Become a Volunteer

Find Your Volunteer Opportunity

Venice Family Clinic’s heritage is built on a strong foundation of volunteers. We offer a variety of opportunities to get involved in nearly every aspect of the Clinic’s operations, including medical practice, social services, administration and fundraising. We actively match the interests and experience of our volunteers with the Clinic’s needs. If you want to help, we have something for you to do.

Click here to see some of the short-term and ongoing opportunities we currently offer.

Physicians, Specialists and Licensed Providers

We need volunteers from all medical fields, including but not limited to physicians, specialists, dentists, pharmacists, psychiatrists and registered dietitians. We are open Monday-Friday mornings, afternoons and evenings with locations from the Westside through the South Bay. Some providers volunteer once a week, while others come once a month. We schedule according to your availability and as space allows.

Please complete a Volunteer Provider Application to get started.

Volunteer Medical Provider Application

General, Clinical and Administrative Volunteers

Venice Family Clinic offers many different volunteer roles across all our sites. To learn more about the Clinic, the work that we do, and how you can help support patients in need, you must attend a Volunteer Information Session. For these clinical and administrative roles, we ask volunteers to commit to a regular weekly schedule. The minimum commitment is 4 shifts per month for at least 6 months.

Click below to RSVP to an upcoming Volunteer Information Session.

Monday, January 27 4pm – 5pm

Wednesday, February 26 9am – 10am

For more information on Corporate Group Volunteer Opportunities, please contact Stephanie Barreiro, Volunteer Services Manager, at 310-664-7561 or sbarreiro@mednet.ucla.edu

One-Time Events and Projects

LOOKING FOR AN INTERNSHIP? We are currently accepting applications for several volunteer internship positions with several of our departments including Development, Events and Fundraising, and Health Education. To get more information or to apply to any of these internships please send an email to VFCVolunteer@mednet.ucla.edu with a copy of your resume.

Volunteer FAQs

We require volunteers to commit to volunteer with us for at least 4 shifts/month for at least 6 months. Each shift is approximately 3-5 hours. You may serve more than 4 shifts/month depending on the Clinic’s schedule needs. Most of our opportunities are limited to 18 years and older, though we have some limited opportunities for people 14+ years.

Most of our opportunities are limited to normal business hours: Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. We ask volunteers to commit to a regularly scheduled shift each week. For example, a volunteer can be scheduled for every Monday from 9am-12pm.

The first step to volunteering is signing up for a general information session. From there, you will schedule a registration day interview, in which you will meet with a member of Volunteer Services. Following your interview, we will place you in a volunteer role and get you started in the Clinic. This entire process can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks.

All of the following paperwork must be uploaded to your volunteer CERVIS profile before your registration day:

  • HIPAA certificate (Make sure you print both pages) (Sample)
  • New volunteer paperwork
  • Immunization history:
    • Medical documentation of TWO MMR vaccinations OR medical documentation of ONE BLOOD TITER indicating immunity to MMR
    • Medical documentation of a negative TB skin test completed within the past 12 months OR a negative TB chest x-ray completed within the past 3 years
    • Copy of Flu Vaccination completed within the past 12 months.
    • Copy of Covid-19 Vaccination Record. 3 doses for the COVID-19 Shot: 2 doses for Moderna/Pfizer with 1 booster shot, or 1 dose of Johnson & Johnson with 2 booster shots.
* Please make sure that you have hand written signatures on all the documents as electronic signatures cannot be accepted.

We accept and train Clinic Assistant volunteers based on the Clinic’s needs, with recruitment typically occurring twice yearly. The requirement to become a Clinic Assistant is having volunteered for 6 months and completed 80 hours. Priority is given to volunteers who have demonstrated outstanding attendance, communication skills and commitment to the program.

You can access your CERVIS profile by following this link.

Additional Questions?

Please contact our Volunteer Services department at
VFCVolunteer@mednet.ucla.edu

Volunteer Stories

Steve Gausewitz, M.D.

Steve Gausewitz, M.D. is a retired orthopedic surgeon and the former chief of staff of the Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine. Steve first heard about Venice Family Clinic when his daughter, Katie, was an AmeriCorps volunteer before joining our staff as a grant writer. Now their roles have switched: Katie practices medicine as an internist and Steve volunteers at the Clinic providing orthopedic care and consultations to our patients. 

“I wanted to find a way to give back to the community. The people I see are often dealing with chronic pain due to an injury or condition that has gone untreated because they didn’t have the resources to get evaluated. When they come to the Clinic, we’re able to get them the help they need to feel relief and start to heal. I remember, I recently saw a gardener who was suffering from arthritis in his knee. It was affecting every aspect of his life, and he was in a great deal of pain. We were able to assess him and offer a surgical referral to help get him back on his feet. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to intervene and change the quality of someone’s life. I love working with Venice Family Clinic.”

John Mafi, M.D.

John Mafi, M.D. is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has volunteered at Venice Family Clinic since 2014 as a permanent attending, supervising UCLA medical residents in primary internal medicine.

“My favorite part of my job is to work here at Venice Family Clinic caring for underinsured and uninsured patients. I am honored to be able to help. It is fulfilling to help make a difference with patients who work multiple jobs, trying to fit their diabetes medicine, diet and exercise into their busy schedules. It is important for residents to meet people in these circumstances and understand how difficult it can be. When friends or family who do not have insurance ask for a referral, I always send them to Venice Family Clinic because I know that they will get good care.”

Michael Margolis

Michael Margolis is a Lead Clinical Assistant and has been volunteering for two years while he completes his degree in Computational and Systems Biology at UCLA. After graduation, he will be attending the David Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles.

“Venice Family Clinic has not only provided me with the foundational skills I need to succeed in a clinical setting, but also the ability to connect with a patient and build rapport. The people working at the Clinic have shown me what it means to be a humble and outstanding physician.”

Chloe Purgason

Chloe Purgason volunteered with the Clinic for three years as a Clinic Assistant before she was accepted into UC Irvine’s Master’s Entry Program in Nursing.

“I loved volunteering at Venice Family Clinic because I learned how to interact and provide care to a diverse patient population. Volunteering as a Clinic Assistant taught me that every person deserves access to quality health care, and that care providers must address a wide range of needs to help patients achieve their best health.”