Phil Brenes, MD

Volunteering Since 2003

Dr. Phil Brenes volunteers as a physician in the Basic Health Clinic and serves as a member of the Volunteer Advisory Committee.  He has been married for 43 years to his wife Judi, and has three kids and 5 grandchildren, all local.  When I said “you are so lucky they all stayed in the area,” he replied, “you’re telling me!” with a wide smile.  Brenes graduated from the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, in 1966 and has been practicing medicine ever since.  I met with him recently after he finished a volunteer shift in the clinic, to find out what makes him such a great volunteer.

How did you start volunteering at the Free Clinic?

Well, I knew about the clinic for a some time, really, but eventually it was Cal Clark (physician volunteer) who got me; a little guilt, an offer to buy me lunch, and I finally began volunteering in 2003.

Did you have any particular experience previous to this that inspired you to volunteer, or showed you the benefits of volunteering?

I feel strongly about giving back to the community I live in.  I’ve been here since 1971 and started volunteering at that time at the medical school on their clinical faculty, teaching residents and medical students.  I continued doing that for 27 years until I retired from Kaiser.  At that time, I accepted a half time position on their (OHSU) academic faculty and my “volunteer”status there went into hiatus for awhile.  However, it was around that same  time that I started volunteering in other ways.    I volunteered at Fruit Valley elementary school as a teacher’s aid and I also was a member of the Community Advisory Board for Daybreak Youth Services, an inpatient facility for adolescents with substance abuse issues. Also around 10 years ago I stared volunteering for KMHD, www.kmhd.org , a public radio station that features jazz. Initially I helped out during their fundraising campaigns and eventually I began to host radio shows.  I host two shows now, one every other Thursday from 10am-2pm, and a weekly Saturday morning show from 9am-11am which features “Traditional Jazz”( Dixieland) and jazz from the 20’s and 30’s.  After I retired from OHSU, I continued there for several more years to do some volunteer teaching of residents and Fellows (in Developmental Pediatrics). 

Where did you grow up and how did you come to the area?

I grew up in San Diego and went to medical school in San Francisco. After residency and  two years in the Navy as a pediatrician, we came to this area in 1971.  That year we lived in Portland, where I was in private practice.  In 1972 we moved to Vancouver when I went with Kaiser Permanente.  I stayed with Kasier for 26 years, retired from there, went to the CDRC (Child Development And Rehabilitation Center) at OHSU for five years and then re-retired.

What do you do for fun?

I enjoy music, tennis, travel, photography, videography, reading, and the cinema.   I’m a great fan of older American films.  Some of my favorite directors are Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick and John Ford.  I think the cinematography, the screenplay and the music of Allen’s “Manhattan” make it one of the top ten movies of all time. 

 And, of course, I enjoy messing around with my grandkids, and my kids.

Why did you choose pediatrics?

Initially, when I was in Pre Med, I wanted to go into psychiatry, but after I was in medical school I found the specialty of  psychiatry to be different from what I expected, so that idea went away.. At the end of my 3^rd year in medical school I was influenced by two of my professors—both pediatricians..  Up until then I had no experience with kids.  I had no younger siblings and I’d never done any babysitting, though I was camp counselor for a summer when I was in college.  Anyway, both these professors personified to me, being a great doctor.  By seeing the kind of people they were, I wanted to be like them...they also caused me to take a very close look at pediatrics ,the specialty.   From a medical point of view, I found a sort of purity in the pathology and how it presents.  I guess I also found a sort of “purity” in pediatric patients as well—in that the medical issues they faced where typically not of their own doing in terms of their making poor life style choices, which is what is more often seen in adult medicine.   The challenges in pedicatrics, both medical and intellectual were ones I wanted to deal with.  Pediatrics also has a lot of behavioral issues, not only with the kids, but the parents too, so that psychiatry part of me also got something to do

How does volunteering here compare with your regular practice?

Well the obvious is that the pacing of the experience is entirely in my own control.  I control the level of my involvement. I like being a doctor, but having been one since 1966, the expectations got to be a bit wearing from time to time.  With volunteering, the movement (or impetus) comes from within because I feel it, and continue to feel it.  So I do it.  I feel strongly about volunteering.  It is so necessary and important to contribute, in some way, to something.  This one is a “bull’s eye” for me.

What is your favorite thing about volunteering at the Free Clinic?  What keeps you coming back?

The gratitude and appreciation of the patients, 100% of the time. This work makes me feel that I’m doing something that is needed and important. It is a nice environment.  There is no stress, like what can be experienced at times in a regular practice, and there is a collegial atmosphere with the other volunteers.  I like feeling that everyone is on the same team, pulling in the same direction.  I just feel good about coming here and working with these patients who need assistance and reassurance, knowing I am able to provide it.

Is there any experience here that has made a particular impression on you?  

Not a single one, per se, but in general it’s how grateful the parents are – every single time.  I sense they are reassured, that they know someone cares and I’m that someone.  That makes me feel good, because I do care.

 Interview with Dani Leis, Volunteer Manager, Fall 2009