You will need to fill out a volunteer application at the hospital. Often, an application can be completed online or downloaded from the hospital website. Typically, a member of the volunteer office will contact you to once your application has been received and notify you of the next steps. Make sure you include the specific areas that you would like to volunteer in on your application.  Choose more than one area of interest on your application in case you do not get your first choice.  Most hospitals will conduct a background and criminal check as part of your application. Get your application in as soon as you can.  Slots may be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you are applying to a special summer program, check the application dates. The dates may be different than the deadline for other types of volunteers. Typically, hospitals will require that you have a received your MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine and a recent Tuberculosis (TB) skin test. If you have already received these vaccinations, you will need documentation of your results. If you have not received these vaccinations, you will need to have them before you can volunteer at a hospital.  Some hospitals also require a influenza (flu) vaccination and Varicella (Chicken Pox) vaccination or immunity.  Visit your primary care physician or local health department if you need to get your vaccinations and TB test. Many hospitals like to interview potential volunteers. Be prepared to answer some questions when you go in for your interview. Why do you want to volunteer at the hospital? What would like to do as a volunteer? What are your interests? Do you have any special skills? How did you hear about the hospital volunteer program?  It may help to think about these questions and write down the answers before your interview. Do not think of the interview as a formal job interview.  The hospital is really trying to find a volunteer placement that is a good fit for you. Give honest answers and be yourself during the interview. You will typically be required to attend some sort of orientation before you begin volunteering. The orientation will cover many topics such as hospital policies and procedures, volunteer requirements and expectations, and the history and mission of the hospital. In addition to a general orientation, you may receive training in your specific volunteer area.  Orientation may be online or at the hospital. At some hospitals, you may attend orientation before you complete your application. If this is the case, you will receive information about the application and interview process during orientation. Pay attention and ask questions during orientation. This is also a good time to meet some of the people you may be working with. You will receive your assignment at orientation as well.

Summary: Complete an application. Get your medical records. Complete your interview. Attend orientation.


The PCAT is usually offered at four different times of year. January, July, and September are the most common months to take the test. However, there are also limited spots available to take the test in October or November, depending on the year. Make sure you sign up for your test well in advance of the test-date. You need to give yourself enough time to prepare. Different people will need different amounts of time to study, but aim to give yourself 4-5 months to prepare. There are four multiple choice sections, covering biological processes, chemical processes, critical reading, and quantitative reasoning. There is also a writing section that asks you to respond to a question about health. The official website of the PCAT and websites by test-prep companies offer detailed outlines of the structure of the test. There are a total of 192 multiple choice questions. Take a practice PCAT test from the official website and grade yourself. If there are areas that you did especially poorly on, you should set up your study plan to emphasize those areas. If you did especially well on other areas, you will not need to devote as much time to them. You should plan out how you intend to study each day. You can even make study plans for weeks or months at a time. Again, make sure your plans are focusing most on the areas that need most improvement. If you need to improve equally in all areas, you can devote equal time to all the different PCAT topics.  If you are giving yourself 4-5 months to study, you can schedule your time so that you’re studying for only an hour or two each day until the last month, when you should devote several hours a day to studying. If you are studying only for 1-2 months, you will probably want to spend at least 3-4 hours studying on most days.

Summary: Sign up for a test. Learn the structure of the test. Assess your readiness by taking a practice test. Develop a study schedule that varies between all the different PCAT topics.


Microsoft Office offers a completely free version of Word available for online use. It's not as full-featured as the paid version, but you can use it to get most things done. See this wikiHow to get started. Some of the best office-related applications for home, student, or small business use are free—and nearly all of them are capable of creating, opening, and saving Microsoft Word documents. Although they might not be as full-featured as Microsoft Office, free office suites are usually capable enough for the average user who needs to do some word processing, work with spreadsheets, or create a slide presentation. Here are some popular free alternatives:  Open Office LibreOffice Google Docs is a free online word processing app that can open, edit, and save files in the Microsoft Word format. See this wikiHow to get started.

Summary: Use Microsoft Office Online. Download a free alternative suite. Use Google Docs online.


These are the first two notes of your scale. Play the root note, here the E on the open sixth string, then move down three frets. Most people play this second note with their ring finger or pinky. Remember that the pentatonic scale is a "shape." You can move this to start on any note on the 6th string. The first note of the scale will be the song's key. These three notes are where the blues scale differs from the pentatonic, which ignores the first fret. This note, however, is the "flat fifth" in music theory that makes a song sound bluesy. You will play three notes total on the A string. The flat fifth is an accent -- it is best played quickly, not lingered on. Note how a box-like pattern is forming. The open strings form a constant "line" of notes in the scale, while your ring finger frets a box either 2-3 frets down. Here, you simply play the open string and the second fret. This third fret is actually a reoccurring flat fifth -- it is the octave of the note you played earlier. Theory aside, this means the 3rd fret, usually played with your pinky, is another bluesy accent note. The last two strings are identical to the first string. Simply create this little box between the open string and the third frets on both the high-E and B strings. You can play the exact same scale starting from a different E. Simply move the whole form down to the 12th fret, since the 6th string 12th fret note is another E. Now, instead of playing open notes, you simply fret every string on the 12th fret when you get to it. Everything else stays in place.  Now that you know the scale, practice getting up and down it as smoothly and quickly as possible, in multiple locations across the fret board. Check out "Master Lead Guitar Basics" for cool ways to use notes in a solo or improvisation.
Summary: Play the open note and the 3rd fret on the sixth string. Move down a string, playing the open note, the first fret, and the second fret. Play the open string and second fret on the D string. Play the open string, second fret, and third fret on the G string. Play the open string and the 3rd fret of the last two strings. Move the whole scale down to the 12th fret to see how easily the form moves.