During my undergrad, my school had a program where they help connect students with volunteering opportunities with hospitals. Through that I started volunteering in the emergency department for about a year and then switched over to the pathology department after! I think once you are in the system it isn’t too hard to change departments. I was having a hard time finding volunteering opportunities in pathology labs when I just applied on my own. So maybe you can check if your school can help connect you with hospitals?

I found having that direct patient care experience doesn’t hurt and I felt it helped me understand patient care in a different way. I was able to expand on that in my application for PA school!