https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_stgWvYtRU
The USA Today website showcases a video about a group of retired doctors who opened a clinic and continue to provide medical treatment for patients free of charge. The entire practice is run by volunteer retired medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, and ancillary staff. They are kept busy; in the space of a year, they see over 5000 patients at the clinic. Their patients are people who would otherwise suffer untreated as this place is the only source of medical care and advice for them. These doctors show the world the compassion, caring, and willingness to help others that prompted them to become doctors in the first place seems to continue driving them even at the age of 87.
For many people in the community, the clinic is a support system, and it is the only place where they can seek medical care and advice. The doctors at the clinic diagnose and prescribe treatment; they also show their patients how to take care of their health. Here patients can learn how to treat a deep cut or what they can do at home to relieve minor ailments. When the patients need more advanced medical help, they get referred to appropriate medical facilities.
The doctor’s only desire is to continue treating patients even after being considered by society as retirement age and no longer needed. They feel that the sense of purpose they receive by providing care is more rewarding than what their patients get out of this service.
The clinic is an inspirational example that showcases the true meaning of humanity. The personnel’s desire to continue providing meaningful care and give their patients access to medical care overshadows the niggles and pains they feel as part of natural aging. Their spirit is still young and wants to serve humanity for as long as they can do so. Even though they move slower now than in their youth, they make up for it by providing care guided by many years of experience and medical knowledge. Their patients trust them because they know their care is in good hands.
The clinic is a true epitome of the adage that working in medicine is a calling and not just a job. By not charging their patients, they provide an invaluable service to people who otherwise would fall through the cracks of the American social support system. An inspiring example for the world showing that true compassion lasts a lifetime and does not disappear once the retirement age is reached.