"You meet the most amazing people through volunteering. The people you meet become like family, and I can’t imagine my life without having met them."
MBBS alumnus and Charity Week Founder, Dr Wajid Akhter, has led three international volunteering teams abroad alongside his roles as a GP Principal in Essex and Medical Tutor in Social Media and Medicine. We spoke to him about how he has used the skills he developed at St George’s in his volunteering role, and about the challenges and rewards of volunteering.
Working together to provide support
Dr Akhter set up Charity Week after deciding to do something practical to help people in other countries in need of aid or support. He says, “In response to any natural or man-made disaster, the usual impulse is to go to your pocket and donate. But I realised that donating to help people only gets you so far.
“The problems we are trying to alleviate aren’t actually financial problems. There’s no lack of money that’s creating the disaster we have in Yemen or the migrant crisis that’s affecting Southern Europe, it’s a systemic issue that goes far beyond finances. It goes to the heart of social justice, corruption, ethnic conflicts and so much more. When I thought about it a bit more deeply, I realised that if I wanted to help people abroad or locally, money is not the solution. There is not a single solution, apart from Unity - this became my realisation.
“I will use a medical example – in the case of the Covid vaccine, we were able to do ten year’s worth of work in the space of ten months because the world came together like never before, with people pooling their resources, talents, energy, and time.”
“So I felt that I needed to rethink medical aid and rethink how to provide support, and realised that I wanted to carry out a project that promoted unity amongst people of different ethnicities, religion and countries. This is what made me come up with the idea of Charity Week, which is all about working together.”
Bringing transferrable skills to a range of situations
He explains how this experience led to him working on a number of different volunteer projects: “I’m working on a few different projects at the moment. I have founded Life Savers, which opens up mosques to teach CPR for free and is open to everyone. People can now volunteer for Life Savers in 12 different countries. I’m also currently working on a project called ‘Covid Response Group for the Muslim community in the UK’. This brings together different Muslim organisations and people, such as Imams, Microbiologists, scientists and philanthropists on one platform, so that we can coordinate our response with regards to Covid.”
Speaking about how his degree at St George’s helped prepare him to support these volunteer projects, Dr Akhter says, “St George’s really gives you a unique set of skills to be able to be a leader in any field that you want to go into. So many places you apply to after graduating will choose you because they know healthcare students have a unique skillset you don’t find in many other degrees.
“As healthcare students, you have to learn and process vast amounts of information and be very analytical and scientific, but you also develop soft skills, such as good communication skills to be able to speak to very different patients with unique circumstances, as well as the ability to prioritise when there is a lot going on.
"You can transfer these skills to so many other fields and already have that understanding of how to be professional, analytical, and empathetic all at the same time. I found that whatever team I am working in, if there is a healthcare professional there who knows the powers that they have and how to use them, they are unbeatable! I know that every profession brings something useful to the table but not many bring this combination of Science and Art.”
Why volunteer?
Speaking about why he would recommend volunteering, Wajid says, "Volunteering will make you a better professional, because the more you do outside of medicine, whether its sports, hobbies, or volunteering and helping others, the more skills you will gain from other people, experiences, situations, and other fields.” He adds, “It is really important for your mental health to maintain a good work-life balance. Volunteering allows you to do something that really interests and motivates you and allows you to actively use brain power and energy outside of work. Doing something that gives you real enjoyment, pleasure, and self-worth outside of work is really important.”
Dr Akhter says, "For many of us in Healthcare, we have a stable income, so we are in a privileged position. When you're lucky enough to have that stability, it’s important to give back to others who aren’t as privileged, because it helps create a better society for all of us.”
Speaking about how he stays motivated, he says, “When you’re busy, tired or feeling low, sometimes it feels like the easiest thing to do it to drop the volunteering. But if you’re self-motivated, you will find ways to remind yourself what keeps you going and what makes it so rewarding.
"You meet the most amazing people through volunteering. It’s like a pass to the most exclusive club in the world. The people you meet become like family, and I can’t imagine my life without having met them. Sometimes you’ve never even met some of these people because you live and work in different countries, but they become like your brother and your sister because you are working towards a common goal.”
Sharing his advice for someone considering volunteering, Dr Akhter says, “I would recommend that you take the decision as seriously as you would if you were getting married to someone, because it’s a long-term commitment.
“Just like in a relationship, if you’re not serious about that person, it won’t last. But when you think about marriage, you ask yourself, ‘Does this person fit in with my personality? Do they fit with my family? Do they fit in with who I will be in ten year’s time?’
“If you’re thinking about volunteering, take your time, think about what fits in with you as an individual, what fits your passions, your personality and your skillset. What is it that motivates you – something you enjoy, really believe in and wouldn’t give up on even when times are hard? Find your passion and volunteer in that.”
Useful resources to find out more about volunteering
To find out more about Charity Week, visit charityweek.com or email info@charityweek.com.
Visit britishima.org or email info@britishima.org to get involved in Lifesavers or the British Islamic Medical Association
To get involved in the Covid Response Groups mentioned in this story, visit mcb.org.uk/resources/coronavirus or email covid@mcb.org.uk.
Dr Akhter has written an article on the benefits of being a volunteer, which you can read here.