To keep the clinic open and continue to provide quality care, we need you – a licensed physician – to volunteer a small amount of your time. No amount of time is too little. We are searching for physicians who can serve as mentors to our students and as health providers to our patients.
Downstate students often consider their time at the Brooklyn Free Clinic to be some of their most inspiring experiences at SUNY Downstate. We need you to inspire students to grow into empathetic and skilled physicians. The BFC provides a unique environment to work with students: you are the preceptor, the educator, and will work with students one-on-one.
Our patients are all uninsured and do not qualify for medicaid, medicare or receive private insurance. They are often extremely grateful for your care.
If so, becoming a volunteer at the Brooklyn Free Clinic is easy. Your insurance through Downstate will cover you while you work with our student volunteers. Please see our Physician FAQ section below for more information.
You are still eligible! See our Physician FAQ section below for the details.
Please email physician.recruitment@brooklynfreeclinic.org.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS ?
All attending physicians must be licensed in New York State to provide primary care services to patients over 18 years of age.
WHAT ARE THE CLINICAL DUTIES ?
The attending physician supervises patient care and reviews assessments and plans. The attending should be comfortable coaching student clinical teams. The attending approves patient notes and charts at the end of the shift and are the only staff who are allowed to prescribe medications. Patients will not be seen at the clinic until the attending is onsite.
WHAT IS THE TIME COMMITMENT ?
There is no minimum commitment that we require of our attending physicians in terms of the number of evenings volunteered per month or year. Patients are scheduled at the clinic from 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm on Wednesday evenings and the attending physician for each night must be present during these hours. The attending physician often conducts a closing meeting at the end of the clinic shift to discuss the patients seen that day. There are no additional obligations outside of clinic hours.
WHAT ABOUT MALPRACTICE AND INSURANCE ?
The BFC is a clinical elective operated by the College of Medicine. Students are covered for all clinical activity at Downstate or our affiliates. Attending physicians are registered as clinical instructors and covered under Downstate’s medical liability insurance.
HOW DO I SIGN UP ?
Becoming a volunteer attending physician at the BFC is a simple process. If you have a faculty appointment at SUNY Downstate, you can start volunteering with us. For physicians not affiliated with SUNY Downstate, we will help you obtain a voluntary faculty appointment.
To start volunteering with us or for more information, please contact our Physician Recruitment Chair at physician.recruitment@brooklynfreeclinic.org
I CANNOT COMMIT TO A CLINIC SHIFT, CAN I STILL VOLUNTEER ?
If you cannot volunteer as an attending physician at the BFC, there are plenty of ways you get involved. You might be interested in volunteering as an advisor for the BFC Cares program, or even help recruit other physicians to volunteer at the BFC. If you have an idea of your own for the clinic, we would love to hear about that too. Send an email to info@brooklynfreeclinic.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
