March 2024 member spotlight
Rajendra Trivedi, MD
Chair, Committee on Senior Volunteer Physicians, Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS)
- Member, MMS Committee on Senior Physicians
- Member, MMS House of Delegates
- Former chair, MMS International Medical Graduates Section
- Former member, MMS Minority Affairs Section
Location: Medford, Massachusetts
Specialty: Neurological surgery, psychiatry
Q: As chair of the Committee on Senior Volunteer Physicians at the Massachusetts Medical Society, can you tell us how the group got started and how many members there are currently?
The MMS Committee on Senior Physicians (CSVP) was founded in 1995. The mission of the committee is to utilize the experience and skills of senior practicing and/or retired physicians on a voluntary basis to address and fulfill medical and health education needs of communities throughout Massachusetts. There are currently 9 members on the committee.
Q: How is your group governed and what types of activities does the group participate in?
A: CSVP is one of 20 special committees, established by the MMS House of Delegates to address specific topics/subjects and have unlimited openings available. Committee appointments are for specific terms, usually three‐year renewable commitments, with a maximum of nine years.
Then the committee member can remain on the committee as an advisor, with no voting rights. The committee meets ~4‐5 times a year.
CSVP advocates for our senior physician members to volunteer clinically at free health care programs in the Massachusetts underserved/uninsured communities.
CSVP identifies opportunities to mentor physician members in the MMS mentoring program.
CSVP recognizes a MMS senior physician member who has demonstrated significant commitment to volunteerism, especially direct patient care, in Massachusetts with the MMS Senior Volunteer Physician of the Year award.
Q: Do you have committees and speakers planned for the coming year?
A: CSVP organizes an event for its members, significant others/guests and healthcare professionals from the free health care programs in the Fall.
The events provide opportunities for presentations and panel Q&A as well as socializing when in‐person.
Below are the topics of the last 12 events:
- What is the Impact of Health Care Reform on the Free Care Programs?
- Establishing Free Health Care Programs: The Whys and Wherefores
- The Effects of Health Care Laws on the Free Health Care Programs
- How the Health Care Act Affects the Undocumented and Hospitals
- The Administrative Aspects of Volunteering
- What Should Be the Role of Free Programs in the Massachusetts Health Care Landscape?
- Free Medical Programs and Mental Health: How Can We Deliver What is Needed?
- The Intersection Between Massachusetts Free Health Care Programs and the Department of Public Health
- Connecting Free Health Care Programs with Community‐Based Resources
- Immigrants: Hidden Challenges of Health Care Access
- Giving Back: A Pathway to Happiness, Purpose and Fulfillment
- Volunteerism: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
Q: Does your group advocate at the federal and state levels on key health care issues impacting patients and physicians? Is your group affiliated with other educational institutions to advance its mission?
A: CSVP advocates for our senior physician members to volunteer clinically at free health care programs in the Massachusetts underserved/uninsured communities and/or provide oversight and mentoring of medical students. The MMS sponsors certain types of malpractice insurance if coverage is not available to them (e.g. retired).
CSVP assists with identifying clinical and non‐clinical volunteer opportunities that require active medical licenses or not for MMS senior physician members.
CSVP is currently not affiliated with other educational institutions to advance its mission. In addition, there is a separate MMS Committee on Senior Physicians that recognizes the many diverse matters that are of concern to senior physicians age 65 and older, and to explore ways to address these unique issues. It also provides these professionals the opportunity to promote continued participation and personal enrichment.
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