Volunteers

We love our volunteers. They are the heart and soul of our clinic, the power behind our work, and the reason we are able to care for patients without charge.

Every VIM volunteer has a desire to put their skills and talents to work to better the lives of people in our community, and we all benefit when they do.

Each day of the week, 25 – 30 of our 486 trained volunteers fill a wide variety of positions in the clinic.  These include:

• Medical volunteers who provide direct medical care to our patients.  
• Non-medical volunteers who do the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the clinic running smoothly.
• Medical, graduate school, and college students who are completing internships through their work at VIM.

In 2011-12, our volunteers donated 21,640 service hours in the clinic, with an estimated value of $926,776. In a survey completed that same year, 90% of those who responded said they keep volunteering at VIM because of the satisfaction received from helping patients.  

We also have over 340 community medical partners who extend our work in immeasurable ways. They represent 35 medical specialties and 64 clinics and facilities, seeing patients in their own offices upon our referral. 

VIM may be a non-profit, but we run just like any other medical clinic. We pride ourselves in the level of care and service that we provide to patients. This means that we also have high standards for our volunteers.  

Here’s what we ask of our in-clinic volunteers:

• Be 18 years of age, or older.
• Complete a volunteer orientation and job-appropriate training. In some cases this will be 8 – 10 hours total over a period of several days.  
• Because of the effort we put into training our volunteers, we ask that you make a minimum six-month commitment to service at VIM.
• We also request that you be willing to make VIM a priority in your life, meaning you are able to volunteer on a consistent basis.

Generally, volunteers work one morning, afternoon or evening each week for a four-hour shift. Some volunteers work more, some work as little as once per month. The most important thing is consistency. We need to depend on you, since our patients depend on us.   

Time and again, our volunteers have said that the gratitude expressed by our patients is profound. VIM patients know what a gift it is to have healthcare, and their appreciation is one of the things that fuels every one of us each and every day.  

To read more about volunteering at VIM:

• For medical positions, click here.
  
• For non-medical positions, click here.     
  
• For medical, graduate school, or college internships, click here.   

To read more about the benefits of volunteering, click here.