Beta Tested: DPAP Approved
How Peer Partnership and Purpose-Built Tech Modernized Volunteer Engagement
As the Stead Society student secretary for the Class of 2026, one of my core responsibilities is to track and manage individual and class-wide volunteer hours. Duke’s long-standing Physician Assistant Program continuously refines every facet of its curriculum—including how we record service contributions—to ensure we operate efficiently, effectively, and at the highest level of excellence. After matriculating into the program last fall, I quickly recognized that students play a vital role in shaping these evolving systems. Our real-time experiences provide critical insight into gaps and inefficiencies, and I felt empowered to contribute solutions within my sphere of responsibility.
At the time, volunteer hours were being logged through Qualtrics surveys. While functional, the system fell short in several ways. Students couldn’t view their own submissions, resulting in frequent emails asking if their hours had been recorded. On the administrative side, aggregating class-wide data was time-consuming and tedious. Exporting hundreds of survey responses into Excel, then reformatting them for consistency, cost me hours I could scarcely spare. I knew there had to be a better way: one that would reduce the administrative burden while giving students greater transparency and ownership over their community involvement.
That solution arrived unexpectedly, but perfectly timed. A close friend from undergrad, now a software engineer, had begun building a passion project during her spare time: Volunteeritude. This innovative platform connects volunteers and organizations, empowering both to track, showcase, and amplify their impact. Currently in beta testing, Volunteeritude allows me to easily manage users, verify hours, and generate real-time analytics that reflect our class’s outreach. Just as importantly, students can now log their own hours, access verified records and clearly see their contribution to the Durham community.
It has been deeply rewarding to support a fellow woman in STEM by helping test and improve this platform. But I am even more proud to be part of a program at Duke that trusts and supports student-led innovation. The feedback from classmates has been overwhelmingly positive, and as one of the select beta-test organizations, we’ve been able to provide live input to shape Volunteeritude in ways that directly serve our mission.
Looking ahead, we plan to implement additional features such as integrated event calendars, sign-ups, and expanded outreach tools. The Class of 2026 hopes to pass Volunteeritude on to future DPAP (Duke PA Program) cohorts, establishing a sustainable and evolving tool that enhances community engagement. Though this may seem like a small operational improvement, it reflects a larger truth: meaningful change often begins at the ground level. When those immersed in a system are empowered to act, they can build upon the legacy of those who came before, continuing their work with meaningful insight and purpose.
I’m incredibly grateful to my classmates and Stead Society for their openness to innovation, and to Dr. April Stouder and Dr. Jacqueline Barnett for believing in this vision. I’m so proud of my friend, Tina Guirguis, for transforming her passion into a platform that I’m confident will positively impact many communities for years to come. Most of all, I thank the Duke Physician Assistant Program for fostering a culture where students are encouraged to identify needs, propose solutions, and leave the program better than we found it.
Emma Twer is a first-year student with the Duke Physician Assistant Program. Email emma.twer@duke.edu with questions.
Editor’s note: Duke Physician Assistant Program students blog monthly. Blogs represent the opinion of the author, not the Duke Physician Assistant Program, the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, or Duke University.