Why is volunteering important?

Apply your skills and help people at the same time

I just read a tweet from Dr. Donna Petersen and how she was impressed with a volunteer clinic run by a collaborative team of USF Health students.

However, sometimes getting involved in not easy. You want to help but don´t know where to start. I´ve met a couple friends (very capable, proactive and fun people) who were discouraged because they felt overwhelmed about it.

Let me share my own experience and maybe you will get some inspiration

I knew I could help people, but how?

Stick to what you know

I´m a physician,but I did not want to volunteer taking care of patients and going to clinics. I knew something else was there waiting for me. While I was working in the Santo Tomás Hospital in Panama, I noticed how difficult was to the families to get blood donations for their relatives. And that was it.

My brother was in college at the time, and organized lectures and blood drives at the university and they were successful! So we created Sangre Panamá, and for the past 6 years we promoted voluntary blood donations among young people.

You don´t have to be a genius to help people, just have the will to do it and make a change in the world. We started small like a family project, and then grew from there.

Have another experience volunteering? It would be cool if you share it with the world too!