We are not currently taking new volunteers. Please check back Summer of 2027 for our next wave of applications. Thank you!

During the course of the year, ECHO relies on the help of pre-health and medical students to serve as volunteer interpreters. Applicants have the opportunity to select between taking on a clinical interpreting role or interpreting in the front/back desk.

Clinical interpreters are responsible for interpreting all conversations between the patient and non-Spanish speaking clinical staff during the entirety of the patient’s visit.

Front desk interpreters are responsible for the initial encounter the patient has with clinic staff when they first arrive, which includes helping patients complete triage forms.

Back desk interpreters are responsible for incoming and outgoing calls that the clinic makes or receives from Spanish-speaking patients.

Pre-health students chosen for these roles have the opportunity to not only utilize and strengthen their medical Spanish, but also get to connect with medical students and see how a student-run free clinic operates. This position also allows for students to experience the impactful nature of the patient-physician relationship, while actively dismantling language barriers!

The interpreter volunteer application for pre-health students opens two times during the year (for the Summer, and Fall semesters).  

ECHO is staffed by the first- and second-year students on the administrative side, while the third- and fourth-year students provide clinical services under the supervision of licensed physicians. The administrative work typically consists of patient registration, medical chart organization, referrals and medications, lab work, health education, translation, nursing, and clinical shadowing.

Our Saturdays begin at 8AM when we meet in front of Einstein and drive over to the clinic. The clinic opens at 8:45AM and we register patients until noon. The day's work is generally completed by 3 or 4PM depending on the number of volunteers and the volume of patients.

There will be an orientation held in the beginning of each school year that will explain the application process.

Third year medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine are required to work at the ECHO Free Clinic on two Saturdays during their Family Medicine Clerkship. For more information please see the Department of Family and Social Medicine's clerkship course book.

There are also several administrative volunteer roles for third- and fourth-year medical students.

Additionally, there is a 4th year ECHO elective in which students are required to spend ten weeks in clinic as a session coordinator in addition to two weeks of didactics and two weeks to complete a summary project.