Volunteers are the Backbone of RAM 

This week is Volunteer Appreciation Week! Volunteers are the backbone of Remote Area Medical (RAM®). We were founded by Stan Brock, who remained a RAM Volunteer throughout his life.  

Because volunteers are such a large part of what we do, we want to take time to acknowledge everyone who has volunteered with RAM and helped bring free dental, vision, and medical care to patients throughout the country.  

In 41 years, RAM has had more than 230,000. We had more than 17,000 volunteers in 2025 alone. Each and every volunteer who has worked with RAM has had an impact on the more than one million patients we’ve served over the years. We could not be more grateful for our amazing volunteers!

Who can be a RAM Volunteer?  

Anyone! All you have to do is register at www.ramusa.org/volunteer/. Minors ages 14 and older can volunteer with RAM with parental approval.  

Healthcare professionals, general support volunteers, healthcare students, and more are always needed at our clinics. Volunteering with RAM gives people a direct way to give back to their community and help their neighbors. 

General Support Volunteers  

“I’m not a healthcare professional, but I want to volunteer with RAM.” That’s okay. RAM always needs general support volunteers! 

What do general support volunteers do? A lot, including: 

• Welcoming patients 

• Data entry 

• Patient registration 

• Setting up and taking down clinic equipment  

• Interpreting for patients, if you speak a second language  

• And more  

Don’t worry. Our CORE Volunteers will train you on everything you need to know about volunteering at a RAM Clinic.  

We appreciate our general support volunteers so much. By giving their time, they make a difference in the lives of our patients at each clinic.  

“Being part of the RAM Family is a way of life for our volunteers. Every act of kindness is felt by every patient at every clinic and at RAM HQ,” said RAM Volunteer Coordinators. 

CORE Volunteers 

CORE Volunteers are at the ‘center’ of everything we do at RAM. Our CORE Volunteers have received additional training that prepares them to lead in specific areas of the clinic.  

CORE Leadership Volunteers are experienced RAM Clinic contributors who have undergone additional training to take on leadership responsibilities alongside RAM Clinic staff and oversee personnel and clinic operations in their designated areas, all in accordance with RAM protocols. 

CORE Fun Facts:  

• RAM has 223 CORE leaders  

• There are currently 80 CORE-In-Training (CIT) 

• CORE Volunteers come from 29 states  
  • 40 CORE Volunteers are from Tennessee 
  • 37 are from Ohio  
  • 36 are from Virginia  

• 56% of CORE Volunteers are 20-29 years old  

Loni Maughan, RAM’s CORE Volunteer Manager, shared her appreciation for our CORE Volunteers: “Thank you to our CORE Leadership Volunteers and CITs who choose to spend their weekends making an impact across the country, leading clinic operations, and showing what we can do when we respect each other and work together!” 

Learn more about becoming a CORE Volunteer here!  

RAM Campus Chapters 

Undergraduate and graduate students who want to get involved with RAM can join or create RAM Campus Chapters. We have 70 campus chapters at colleges and universities across the U.S., with some chapters having more than 100 students. 

These students often volunteer at RAM Clinics as a group, help plan clinics in their area, raise donations for RAM, and much more!  

“Our RAM Chapters always fill the gaps where they are needed! It’s inspiring to see such bright groups of young people care so deeply,” said RAM Volunteer Coordinators.  

Whether these students are pre-med, pre-dental, or just want to get involved with RAM, they make an impact at RAM Clinics throughout the year.  

Community Host Groups (CHGs)  

Community Host Groups, or CHGs, are groups that invite RAM to hold a clinic in their community. These volunteers work for months behind the scenes to help RAM hold a smooth clinic in their community.  

For about 12 to 18 months before the clinic, these volunteers work hard to recruit volunteer providers, let patients know the clinic is happening, and work on logistics and compliance that go along with hosting a clinic.  

RAM does not go into communities where we are not invited by CHGs. Simply put, RAM Clinics would not happen across the U.S. without their work. 

If you would like to learn about hosting a RAM Clinic in your community, click here to learn more.  

Providers and Professional Students 

Every healthcare provider you see at a RAM Clinic is volunteering their time. From triage nurses to doctors, dentists, optometrists, and more, they are all donating their time, skills, and knowledge to help RAM’s patients receive the care they deserve.  

Many of these providers are also students near the end of their training. These professional school students make up a large portion of the providers at many of our clinics. These students, in their third and fourth years of dental, medical, or optometry school, are permitted to help patients under the supervision of their professors.  

Student volunteers often travel throughout the country to serve patients at RAM Clinics. Over the years, more than 200 schools have partnered with RAM to help us serve patients. 

Our telehealth team has doctors from across the country that spend their free time working with RAM’s patients virtually. Our mobile telehealth units allow doctors to treat patients from hundreds and thousands of miles away. This would not be possible without the help of our in-person nurses and telehealth staff that facilitiate the care.

The providers at our clinics are exceptional. We regularly hear from patients about the level of care and attention they receive from providers at clinics. Patients like Randy, in Athens, Tennessee, who shared his positive experience with RAM Board of Directors member Dr. Brian Swann. 

We ❤️ Our Volunteers

Hear what our Volunteer Coordinators have to say about some of our providers that have spent years working with RAM:  

• “I love working with Dr. Mark Schweizer from NOVA Dental because he is incredibly passionate about our mission and he will do whatever is needed to ensure every single patient receives top-notch dental care.” 

• “I love working with Dr. Ron Albert from UCONN Dental because he is creating future dentists that will carry forward a heart for service, and he is very dedicated to supporting our mission!” 

• “I love working with Dr. Zubel because he is extremely reliable and comes in clutch for us very often! He is high energy and brings an infectious positivity to every clinic.” 

• “Drs. Brenda and Bob Bertsch are a true power couple! These two have done so much for RAM and are always a pair we can call on for help. Thank you, Brenda and Bob!” 

If you are a healthcare provider and you would like to volunteer at a RAM Clinic, sign up today! We would love to see you at an upcoming clinic. 

Headquarters Volunteers 

Throughout the week, we have volunteers at RAM headquarters. These volunteers help with a variety of projects to make sure our clinics run smoothly. They often help pack supplies for clinics, sort donations, and much more. 

“Our headquarters volunteers work tirelessly behind the scenes to help us accomplish so much!” 

No matter what task they are given, these volunteers make an impact on how the organization runs, helping us serve more patients. 

If you live in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area and would like to volunteer at headquarters, please call 865-597-1530 or email [email protected]. 

Volunterns

Every summer we have a group of volunteer interns, that we call volunterns. Volunterns spend the summer with us working in the office at headquarters and working at clinics.

These undergraduate students are often pre-med or pre-dental students that are interested in learning more about what it means to work in healthcare. Being a voluntern is also an opportunity to impact the lives of patients while they’re still in school.

These interns spend the summer volunteering at clinics across the country with RAM. Some even go on to become CORE Volunteers and continue volunteering with RAM after the summer is over.

Learn more about our volunterns here!

Volunteering at RAM 

Our clinics would not be possible without our volunteers. We would not be able to serve patients without them. Truly, none of this would be possible without you.  

This Volunteer Appreciation Week, all of us here at RAM want to say thank you. On behalf of the patients we serve, your work makes a difference. 

To sign up to volunteer, visit www.ramusa.org/volunteer.  

More About RAM 

• RAM is funded only through donations from people like you. Please donate today to support RAM’s mission 

• Follow RAM on social media  

• Read our weekly blog posts 

• Download our free magazine  

• Shop RAM’s online merch store 

• Support RAM in the Walmart Spark Good Program