Every October, to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month, the staff at A Woman’s Place, an OB/GYN practice in Fayetteville, N.C., hands out pink ribbon-pins. Also, any staff member who wears pink during that time makes a small monetary contribution to the cause. The two-physician practice also donates money to the March of Dimes and participates in its annual T-shirt design contest and downtown walk.
These activities are all part of A Woman’s Place’s belief that participating in charitable outreach is good for both the practice and the recipients. “We try to do it so that everybody can participate and be involved,” says OB/GYN Lakshmi Gordon.
Gordon says she’s noticed that many physicians and medical students cite a strong desire for community advocacy as a driving reason for choosing medicine as a career. And there is certainly plenty of need.
Yet physicians are among the most pressured and busiest of professionals. How can you balance the needs of your community with your need to have a life — and your patients’ need to have a doctor who has time for them? Is it worthwhile to participate in charitable activities? Is it even possible to find the time?
Why do it?
“Philosophically, it’s important to me to give back to the community,” says orthopedic surgeon Jeffrey Greenspoon of Melbourne, Fla. “You’ll receive blessings as well — a Judeo-Christian value. We need to do it more often.”
Greenspoon sees community service as a personal requirement of his Jewish faith, but also as an implicit responsibility for anyone who chooses a medical career. “Physicians are unique in that we are indeed high- profile role models,” he says. “We have significant opportunities to influence youngsters with career choices. There’s increased need with our aging populations. It behooves us to get involved.”
Charitable outreach can also be good for you, not just good of you. It can be a great way to drum up new patients by increasing your visibility with the public and developing positive relationships with employers, schools, and social service organizations that can sometimes be referral sources. And count on a difference in your office environment — warmer, less divisive, more team-oriented.
Gordon advocates preventive medicine, taking her role as public caretaker seriously. “I think that especially the way healthcare is now, there are a lot of people that don’t even have health insurance or access to medical care,” she says. “It’s important for us to get out in the community and talk with them about preventive medicine: breast exams, get your blood pressure check, stop smoking. By giving lectures and getting out to these people, hopefully they’ll tell 10 other people.”
What to do?
You don’t have to look far to find a group that needs help. The answer walks through your door dozens of times a day — your patients. Consider these possible ways to reach out:
Hold a themed conference or health fair. Every year, A Woman’s Place holds a conference on women’s health. Organized by Gordon and her associate, OB/GYN Karen Dickerson, the day-long conference is free for patients. Two hundred-plus people pack the office space for all things female: self-defense and acupuncture demonstrations; speakers on breast cancer awareness, heart disease prevention; relaxation techniques; and information on fitness, nutrition, cosmetic surgery, and mental health.
Participants receive breakfast and lunch, prizes, gifts, drawings, T-shirts, and the natural camaraderie that always arises from woman-to-woman interactions. All is so well-received and so well-attended there is no need to advertise, says Gordon.
To hold your own conference, simply tailor the subjects to your specialty. Family practice? Perhaps exercising as a family, effective communication skills, or dealing with those two especially difficult but strangely similar age groups — toddlers and teenagers.
Get on the phone and call appropriate vendors. You’ll find them very willing to donate brochures and other informational materials to support your conference. Many will even supply little imprinted trinkets — magnets, pens, stress balls, and such — if you just ask. Garner support from your neighborhood: A friendly firefighter could talk about burns and fire safety; a police officer, tips on personal safety.
