Retired cardiologist finds new purpose volunteering at Maryland community clinic, highlights gaps in US health care

A cardiologist who spent nearly four decades in private practice retired in 2022 and soon after began volunteering at a nonprofit community clinic in Maryland.

The clinic serves the "working poor" – people who are employed but cannot afford high insurance costs, those ineligible for federal aid, and the unemployed. Most patients do not speak English, making communication and translation a daily challenge.

He notes that many patients must pay out of pocket and have very limited treatment options, a reality he had not fully appreciated while working in mainstream medicine. The clinic relies on volunteer scribes, often pre‑medical students, to enter data into the electronic health record and gain clinical experience.

His experience has taught him that both community clinics and retired physicians are underused assets in the health‑care system, offering a new form of medical education and a way to address some of the system’s shortcomings.