Where are you employed and what are your areas of responsibility?

I have been working at the University Clinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Therapy at Oldenburg Hospital since December 2017. Since then, I have been helping with data acquisition as part of clinical multicentre studies. My daily tasks include screening, data collection and some of the administrative work for a prospective international data collection on the perioperative care of very elderly patients (POSE_STUDY). As part of the Voluntary Scientific Year, I supervise my own audit project on compliance with the implementation of the WHO safety checklist in the hospital. I regularly attend the FWJ training days and also the further training events offered by the university and, if my time allows, I also take part in the intensive care and pain rounds.

Why did you decide to do a Voluntary Scientific Year?

Becoming a doctor was always my dream. As I was determined to study medicine and was already enrolled for this degree programme in Syria, I completed a nursing internship immediately after arriving in Germany. As I wasn't admitted to study medicine in 2017, I decided to do a Voluntary Scientific Year.

What do you think this year will bring you?

On the one hand, I met new nice people. On the other hand, I have learnt a lot of new things during this time, e.g. what working in a university hospital is like, what difficulties you encounter and how you can overcome them.

What have you learnt so far during your voluntary service?

I have learnt a lot. Above all, I have learnt how to get myself to talk or discuss very complicated issues with others in a language that is foreign to me. Secondly, I had to deal with statistics and computer programmes, e.g. Word, Excel, Access, SPSS, Medico etc., both at the end of the project I am supervising and for data collection for other studies. I have also learnt how important it is to be reliable and take responsibility. In addition, I attended various events and programmes at the University of Oldenburg, which were very helpful in preparing for my studies. I was allowed to watch some operations and I found that very exciting. I also saved myself a lot of time later on by learning lots of medical terms. Last but not least, I practised how to deal with study participants.

Why are you doing your voluntary service at the University of Oldenburg of all places?

Before the FWJ, I completed the orientation year for refugees at the University of Oldenburg and learnt the German language. I also made a lot of friends in the city of Oldenburg. What's more, the University of Oldenburg is internationally renowned and has very interesting programmes. That's why I feel very much at home at the University of Oldenburg and would very much like to study here.

What advice would you give to future volunteers?

From my experience, I would say that it's not always easy to follow your dreams, but you should never give up. You should be interested in what you are doing, otherwise it could be difficult. Do your best and show what you can do. I wish you every success :)