Frequently Asked Questions for UHS Volunteer Programs

This page contains frequently asked questions regarding Volunteer Eligibility, General Inquiries, On-Boarding Appointments, and Final Session Orientations. For any questions NOT listed here, please contact the UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Office

For shadowing questions, please read the shadowing policy guidelines before contacting the coordinator. The UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Program does not provide shadowing/observation opportunities.

For Applicants: 

For Supervisors:

For Applicants

General Questions

If a faculty invited you to shadow, he/she may not be aware of the Shadowing Policy. Per policy, individual or one-off shadowing is NOT permitted. If you are unsure if you are part of an approved program, most likely you are NOT. Instead of shadowing, we encourage individuals to join one of our various UCLA Health volunteer programs to gain alternative clinical exposure and experience.

If we do not have an Opportunity Sign-Up link, unfortunately, you cannot be start the on-boarding process as a UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer or UCLA SRP Student.

Unfortunately, we do NOT conduct on-boarding appointments or final session orientations during office hours. All of our onboarding processes and meetings are completed through scheduled appointments.

Volunteers must be able to perform their services onsite and consistently (weekly or biweekly basis). If you are unable to perform services onsite, then we are not able to process you as a UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer.

Please visit our webpage for Office Hours and Location information: UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Office

Applicants must be invited by UCLA Health and Health Sciences faculty and staff to be their department's Volunteer or UCLA SRP student. In order to be on-boarded, you must have received the Opportunity Sign-Up link from an inviting supervisor.

If you are receiving any type of credit, stipend, or compensation for volunteering, then you should NOT be a UCLA Health SciencesVolunteer. Please contact our office to help you transition to another title.

Exceptions: UCLA Students receiving SRP or an elective UCLA course credit are processed through the program as UCLA SRP Students.

SRP is for UCLA Students ONLY. UCLA Students should contact their UCLA Counselors or the Undergraduate Research Office for more information. The UCLA Health Sciences VolunteerProgram does NOT assist with enrollments, we only process clearances to permit SRP research activities within our facilities.

Unfortunately, volunteers must complete the minimum hours of commitment that would qualify them to join or apply to another program. For more information, please see Volunteer Eligibility Requirements

Once you complete the minimum hours of commitment, then you must complete the same Pre-Screening process in order to be approved and assigned to your new volunteer assignment.

On-Boarding Follow-Up Appointment Questions

Please follow the instructions to sign up for your appointment via the Volunteer Dashboard.

Unfortunately, you must have ALL requirements completed in order to move to the next step.

Yes, all appointments are mandatory.

All Clinical UCLA Health Sciences Volunteers and UCLA SRP Students must complete the same process which includes a background check, health screening, paperwork (onboarding), training modules, orientation (final session) and quiz.

Your On-Boarding process pertains to the Opportunity you signed up for under your inviting supervisor, which must be approved in order for you to sign up. If there were any revisions or changes that must be made and the form is pending approval, most likely your clearance process will be delayed.

Please contact your coordinator to see if he/she would be available to meet in an alternative time. Please email the coordinator your schedule to better assist them.

Final Session Orientation Questions

Please visit our webpage for detailed information: Final Session Orientation

Please see our webpage Final Session Orientation for COVID Updates.

For Supervisors

Regarding Volunteer Applicants

Please send the applicant an On-Boarding (also known as an Opportunity) link to start the online on-boarding process.

Links are generated once an Opportunity is created in our database system based on the information provided on an approved Scope of Duties form.

If you have a DocuSign account as an employee, you should be able to view documents you have signed by logging into your account via DocuSign (https://account.docusign.com/)

There are several reasons why a form would be delayed in the review process:

  1. We have a higher than usual volume and will try to get to your form as soon as possible.
  2. There are duties or roles that are not within policies or guidelines. See volunteer guidelines.
  3. There are duties or roles in which requires additional approvals. See other approvals required.
  4. DocuSign is waiting on a second signer (PI’s signature)

Please contact our staff members for an update.

Please make sure that your applicant also meets the eligibility criteria.

Regarding Cleared and Active Volunteers

An automated email will be sent to you by our program and database system ([email protected])

Currently, Mednet requests must be submitted by the department IT Authorizer (usually the administrator or HR personnel).

HIPAA completions are verified by our office, certificates are not required to complete a Mednet creation request with ISS.

Only UCLA Students are eligible to be granted Care Connect View only access (if approved within the Scope of Duties form).

Access must be submitted by the department IT Authorizer (usually the administrator or HR personnel).

Approval from Compliance is required and may take time to approve access to be enabled.

Yes, the Scope of Duties form is what validates the volunteer’s role within your supervision. If the volunteer performs duties outside their scope under your supervision, supervisors will be held accountable.

An automated email is sent on a monthly basis (first of the month) with a full list of the assignment’s information and volunteers (cleared and pending).

For any additional questions NOT listed in our FAQs, please contact the UCLA Health Sciences Volunteer Office.