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This study focuses on the management and training system for volunteers in a university hospital. Empirical data was collected by participant observation during the initial training of volunteers and by interviews and focus groups conducted with a dozen volunteers. An analysis of forecasted and real activity highlights the complexity of their commitment. The results reveal several paradoxes in relation to the identity and function of the volunteers working in hospitals, the space and time frame in which they work, the definition and prescription of their assignment, and the personal identity of the volunteers themselves.