Local Opportunities

Pace Center Opportunities

The Pace Center is Princeton University’s central resource for civic engagement. It supports efforts by all members of the extended University community to identify and act on the problems of society. Opportunities include:

 

Other opportunities in Princeton and surrounding community

New Jersey Medical Reserve Corps: The NJ Medical Reserve Corps seeks volunteers who are willing to assist in the event of public health emergencies and health education / public health events. Volunteers are able to participate in training and education opportunities.

Penn Med Princeton Medical Center Hospital Grand Rounds: Princeton Healthcare System's Department of Continuing Medical Education has kindly offered to extend an invitation to prehealth students to attend Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds take place on Tuesdays at 8am at the Princeton Medical Center. Your objective in attending a Grand Rounds session should be to get a sense of the kinds of conversations that doctors and hospital personnel are having around important healthcare topics.  We at HPA hope this is a valuable experience as you continue to clarify or deepen your interest in the health professions.  The Grand Rounds topics are included in our Vitals newsletter and you can pick up a pass that allows you to attend from HPA.

Penn Med Princeton Medical Center Hospital Volunteering: There are a wide range of opportunities available for college volunteers at the Princeton Medical Center. College volunteers work with the volunteer coordinator to select a weekly three-hour shift. The minimum commitment is 100 hours per year. Volunteer assignments are based on organizational need, in addition to your interests, skills and availability. College volunteers enjoy many benefits, including free parking, documentation of hours, free training, special discounts and celebratory recognition events.  Students apply to volunteer independently; transportation coordination and support is provided through the Pace Student Volunteer Corps

Physician Shadowing: HPA has compiled a growing list of local physicians who are willing to have Princeton prehealth students shadow them. This list will be available again after the pandemic subsides.

Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad (PFARS): Serving the community for nearly 80 years, Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to providing the entire Princeton community with professional, courteous and skilled emergency medical and technical rescue service.  To learn more about how to become a volunteer, complete an online interest form. PFARS is also recognized as a Pace Center student organization.

St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center (SLRC): St. Lawrence Rehabilitation Center (SLRC) is a private, not-for-profit facility that provides physical rehabilitative services. A variety of volunteer opportunities are available that enhance patient satisfaction, while producing a well‐deserved feeling of personal fulfillment for the volunteer. The SLRC is a few miles away and can be reached by public transportation. See the SLRC website for their volunteer application.

    Currently Inactive

    • Be Jersey Strong Health Reform Movement: This initiative was established in Fall 2015 to mobilize students interested in implementing health reform efforts in NJ by talking one on one with uninsured individuals about their health care options.  Email questions to kyle@bejerseystrong.org.
      • Insure Jersey (previously Be Jersey Strong) is a grassroots student movement assisting with the implementation of health insurance reform here in New Jersey. Many individuals are eligible for the health care marketplace but remain uninsured, and research suggests that for these remaining uninsured, it takes one-on-one, in-person conversations to make the decision to enroll. We train and mobilize student volunteers to have such conversations with the uninsured throughout the state.
    • GlobeMed - partnered with a clinic in Uganda and address health inequalities.
    • Homefront Health Initiative - worked with Homefront to focus on health and education for children who are homeless.
    • Music is Medicine - perform for elderly and individuals in hospitals
      • Princeton Music Outreach (merged with Music is Medicine) brings together musicians from Princeton with local nursing homes, assisted living homes, and hospice communities. We strive to make a difference through music, which has a great power to help people relax, love, and enjoy their lives. In the past we have put on different themed concerts for these residents, such as a Valentines and Christmas themed performance. We try to put on several performances each semester, and we have a lot of fun!
    • Princeton TropicalClinics for Rural Health (TCRH) is the founding student chapter of an initiative led by TropicalClinics, a 501(c)3 U.S. nonprofit with the mission of building one-of-a-kind health centers in rural areas of developing nations, starting in Kenya. Through implementing dedicated fundraising efforts and facilitating frequent rural health activism events, TCRH chapters provide direct support for the mission of TropicalClinics to bring quality health care to underserved rural populations in developing nations, while in the process fostering the development of their members as future leaders in the global health field. 
    • Operation Smile is an international medical charity that provides free reconstructive surgeries for children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. They are one the world's largest medical charities with over 5,000 volunteers worldwide. Each Operation Smile surgery costs as little as $240 and can take as little as 45 minutes. Operation Smile is one of the few non-governmental organization's that allow high school, university, and medical students to volunteer on missions.
    • Relay for Life is an organization whose goal is to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This money will be used to fund cancer research, provide better support resources for cancer patients and survivors, and to raise general awareness about cancer and its effects on daily life. 
    • Unite for Sight - raise awareness and funds for eye surgeries in Ghana