Laura Mcgeehan1, Michael A Takehara2, Ellen Daroszewski3. 1. Instructor of Anthropology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Mt San Antonio College in Walnut, CA, and a Research Fellow in the School of Advanced Studies at the University of Phoenix in CA. lmcgeehan2001@yahoo.com. 2. Assistant Area Medical Director for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group in Fontana, CA. michael.a.takehara@kp.org. 3. Senior University Research Chair in the School of Advanced Studies at the University of Phoenix in CA. ellen.daroszewski@phoenix.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Volunteer physicians are crucial for the operation of safety-net clinics, which provide medical care for uninsured and underinsured populations. Thus, identifying ways to maximize the number of physicians volunteering at such clinics is an important goal. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the perceptions, motivations, functions, and barriers associated with physician volunteering in four safety-net clinics in San Bernardino County, Southern California, a location of great medical need with many barriers to care. METHODS: The study participants are physicians belonging to the Southern California Permanente Medical Group who use a combination of discretionary time (during regular work hours) and personal time in evening and weekend hours to volunteer their services. The experimental design incorporates a mixed methodology: an online survey of 31 physicians and follow-up interviews with 8 of them. RESULTS: Physicians conveyed uniformly positive perceptions of their volunteer service, and most were motivated by humanitarian or prosocial desires. Volunteering also provided a protective "escape hatch" from the pressures of the physicians' regular jobs. Physicians cited few challenges to volunteering. The most common personal barrier was a lack of time. The most common professional barriers were organizational and supply issues at the clinic, along with the patients' social, transportation, and financial challenges. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that appealing to physicians' values and faith, and highlighting the burnout-prevention qualities of volunteering, may be key to recruitment and retention of volunteer physicians who serve underserved and underinsured populations in community clinics.
BACKGROUND: Volunteer physicians are crucial for the operation of safety-net clinics, which provide medical care for uninsured and underinsured populations. Thus, identifying ways to maximize the number of physicians volunteering at such clinics is an important goal. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the perceptions, motivations, functions, and barriers associated with physician volunteering in four safety-net clinics in San Bernardino County, Southern California, a location of great medical need with many barriers to care. METHODS: The study participants are physicians belonging to the Southern California Permanente Medical Group who use a combination of discretionary time (during regular work hours) and personal time in evening and weekend hours to volunteer their services. The experimental design incorporates a mixed methodology: an online survey of 31 physicians and follow-up interviews with 8 of them. RESULTS: Physicians conveyed uniformly positive perceptions of their volunteer service, and most were motivated by humanitarian or prosocial desires. Volunteering also provided a protective "escape hatch" from the pressures of the physicians' regular jobs. Physicians cited few challenges to volunteering. The most common personal barrier was a lack of time. The most common professional barriers were organizational and supply issues at the clinic, along with the patients' social, transportation, and financial challenges. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that appealing to physicians' values and faith, and highlighting the burnout-prevention qualities of volunteering, may be key to recruitment and retention of volunteer physicians who serve underserved and underinsured populations in community clinics.
Authors: Tait D Shanafelt; Charles M Balch; Gerald J Bechamps; Thomas Russell; Lotte Dyrbye; Daniel Satele; Paul Collicott; Paul J Novotny; Jeff Sloan; Julie A Freischlag Journal: Ann Surg Date: 2009-09 Impact factor: 12.969
Authors: Crystal Jing Jing Yeo; Gustavo C Román; David Kusnerik; Trevor Burt; Dottie Mersinger; Shaylor Thomas; Timothy Boone; Suzanne Z Powell Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2018-08-28