For many years, vascular/thoracic surgeon Dr. Paul Brown has contributed to foundations for the societies to which he belongs and to other charitable organizations.
Last year, for the first time, he contributed to the SVS Foundation.
Why? He had begun reconsidering his charitable donations a year ago, pondering, “Where would my money go the farthest? Where would it do the most good?” And the answer was, “The SVS Foundation.”
He wanted his contributions to avoid politics. And he wanted to direct donations to particular areas of interest.
As a vascular/thoracic surgeon, he supports the Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons and their foundations, he said. “But half my practice is vascular,” he said. “I thought, ‘I always go to the Vascular Annual Meeting, I should donate to the SVS Foundation as well!’”
It can best use his “precious donatable dollars,” he said firmly. “It’s doing the most useful things with the money. The Foundation is staying true to the mission; it’s staying out of politics and staying with the practice of medicine.”
His generous donation placed him immediately at the “benefactor” level. Though he himself is a community-based private practitioner, he designated his dollars be split between research grants and the Foundation’s general fund.
“I’ve always thought vascular surgeons, unlike so many other medical researchers, focus on realworld problems that they’re trying to solve on a practical, technical basis,” Dr. Brown said. “For example, they study, ‘if we bring such and such a graft from here to here, will it last as long as if we do it from here to here?’ I’d like to know the answer to that. I can use that in my practice.”