Non-medical "giving back"

[WhatJobDoIPick]

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Sitting here on another BS shift of adult babysitting, low reimbursement and nonsense stroke alerts, thinking of what work I will pursue when I eventually leave this garbage field.

One idea I had was offering free personal finance / beginner investing courses at my local public library. We all know that financial education leads to freedom and I think I could really help people in my community with this.

Do any of you do any non medical volunteer work?

 

[Crabbygas]

Hand out lunch at the local rescue mission. Folks are nice. The food is better than what we have in the physicians lounge, seriously. Probably says more about my hospital than the mission. But it's a good volunteer gig.

 

[CajunMedic]

Not sure if this counts but it’s something I’ve done for years. I volunteer at railroad museums. Loved trains since I was a kid. I do everything from the hands on restoration of steam locomotives (what I do at my current one), been a tour guide (have actual RR experience and give locomotive cab tours), laid track, you name it. Keeps me using my hands and feels good to bring back a part of industrial history

 

[Boatswain2PA]

Cub Scout master.
Volunteer at kids school - everything from janitorial to room parent to teaching
Political party county chairman.

I'm looking for a good way to help veterans. LOTS of programs out there, but...I feel many are abused in one way or another.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Im gonna take this a little off tangent. I have been doing EM for a while. I get that the job is hard.. but… we get paid a lot of money for what we do. I think to myself what would 16 year old me think. Reality is for $200/hr+ (I make more) I would have done just about anything. Mind you I came from no money. I think the concept of giving back to others is great. That being said I think medical missions (locally or internationally) are the best gift WE can give to others. The others forms of giving mentioned on here are also great but in many ways we get so much from those and they often arent what our greatest gifts are nor what society most wants/needs from us.

Thats my little soap box moment. I think those of us who donate time or money to our fellow man are doing a great thing regardless of how you do it.

 

[watermanMD]

Im gonna take this a little off tangent. I have been doing EM for a while. I get that the job is hard.. but… we get paid a lot of money for what we do. I think to myself what would 16 year old me think. Reality is for $200/hr+ (I make more) I would have done just about anything. Mind you I came from no money. I think the concept of giving back to others is great. That being said I think medical missions (locally or internationally) are the best gift WE can give to others. The others forms of giving mentioned on here are also great but in many ways we get so much from those and they often arent what our greatest gifts are nor what society most wants/needs from us.

Thats my little soap box moment. I think those of us who donate time or money to our fellow man are doing a great thing regardless of how you do it.

You sound like an awesome human and I bet you do a lot of good. Personally, I’m skeptical of most medical mission stuff and medical voluntourism…what say you? I have desire to embark on such a journey, but struggle feel good about it. I end up just donating money to most efficient/effective charity on Givewell because in my medical ethics class I was convinced it did more good 😂

 

[bravotwozero]

Sitting here on another BS shift of adult babysitting, low reimbursement and nonsense stroke alerts, thinking of what work I will pursue when I eventually leave this garbage field.

One idea I had was offering free personal finance / beginner investing courses at my local public library. We all know that financial education leads to freedom and I think I could really help people in my community with this.

Do any of you do any non medical volunteer work?

Believe it or not, I actually studied PE/Exercise Science in college before med school. I might work/volunteer as a PE teacher if retired

 

[EctopicFetus]

You sound like an awesome human and I bet you do a lot of good. Personally, I’m skeptical of most medical mission stuff and medical voluntourism…what say you? I have desire to embark on such a journey, but struggle feel good about it. I end up just donating money to most efficient/effective charity on Givewell because in my medical ethics class I was convinced it did more good 😂

Im mid.. friends do awesome stuff in foreign countries. I think real medical volunteerism is a low risk highly rewarding thing to do. Friends go to South America and do it.

 

[bky3c]

I volunteer with my two therapy dogs. I refuse to go to hospitals EVER, but we go to schools (elementary-college), nursing homes, hospice, police stations, etc. Some one-time-only requests, some ongoing. Happy dogs, happy humans, and I enjoy it, too. Alliance of Therapy Dogs is the organization I'm with, because they seem to have the most rigorous testing (and insurance), and there's a local organization within that through which we get requests for visits. Or, once your dog is registered, you can just ask around and do visits on your own. You can go anywhere as long as they want you there, and any kind of dog is fine as long as they can pass the test (which is easy if you have a reasonably well-behaved, well-socialized dog).

 

[Mount Asclepius]

If you want to make a substantial difference it requires ongoing commitment and resources. Traveling somewhere for 1 week is a bandaid and does more for those traveling than those receiving. Often you can do just as much locally, but that’s not near as sexy. It’s an opinion filled topic.

I’ve thought about working at Home Depot or Starbucks, but meh, probably realistically not.

 

[RustedFox]

Not sure if this counts but it’s something I’ve done for years. I volunteer at railroad museums. Loved trains since I was a kid. I do everything from the hands on restoration of steam locomotives (what I do at my current one), been a tour guide (have actual RR experience and give locomotive cab tours), laid track, you name it. Keeps me using my hands and feels good to bring back a part of industrial history

Taking a scenic train ride on upcoming trip to Oregon next month. Will share stuff with you.

 

[gutonc]

Taking a scenic train ride on upcoming trip to Oregon next month. Will share stuff with you.

Which one?

Also, if, like @CajunMedic, you're a train nerd (or train nerd curious), there's a cool RR museum in Portland where volunteers are restoring and rebuilding historic engines.

 

[Powdermonkey]

Which one?

Also, if, like @CajunMedic, you're a train nerd (or train nerd curious), there's a cool RR museum in Portland where volunteers are restoring and rebuilding historic engines.

If you go just a little south down I-5 to Brooks, you'll also find one of the best steam engine museums, a big truck /tractor trailer museum (it's cooler than it sounds), and some others on the same complex. Definitely need a car from Portland, though.

 

[RustedFox]

Which one?

Also, if, like @CajunMedic, you're a train nerd (or train nerd curious), there's a cool RR museum in Portland where volunteers are restoring and rebuilding historic engines.

Oregon coast scenic railroad.

 

[Saddleshoes]

Tonight is the night!
My wife and I help run a food pantry in our little town. Tonight, I will "check-in" 6 to 20 people coming to get a basket of groceries for their families.
It will be bittersweet because one of our regulars died since my last rotation. She was a 50'ish women with health issues but very personable.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I live near the ocean and actually really enjoy doing beach cleanups. It’s a good time, you really are doing something good, and you get to interact with a lot of different kinds of genuinely friendly people who are miles removed from medicine. I find it refreshing to do something thats physical and has no bearing on my ability to be a good doc.

Plus they’re easy to find, no excessive prep or logistics required to just show up and drag some junk off the beach in trash bags. And I go home at the end of the day with a tan and sometimes they even give us beer at the end of the day.

 

[gutonc]

I live near the ocean and actually really enjoy doing beach cleanups. It’s a good time, you really are doing something good, and you get to interact with a lot of different kinds of genuinely friendly people who are miles removed from medicine. I find it refreshing to do something thats physical and has no bearing on my ability to be a good doc.

Plus they’re easy to find, no excessive prep or logistics required to just show up and drag some junk off the beach in trash bags. And I go home at the end of the day with a tan and sometimes they even give us beer at the end of the day.

Not EM, but I do trail cleanup and maintenance out here. Similar, show up with hikers, a backpack and gloves, grab a trashbag or whatever trail maintenance tool they give you and go to work. You get some exercise, some socialization with new people and help out.

 

[gutonc]

Oregon coast scenic railroad.

Done that one a few times when the kids were younger. We spend a lot of time in Rockaway which is the northern terminus of the train. If you're headed East to the Gorge while you're out here, the Mt Hood RR is pretty cool too.

 

[Apollyon]

The Snohomish Rail up in Washington is good, too. I took that one, and I'm a rail nut, too!

 

[Pinner Doc]

I sit on a bunch of boards. One is for the ski club/race program my kids are in. Another is the nominating committee for alumni-nominated trustees of my university. Another is for the preservation/maintenance of my neighborhood.