Remote Area Medical Clinic 2010

Today I volunteered at the Remote Area Medical (RAM) Clinic in Unicoi County, along with some co-workers from my dental practice. I had volunteered at one a couple of years ago. To be honest, at first I didn't plan on working at this one. But the closer it got, the more my conscience ate at me. So I signed up!

I know volunteering is supposed to give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but to be honest I wasn't feeling it at 5a.m. Especially since Abbigail woke up for a bottle at 4:15, and I just had time to feed her and get back to sleep when my alarm went off.

I got to the high school at 6a.m. and we started seeing patients about 7:15. I saw patients from 7:15 till 5:30, with about a 25 minute break for lunch and two trips to the bathroom. I was actually ready to throw in the towel about three o'clock, but I just couldn't do it. Because I kept looking at the people waiting in line to have their teeth cleaned, and I hated to have to turn anyone away. Without exception, all the patients I saw today had been in line all night.

I was so tired by the time I got my last patient in my chair, I could have cried. I know cleaning teeth doesn't sound like manual labor. But imagine sitting for hours with your neck bent, and your back straight (siting on a backless stool!) , using your hands to scale tartar off people's teeth- and sometimes it's very hard to get off, like little pieces of cement. In addition, when working in a regular dental practice you have down time even on a busy day, while waiting on a doctor, or waiting for a patient to arrive, etc. At a RAM clinic you see a patient, clean your area, and get another one right in your chair. And for the most part these are people who haven't had dental care in years. So you can imagine.

But I was so glad I did see my last patient, a very nice Hispanic lady named Rosa. When we were finished she said, "Thank you so much! " and hugged me. And you can't imagine how humbling it is to think that someone has spent the night in a parking lot and then waiting in line all morning for you to clean their teeth. It makes you want to do a really good job!

RAM is a nonprofit organization that provides free medical, dental, and vision care all over the United States and internationally. For information regarding volunteering with RAM, donations, or a schedule of upcoming clinics visit http://www.ramusa.org .