Balancing Your Priorities
Overseas missions can last for a few weeks to several months, depending on the mission, the organization, and the type of care involved.
Rheumatologists who want to volunteer need to do so in a way that doesn’t generate a lot of angst with supervisors or colleagues. Dr. Albert balanced this by keeping his missions reasonably short. “I would have someone cover my service. And since there’s reciprocity in the places I worked for, if they covered me for a month, I would cover them for a month, so it wasn’t a burden on anybody.”
“By and large, I used my vacation time to do it, and it does cost some money, but it’s a lot less than the cost of a typical vacation,” Dr. Albert said.
Volunteer work can also compete with family time. Dr. Albert ended up taking his family along on several of his missions to Ecuador and Uganda. He would tell the organization: “My family wants to come. Is there anything they can do while I’m working in the program? And they usually found an occupation.”
At St. Sampson, volunteering is also a family affair. “My wife acts as the administrator, so she’s the one that helps schedule patients and deals with a lot of the faxes.” It’s a big commitment for Dr. Gore’s family and for the church, which gives up a significant chunk of the building one Saturday a month.
“However, for us, I think that it’s a real manifestation of giving back and trying to help those in need and doing what we can do,” he said.
Volunteer Work Involves Prep Work
Establishing the St. Sampson clinic took some planning. Dr. Gore and colleagues had to fill out a 501(c)(3) application; establish a charter, bylaws, articles of incorporation, policies, and procedures; and obtain medical malpractice and general liability insurance.
The clinic was able to get financing from the Mid-South Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America as well as in-kind donations from the church. “We’ve had a lot of different companies who were very generous in donating money and excited to help the clinic continue,” Dr. Gore said.
All volunteers sign a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act consent form.
Although the clinic operates for about 7 hours a month, it’s still important to have malpractice insurance, Dr. Gore said. He and his colleagues also have tail insurance that covers medical malpractice insurance for up to 7 years if the clinic closes.
“If somebody were to slip and fall and then try to sue the church, we have a separate policy for the clinic for that. We also have a director’s and officer’s insurance policy,” he said.
Anyone who volunteers abroad should get a travel medicine clinic consultation. “Most of the time, it’s of very little consequence. You might have to get [a] yellow fever vaccine” when traveling to certain parts of the world, Dr. Albert said.
“If you’re going into an area that is all volatile politically or in some way a threat to your personal security, I think you have to think very carefully about that,” he said, suggesting that doctors consult with the US Department of State about potential dangers.
Talk to other physicians who have gone on missions and your sponsoring institution. “By and large, you want to go with a large organization that’s been doing ongoing work,” Dr. Albert said.
Volunteer work teaches you about the breadth of humanist endeavors across the world, he noted. “The people that you deal with are very grateful for your help. Whether you’re successful or not, they’re still very appreciative of the efforts that you’re making to help.”
Dr. Albert and Dr. Gore had no disclosures. Dr. Annapureddy has done consulting for GlaxoSmithKline. Ms. Barnes had no disclosures.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.