Why Volunteer at a Free Clinic?

Free Clinics are independent community based organizations that provide a friendly and hassle-free environment to practice medicine, interact with colleagues and make a difference in your community. Staffed by both active and retired healthcare professionals, they are in many respects ideal for retired clinicians wishing to stay engaged. They care primarily for working uninsured adults, 19-64 years old. Chronic diseases like diabetes, arthritis and hypertension are common. Staffed primarily by volunteers, everyone is there for the same reason - to provide good quality care in a practical manner to very needy and appreciative patients. Most volunteers get as much from the experience as they give.

Volunteers are free to provide service on their terms, often once a week or even once a month. Typically a physician and nurse are teamed-up so there is support, time for interaction, and opportunity to learn. Lab, X-ray, and access to specialists and prescription medications are generally readily available.

There are of course potential barriers to volunteering such as malpractice and licensure requirements that at this point are largely state specific. TAP-IN continues to work with others to mitigate these barriers. Some states offer special Volunteer Licenses to facilitate volunteerism. Read more about malpractice in the states in which we operate.

Reasons commonly cited by health professions for volunteering include:

• Altruism – the professional ethos of helping others that influenced many to choose a career in health and human services in the first place. Concern for the many uninsured among us.
• The need to feel useful, to make a difference – after a career of making a difference in peoples lives some may feel that their lives now lack purpose. Returning to what they do best, practicing their profession and helping others through volunteering, helps meet this need.
• Regaining a sense of professional identity – after years of being "an expert" some miss the self-esteem that accompanies this recognition. Re-entering the clinical environment can help restore this.
• Returning to the basics – the era of corporate medicine and managed care took the fun out of healthcare for many clinicians, often leading to early retirement. Volunteering, particularly in Free Clinics, provides the opportunity to practice like they did in "the good old days"- and on their own schedule.
• Boredom – some find that after a year or two of retirement that the "Golden Years" aren't all they were anticipated to be. As some have put it, "You can only play so much golf." Volunteering offers a meaningful and fulfilling addition to ones other pursuits during retirement.
• Peer pressure – peers currently volunteering in Free Clinics may approach new retirees who previously were "too busy" to volunteer. They may now feel they have no good excuse and will give it a try.
• Spouse pressure – they want you out of the house!
• It's good for you – studies have shown that the increased physical activity, increased social interaction, and increased cognitive stimulation associated with volunteering produce positive health benefits for the volunteer.