As physicians, our desire to help and heal extends far beyond hospital walls. For 20 years, VEMA team members have made it a priority to serve our community, our country, and our world.
You’ll find VEMA physicians at local charity events, where they’ve raised thousands of dollars for pediatrics at Inova Fair Oaks. They’re at Rising Hope in Alexandria and free health clinics in Fauquier and Prince William counties, caring for uninsured members of our community. They’ve served on battlefields as Combat Surgeons with the US Army during multiple tours of duty in Iraq. And they travel around the world on medical missions, responding to natural disasters and caring for patients in third-world countries.
It's a chance for us all to give something back.
Dr. Mark Franke, Fair Oaks ED
18 years of service in Nicaragua and Honduras
These trips allow us to get back to the basics of healthcare. They remind us what is at the very core of our work: improving the human condition. We continue to go on these trips year after year because we have an obligation to give back, but we often feel that we get more out of these trips than we put in.
Our hospitals and health care teams at home are top-notch. We feel incredibly fortunate to live and work where we do, and our appreciation grows dramatically when we witness the devastation of an earthquake or travel to a remote village that has no access to health care. It is our privilege to serve our patients and to make a difference at home and abroad.
VEMA physicians have served in countries all over the world, including:
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Japan
- Kenya
- Nicaragua
- Taiwan
- Turkey
- United States
