Socio-medical volunteering in a non-profile university

Abstract

There is an increase in the number of volunteer corps and beneficiaries. The subjects of the volunteer movement are educational organizations of various training profiles. In a pandemic, the importance of medical volunteering is growing. Medical volunteering, being a retro innovation, loses its maximum professional (medical) focus during the pandemic, as the functionality and composition of volunteers expands. The concept of socio-medical volunteering is introduced as a type of volunteering in the healthcare sector, aimed at improving the quality of medical services and involving the participation of volunteers with a wide range of professional training. The study was conducted in three stages: theoretical method of scientific literature analysis, empirical methods (questionnaires, interviews) were used. The sample consisted of 87 volunteers from a non-core university. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that junior students predominate among the volunteers; the functionality of volunteers in the call center was specified; the motivation for the participation of students in volunteering was revealed; the problems they faced; level of readiness to continue participation in volunteering. In general, the results of the study indicate the insufficient readiness of volunteers of a non-core university for social and medical volunteering, which became the basis for the development of recommendations for the organizers of this movement in a non-core university. It has been proved that socio-medical volunteering in a non-core university is a promising area of educational work and a resource for adapting junior students to educational conditions. Scientific understanding of the issue of gender motivation of students in non-core areas of preparation for social and medical volunteering is required, as well as the specifics of the content of this volunteering, taking into account the development of information and communication technologies and digital volunteering.