The Physicians’ Giving Back Survey: Keeping up with American generosity

Abstract

America scored at the top of the World Giving Index survey in 2014. This paper reports on a survey among US physicians about preferences for and prevalence of pro-bono activities devoted to health-related direct medical services and medical teaching. Profiles related to these preferences are described. An online survey solicited information on physician participation in selected charitable and volunteer activities. The responses were descriptively tabulated and multivariate regressions were performed to identify associations between the activities and demographic and professional features. Six hundred one qualified respondents (0.62 % response rate) indicated participation in one or more pro-bono activities. Seventy-two percent performed activities domestically and 32 % provided services abroad in lower and middle income countries. Uncompensated medical teaching (54 %) was the most common activity followed by waiving fees in their practices (39 %). No clear profile emerged that predicts a subset of physicians likely to perform a particular activity. Unpaid teaching and direct pro-bono services reflect the medical profession’s contribution to American generosity. Amounts of fees waived in practice and engagement in volunteer activities have kept pace with historic benchmarks in support of unmet needs for these social goods. Participation in pro-bono activities appears broad and not the selective domain of particular physician subsets.