FINDINGS FROM FIRST SURVEY ON VOLUNTEERISM BY UNITED STATES SURGEONS SHOW HOW SURGEONS PARTICIPATE IN MORE THAN 250 ORGANIZATIONS

The first survey to examine the nature and extent of volunteerism among surgeons in the United States has found that surgeons actively participate in more than 250 volunteer organizations in- and outside the country.

CHICAGO, IL (PRWEB) October 22, 2003 --—The first survey to examine the nature and extent of volunteerism among surgeons in the United States has found that surgeons actively participate in more than 250 volunteer organizations in- and outside the country. There are many types of medical volunteer organizations, but until now, no one has looked at the surgical piece of that. We learned about amazing volunteer programs in inner city and rural areas, Central America and Africa," according to Andrew Warshaw, MD, FACS, surgeon-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, and chair of the Socioeconomic Issues Committee of the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons. Findings from the survey were discussed at the 2003 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

In addition to free surgical care provided by surgeons in their practices to patients who cannot pay, Dr. Warshaw said, surgeons engage in a wide variety of volunteer activities. In the United States, surgeons run free surgical clinics for indigent patients in rural communities, treat undocumented aliens in border towns in the Southwest, provide subspecialty orthopedic and plastic surgery services through a variety of agencies, such as the Sacramento Physicians Initiative to Reach out, Innovate, and Teach (SPIRIT), Operation Smile, and Face-to-Face.

Internationally, Dr. Warshaw added, surgeons give back to their home countries in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific Rim, and work through church-sponsored or medical missionary organizations such as the Center for Rural Development of Milot (CRUDEM) in Haiti, Doctors without Borders, and Project Hope.

Dr. Warshaw reported that surgeons in Operation Access perform between 200 and 300 operations a year free of charge in hospitals in a seven-county area surrounding San Francisco. Started in 1989 by William Schechter, MD, FACS, chief of surgery at San Francisco General Hospital, and Douglas Grey, MD, FACS, chief of vascular surgery at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, San Francisco, Operation Access includes 150 volunteer surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurse anesthesiologists who perform general surgery as well as urologic, ophthalmologic, otolaryngology, hand, and anal/rectal procedures.

World Medical Missions, begun in 1978 by Richard W. Furman, MD, FACS, his brother Ben, and the Rev. Franklin Graham, sends about 250 surgeons, internists, and family practitioners to hospitals throughout the world, Dr. Warshaw noted. The organization supplies seven of the 15 doctors that staff the largest hospital in Kenya on a rotating basis every four to six weeks and sends general as well as orthopedic and plastic surgeons and urologists to hospitals in Africa, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Nepal. World Medical Missions also started from scratch to rebuild a small hospital in Afghanistan after the 2001 war, supplying hospital beds, operating room equipment, X-ray machines, and laboratory instruments.

According to the results of the survey, surgeons devote significant portions of their time to volunteerism. Eighty percent of the surgeons who volunteer reported that they donated an average of four weeks a year to volunteer activities, Dr. Warshaw said. Sixty-nine percent volunteered domestically, and 66 percent of domestic volunteers also worked in international volunteer medical organizations. Fifty-five percent also were involved in nonmedical volunteer community or religious groups.

According to Dr. Warshaw, the survey was commissioned by the Board of Governors Socioeconomic Issues Committee of the American College of Surgeons and was conducted by the Institute for Health Policy of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Part of the Colleges Giving Back" Project, which seeks to spotlight surgical volunteerism and foster its growth, was completed by 455 members of the College in the spring and summer of 2002.

Dr. Warshaw reported that the survey showed that 88 percent of the respondents had volunteered at least one time in their professional careers. Among the 69 percent who volunteered domestically, 53 percent did volunteer work in their offices or a hospital, 39 percent in the local community, and 10 percent outside their local area. Eighty-six percent of the surgeons planned to volunteer in the next five years.

More than 60 percent of the surgeons in the survey are actively practicing surgery, Dr. Warshaw reported; 34 percent are retired, and 4 percent are not currently practicing surgery. The surgeons spend an average of 22 days a year in volunteer activities. The most common reasons surgeons volunteer are because it is the right thing to do" or it is part of being a physician," Dr. Warshaw noted.

Surgeons in the survey agreed that the American College of Surgeons could help support volunteerism by lobbying to change malpractice laws, listing volunteer opportunities on its Web site; reporting regularly on surgeon volunteers in the Colleges monthly magazine, The Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons; connecting young volunteers with mentors; conducting workshops on volunteerism at the annual Clinical Congress; and providing an updated listing of surgeon volunteers.

As a result of the findings from this survey, Dr. Warshaw said, the Giving Back" Project will develop a clearinghouse of information about volunteer opportunities and organiza-tions, involve active surgeon volunteers in future College volunteerism projects, applaud and recognize surgeons moral foundation for volunteering, lobby to change malpractice laws that may interfere with volunteer efforts, and learn more about other barriers that may prevent surgeons from volunteering.

Since the Giving Back" Project was initiated in 2000, it has established and posted on the Colleges Web site a database that lists volunteer organizations surgeons may wish to
join. The project also has made available to surgeon volunteers resources on legal protections for physicians engaged in charitable activities. We are chipping away at providing the things physicians need to know if they have an interest in volunteerism," Dr. Warshaw said.

Starting this year, the College will be presenting the American College of Surgeons
Award for Volunteerism. The College began seeking nominations in January. Dr. Warshaws committee devised a scoring system, based upon the length of time, dedication, creativity, to some extent complexity one guy working by himself versus setting up an entire organization's impact (as best as we could tell), follow-through, things that would make it more than a flash-in-the-pan," Dr. Warshaw said.

According to Dr. Warshaw, The simple process of creating this award and asking for nominations by itself engendered a very true outpouring of response, not just in nominating, but in people saying, ‘Wow, isnt this wonderful that this kind of work is being recognized and its long overdue; and its wonderful that the College is doing it; and its wonderful that these people often work under a blanket and give of themselves at a cost to themselves; and that now they are being recognized. So its been a very validating experience."

The American College of Surgeons will honor two surgeons with the inaugural Surgical Volunteerism Award at its 2003 Clinical Congress. Richard W. Furman, MD, FACS, will receive the international award for his work with World Medical Missions, and Juan M. Montero II, MD, FACS, will receive the domestic award for his work in the Eastern Shore region of Virginia.

The awards will be presented on Monday, October 20, from 10:30 a.m.–12 noon, during a general session titled Volunteerism by American Surgeons." The Award plaque presented to the honorees will read: In recognition of those surgeons committed to giving something of themselves back to society by making significant contributions to surgical care through organized volunteer activities."
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