student body contributes to the community and that helps immensely with
accreditation and funding purposes.
2. Please be considerate of your classmates when
signing up for opportunities to volunteer. If there are very limited spots, you
should let someone who needs the hours or hasn’t been able to volunteer at that
specific event/clinic before have a chance first.