Dear SOCS Members,

Are you drawn to the idea of volunteering overseas?

Would you be interested in teaching opportunities for one to four weeks in an underserved part of the world?

Giving back to the world makes a true difference and can remind us of why we chose to go into medicine.

Interestingly, doctors who volunteer report less physician burnout and gain tremendous rewards by experiencing different cultures while appreciating the difference in the practice of medicine around the world.

As shared with the SOCS membership previously, we are considering a collaboration with Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO), a non-profit organization founded in 1986, whose mission is to improve the availability and quality of health care through the education, training and professional development of the health workforce in resource-scarce countries.

HVO sends qualified professionals overseas to train local health care providers in dermatology and a number of other medical specialties such as: anesthesia, hand surgery, hematology, internal medicine, nursing education, oral health, orthopedics, oncology, pediatrics, physical therapy, and wound care. HVO’s highly skilled and experienced volunteers come from both private practice and university settings, with a significant number of retirees as well.

Many SOCS members have actively volunteered previously, yet some may find that now that they’re busy with their practices, institutions, families and communities, and there may not be time for longer volunteer stints. So, making a shorter commitment through an organization such as HVO may be more workable for some individuals.
Many HVO sites around the world allow families to come, and if your spouse is in medicine, there may be an opportunity for him/her to volunteer as well, depending on the specialty.

Since SOCS has members in 29 countries, if a SOCS member would like to consider their home country as an HVO site, we can explore that possibility as we look at working out a program with this organization.

For more information about HVO, you may visit: hvousa.org.

We are very interested to know your opinion about this collaborative opportunity.

If you have not done so already, please take a few minutes to take a short survey to let us know what you think: https://bit.ly/2lCoyDy

Thank you very much for sharing your opinion with us!