A friend with volunteer burnout: a medical school interview question
- Topic
- Physician wellbeing
- Kind
- Practical scenario
Prompt
Your closest friend volunteers on a crisis text line. Over the past semester she has gone from one shift a week to four, on top of a full course load, and she recently told you she has stopped seeing friends on weekends. When you raised it, she said the line is short of volunteers and that if she cuts back, someone in crisis might wait longer for a reply. What would you say to her?
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How to approach this question
What this question tests
- Empathy and compassion
- Communication
- Ethical reasoning
How to approach it
This panel interview question tests whether you can help a friend see that caring for others includes caring for herself, without dismissing the value of her work. Name what's at stake: her wellbeing and studies, the people who rely on the crisis text line, the organization's responsibility for its volunteers, and your friendship. Acknowledge that her reasoning is generous and partly true, then think about what she may not see, such as the risk that burnout will leave her less able to help anyone. Consider what you'd suggest, like a firm limit on shifts, talking to the line's coordinators about staffing, or reconnecting with the friends she's stopped seeing. Explain how you'd say it with care rather than judgment. Connect your answer to physician wellbeing, since physicians face the same pull.
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