Grateful Giving in Medicine: A Personal Story.

Abstract

Grateful Giving in Medicine: A Personal Story Ahmet Hoke Mrs. Jones, a 63-year-old executive, came to my office in a prominent academic medical center in 2010 with nerve pain. Prior to her arrival, I had been alerted by development staff that she was an avid philanthropist and, though she had not yet given to our institution, she had the financial capacity to do so. Over the ensuing year, my interactions with Mrs. Jones followed two separate but parallel paths: I served as her doctor, treating her clinically for her condition, and, guided by my development officer, I discussed with her my research vision, current focus, priorities, and funding gaps. For the latter conversations, my development officer carefully shepherded a multi-year process that resulted in successive gifts for my research: a six-figure commitment in 2011; another similarly-sized gift in 2014; and, in 2019, [End Page 13] an eight-figure commitment. Her generous support continues to enable the work I do to better understand peripheral neuropathy and nerve regeneration and develop new, more effective therapies. I feel fortunate to work for a medical center that performs grateful patient fundraising (GPFR) in a professional, ethically sound way, a way that respects patients, physicians, and the relationship between them, allowing the physician-patient relationship to remain focused first and foremost on the patient’s health and well-being. Mrs. Jones was one of the first patients to open my eyes to the fact that philanthropy can benefit not only my research, my institution, and me professionally, but also the donor. I entered the realm of GPFR as a complete novice and through an unusual door: I accepted an invitation from my institution’s Vice President for Development and his physician-scientist partner to participate in a research study examining development practices, specifically, methods of engaging physicians in GPFR. I enrolled in a unique randomized controlled trial (RCT) that compared three practical methods used by development staff to educate clinicians like myself about GPFR: a web-based module, a group lecture, and one-on-one coaching. Study participants received training in one of these three ways for six months; results were published in 2010 in Academic Medicine. As one of the physicians randomized to the study’s “coaching” arm, I was trained by our Vice President for Development who was employed by my institution and trained in the protocol. Training covered various topics ranging from background on philanthropy (e.g., why patients give), to how development works (e.g., how development staff work with physicians), to ethical considerations and how to manage them. Philanthropy and fundraising had occupied no space whatsoever in my medical education or specialty training. Admittedly, I started the coaching a bit skeptical. I had reservations about how GPFR might work for my patients and me but I chose to enter the study with an open mind. Among the many details I learned, there are two general points I would like to convey: First, when GPFR is practiced well, it does a service to both donor and recipient—be the latter a physician, institution, field of medicine, scientific community, future patients, or all of these. Typically, donors through the GPFR process actually have or had the disease that we (their physicians) treat and study. If their experience of care has been positive, they often want to “give back” out of gratitude. Mrs. Jones, for example, was appreciative of the care I gave her; my sense is that she has felt grateful both for the quality of care and attention she has received, and also for the genuine personal concern I have consistently shown her (as I do all of my patients). She wanted a way to say “thank you,” and making a financial gift enabled her to do so. I directly witnessed the personal fulfillment she gained from this philanthropic act. A second overarching concept I took away from the RCT was that there is indeed a professional way—a way that is sound, boundary-preserving, and ethical—to practice GPFR. When thus performed, GPFR does not compromise the physician-patient relationship and can actually strengthen it. GPFR is not a “seat of the pants,” mysterious...