Want to join the mission as a volunteer?
Check out RAM’s upcoming free clinics!
Mobile Medical Clinics
Volunteering at a RAM clinic is not your typical 9 to 5 day at the office. It requires a commitment to hard work, but it is truly an exhilarating and rewarding experience. The days are long, the work is tiring, and yet clinic after clinic our volunteers bounce in with energy and smiles, ready to make a patient’s day better.
In order to make a RAM clinic run smoothly, it takes an army of devoted volunteers with diverse backgrounds and interests to come together for one mission: to prevent pain and alleviate suffering. We truly hope to see you at a clinic as you become part of a team that brings tens of thousands of Americans much-needed care.
- A typical clinic day kicks off between 5:10am and 5:40am, and ends anywhere from 4-6pm.
- The final day of the clinic will wrap up between noon and 3pm, followed by a final breakdown of equipment that finishes around 5pm.
- Your food while at the clinic will be provided, so don’t sweat having to prepare breakfast and lunch, we’ve got it covered.
- Every clinic is different, so you will receive more detailed information once you register for a clinic.
Volunteering at Headquarters
Our clinics could not take place without the hard work of our staff at Headquarters in Rockford, TN, just 15 minutes south of Knoxville. From filling out the right paperwork, to loading clinic equipment, restocking supplies, and maintaining vehicles, every task at Headquarters is key to ensuring that we provide free, high-quality clinics across the country year after year.
If you think Headquarters may be a good fit for you, give our Volunteer Coordinators a call at 865-579-2555, an email at volunteers@ramusa.org, or drop by sometime to see HQ for yourself. We can hardly wait to show you the place.
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We simply cannot help our patients without the selflessness and compassion of our healthcare professionals who donate their time and hard work to those who most need it.
You really are the front line of those making a lasting difference.
Professional licensing laws vary state-to-state. Whether or not out-of-state providers can practice within a particular state varies.
Service Areas:
- Dental: Dentists, Oral Surgeons, Dental Hygienists, and Dental Assistants.
- Vision: Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, Optometric Techs, Ophthalmic Techs, and Opticians.
- Medical: Physicians, Advanced Practice Providers (PAs, NPs, FNPs, etc.) Specialists may be in need at certain clinics. If you are an interested medical specialist, please email volunteers@ramusa.org to learn more.
- Triage: RNs, Paramedics, AEMTs, and LPNs.
Students on a healthcare professional track are the key to RAM’s sustainable future, and we trust you will be the ones staffing our clinics ten years from now.
We know how important it is for students to get hands-on experience, while also gaining life-changing exposure to the underserved.
However, RAM clinics operate with only one goal in mind: to bring free, high-quality healthcare to those in need.
Many of our patients haven’t seen a doctor in decades, so we try to make the experience as professional and as comfortable as possible.
This is not a teaching operation, and our first duty is to our patients.
Pre-Med, Pre-Dental, Pre-Nursing, Pre-Optometry Undergraduates: No pre-health undergraduates will be able to provide patient care.
If you are in undergrad, please register as General Support, which will still allow you to see many other fascinating aspects of our operations.
Nursing Students (RN, BSN): In order to work in our Triage area, you must have faculty supervision.
A licensed faculty member may bring up to five students, all of whom must be in the last “half” of their nursing program. For example, if you are in a four-semester accelerated program, you must at least be in your third semester on the date of the clinic.
We ask that nursing schools commit to attending the full clinic (so both Saturday and Sunday for a regular two-day event). Have your faculty supervisor contact volunteers@ramusa.org for authorization.
MD, DO, PA, and NP Students: In order to work in the Medical Department, you must have faculty supervision.
A licensed faculty member may bring up to five students, all of whom must be juniors or seniors in their programs.
Schools traveling long distances may bring up to ten students, with only five working in medical one day and the other five switching in the next. Have your faculty supervisor contact volunteers@ramusa.org for authorization.
Dental Students: In order to work in the Dental department, you must have a licensed faculty supervisor and be in your fourth year of dental school.
Please have your licensed faculty supervisor contact volunteers@ramusa.org for scheduling.
Optometry/Ophthalmology Students: In order to work in our Vision department, you must have faculty supervision and be in your junior or senior years of school.
Please have your faculty licensed practitioner contact volunteers@ramusa.org for scheduling.
LPN, EMT, CNA, MA Students: Due to the large demand for triage practitioners, we are currently unable to accept these students in our Triage department. Until you graduate, please join us as a General Support volunteer!
If you are unable to find faculty supervision, we strongly encourage you to sign up as a General Support volunteer and work in other areas of our clinics.
Lodging: Volunteers are responsible for their own transportation and lodging.
Students not on a professional healthcare track are more than welcome at our clinics!
Your enthusiasm is contagious at our clinics, and you are an essential part of our work. Please register yourselves as General Support and feel free to register for whichever clinics you please.
Keep in mind that General Support can fill up very quickly, so plan on registering right when registrations open, about 4-6 months prior to a clinic.
General Support volunteers are truly the glue that makes the rest of our work possible.
In General Support, you can expect assignments as varied from registering patients as they walk in the door, helping with traffic flow and ensuring patients know where to go, making glasses on our mobile eye lab (we’ll teach you, don’t worry), helping patients pick out their frames, serving food to patients and fellow volunteers, and much more. Of course, assignments are given on a first-come, first-serve basis, so there is no guarantee you will be given your first choice.
General Support is an incredible opportunity to see the many, many parts that make up a clinic, and we hope you’ll find it as incredible as we do.
