PBH Requests Hospital To Alter Volunteer Plan

The PBH Hospitals Committee may discontinue a large part of its volunteer program at Massachusetts General Hospital unless the Hospital agrees to certain changes in work assignments, Stephen R. Crespin '60, co-chairman of next year's Committee, disclosed last night.

"We have told the Hospital that the majority of volunteers have not been satisfied with their rotation system of work assignments," Crespin said. Under the "rotation system" at Massachusetts General, Harvard and Radcliffe volunteers work in a different department each week.

Crespin attributed the large number of MGH volunteers who drop out of the program to "uninteresting" assignments in Supply and similar departments. "After all, Harvard students are human beings, not angels," he said.

"To continue sending volunteers to MGH under this system and then have them drop out of the volunteers program because the work is not interesting would be a disservice to all the hospitals served by the Committee," Crespin added.

The new PBH proposals, now awaiting action by the Hospital, call for either modifications in the rotation system or a new plan which would assign students to a single department for all their work. Crespin stressed that any change in assignments must be approved by the Hospital.

At the beginning of the year 35 students volunteered for work at MGH. Nine of these were assigned to work solely with children and do not participate under the rotation system. Only eight of the remaining 26 have not dropped out of the program during the year.