Gone are the days of house calls and overnight vigils with worried families – unless of course this service is specifically contracted. Yet the wholesale condemnation of the medical profession or its standard of care would be shortsighted at best. Recent experience in Haiti has demonstrated a remarkable capacity of the medical profession to respond to human need, even at its own expense. Every major medical organization provides organized opportunities for volunteer work in needy areas of the world. In fact, volunteerism is a specific menu item at the American College of Surgeons website. Such efforts persist despite dropping reimbursements and increasing professional demands.

In times of economic hardship, it is perhaps the research community which is most vulnerable to financial constraint. Assuming that precious research dollars are well-accounted for, there is no opportunity to increase productivity, nor to increase volume – both of which are theoretic possibilities on the “business side” of medicine. Furthermore, funding becomes ever more difficult to find—industry is less expansive, charitable sources are less available, and the revenues which drive government sources are constricted.

Despite the considerable difficulties outlined above, the Florida Heart Research Institute remains committed to its strong tradition of volunteerism. The unique nature of our combined mission of research, education and prevention drives a strategy of bringing the findings from our research into the community in which we live. For over a decade, FHRI has sponsored a voluntary free cardiovascular risk screening program which has provided a life line to much of our underserved multicultural community. In more recent years, our organization has extended these efforts, in collaboration with other community resources, to bring cardiovascular risk awareness to vulnerable populations, especially to women and to the underserved. Although many of these efforts have not been reimbursed, sometimes without even grant support, the long and proud tradition of the Institute is one of service as well as of scientific and clinical excellence.

Interestingly, although it was not the motivation behind these efforts, FHRI has benefited greatly from them. The free cardiovascular risk screenings have given us an insight into the specific cardiovascular risk profile of Miami’s Hispanic population that is unique. Our recent reports in this area are years ahead of comparable research in this area. On the other hand, our collaboration with community resources has enabled the Institute to forge new and productive relationships with organizations and dynamic individuals in our community that we likely would never have encountered hand we not reached out our hands beyond the doors of the research laboratory. Herein lies the key lesson of volunteerism. Yes it is the right thing to do as a responsible member of society. Yes, it remains the right thing to do when the going gets tough (arguably even more so). The interesting aspect of the phenomenon is that these altruistic efforts actually enrich the organization and individuals involved. Whether it is a physician who broadens his clinical skills treating diseases that he may not have seen since residency, or an organization that expands its scope and ability to fulfill its ultimate mission, volunteerism clearly seems to offer as much to the volunteer as to the recipient.