Religion’s Influence in Modern Medical Charity: A Qualitative Study on the Motivations of Healthcare Volunteers at a Free Medical Clinic
John Behnke, BA, Medical Student, University of South Carolina School of Medicine
If medicine and religion intersect anywhere in modern practice, they ought to unite most closely in the free clinics. As an introduction to my research, I briefly review the history of Christianity’s involvement in free clinics in the Deep South, and concentrate on the Free Medical Clinic in Columbia, South Carolina, where I conducted my survey.
I then discuss the specifics of my research, which include surveying volunteers at the Free Medical Clinic and interpreting responses using a variety of non-parametric tests. The results suggest that religion does not inform the majority of volunteers’ choices to donate their time to the clinic. In my paper, I elaborate on these findings, and discuss the factors that prove more pivotal than religion to volunteers’ decision-making processes. For students and young healthcare professionals (who constitute the majority of volunteers), these factors include receiving class credit, building a stronger resume, and furthering medical education.
The paper concludes with the argument that the shift in what volunteers hope to gain from their work is an example of the dehumanizing effects of an increasingly competitive medical education system. Many students and young professionals flock to the clinic to build their resumes, but enter unequipped to love their patients. They demonstrate neither charity nor volunteerism. A Methodist pastor founded the Free Medical Clinic to serve the poor and love the unloved. Today, the majority of volunteers use it as a workshop to bolster medical careers and polish resumes.
If medicine and religion intersect anywhere in modern practice, they ought to unite most closely in the free clinics. As an introduction to my research, I briefly review the history of Christianity’s involvement in free clinics in the Deep South, and concentrate on the Free Medical Clinic in Columbia, South Carolina, where I conducted my survey.
I then discuss the specifics of my research, which include surveying volunteers at the Free Medical Clinic and interpreting responses using a variety of non-parametric tests. The results suggest that religion does not inform the majority of volunteers’ choices to donate their time to the clinic. In my paper, I elaborate on these findings, and discuss the factors that prove more pivotal than religion to volunteers’ decision-making processes. For students and young healthcare professionals (who constitute the majority of volunteers), these factors include receiving class credit, building a stronger resume, and furthering medical education.
The paper concludes with the argument that the shift in what volunteers hope to gain from their work is an example of the dehumanizing effects of an increasingly competitive medical education system. Many students and young professionals flock to the clinic to build their resumes, but enter unequipped to love their patients. They demonstrate neither charity nor volunteerism. A Methodist pastor founded the Free Medical Clinic to serve the poor and love the unloved. Today, the majority of volunteers use it as a workshop to bolster medical careers and polish resumes.