Medical volunteerism

Medical volunteerism, also medical volunteering, refers to volunteering in the context of providing medical treatment.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] While often seen in the context of volunteer physicians and nurses, the term can also cover the case of volunteers for clinical trials that are motivated by non-financial gains.[14] Medical volunteering has in general been praised as “ethical imperative to serve the disadvantaged”.[15]

Motivations of medical volunteers, analyzed through the Volunteer Functions Inventory framework, have been found to be focused on the values dimension first, followed by understanding, enhancement, social, career, and protective ones. Out of these, the first two were most important. In other words, the most common reason for medical volunteering is expressing or acting on important values, such as humanitarianism and helping those less fortunatem and seeking to learn more about the world and/or exercise skills that are often unused.[16]

Short term medical volunteerism abroad, often in developing countries, is sometimes criticized as medical voluntourism.[17][18][19][20][21] Such activities are criticized when compared to the alternative notion of sustainable capacities, i.e., work done in the context of long-term, locally-run, and foreign-supported infrastructures. A preponderance of this criticism appears largely in scientific and peer-reviewed literature.[22][23][24] Recently, media outlets with more general readerships have published such criticisms as well.[25]