The Volunteer Experience
Volunteering with Philos is a chance to contribute directly to the communities we serve, work alongside local healthcare professionals, and experience the Philippines in a way few visitors ever do.
Our volunteers include physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, students, family members, and others who simply want to help. Whether joining independently or traveling with friends or family, volunteers quickly become part of a close-knit group of like-minded individuals. The week is highly collaborative and often creates lasting friendships and connections with the communities we serve.
For younger volunteers in particular, a Philos trip can be an extraordinary introduction to healthcare, service, and life outside their own community. They are given meaningful, hands-on opportunities to contribute, work alongside healthcare professionals, and see firsthand how they can make a real difference. Many past young volunteers have gone on to careers in medicine and other health professions.
What a Philos Trip Looks Like
Our work is centered around the southern coast of Bohol, an island roughly 400 miles south of Manila. It is a beautiful tropical part of the Philippines, with green mountains rising behind coastal towns and the ocean never far away. For over 20 years, Philos groups have stayed at the same small hotel directly on the coast in Jagna, where the staff know our organization well and welcome volunteers like family. The people throughout the communities where we work are extraordinarily warm and welcoming, and that hospitality is a memorable part of the experience.
Philos organizes three group medical and dental trips to Bohol each year, generally in winter, summer, and fall. Volunteers typically fly into the Philippines together and arrive over the weekend, using Sunday to settle in and prepare. Clinical and community work takes place Monday through Thursday in the municipalities of Jagna and Garcia Hernandez. The post-clinical retreat takes place on Friday and Saturday at a destination hotel an hour's drive from Jagna; volunteers debrief and brainstorm ways to further improve operations, relax, and enjoy Bohol before returning home or continuing their travels.
Philos is a need-based organization and bases its operations strictly on the requests of the community. Trips are coordinated closely with local government officials, healthcare workers, schools, and community leaders. Transportation to clinics and schools is arranged locally, and volunteers work alongside people who live in and care for these communities year-round.
"Philos' medical missions have given me insight into medical care in a developing country outside of traditional medical school training, and experience in providing care without the usual resources we come to rely on here in the states. Volunteering with the Philos team is a personally gratifying opportunity to use my accumulated medical experience to give back to the local community in a truly useful and meaningful way.”
Lefkos Aftonomos, MD
Medical Volunteers
A typical Philos trip includes six to eight physicians and nurse practitioners, divided between medical clinics in Jagna and Garcia-Hernandez. Clinics are held throughout the area, from coastal communities to villages in the mountains. Some patients walk for miles to be seen by clinical volunteers.
After more than 20 years of running these clinics, Philos has an experienced local team and a highly organized and efficient system in place. Local healthcare workers and volunteers handle patient intake, vital signs, translation, pharmacy operations, and other logistics, allowing visiting physicians and nurse practitioners to focus entirely on evaluating and treating patients.
Teams also bring medications and diagnostic equipment including portable ultrasound, EKG capability, suturing supplies, and point-of-care testing. All of our operations are free of charge to patients and fully sustainable; medications prescribed during a clinic are dispersed by local pharmacists year-round.
Dental Volunteers
Philos operates two full-service, school-based pediatric dental clinics serving elementary school children, with a third clinic scheduled to open in Fall 2026. Our dental teams typically treat 10–15 children each day, providing restorations, cleanings, extractions, fluoride treatments, sealants, and root canal therapy. The clinics are equipped with digital X-ray capability and intraoral photography.
Clinical preferences are discussed before each trip so appointments can be scheduled accordingly. Volunteers should let us know ahead of time which procedures they are comfortable and interested in providing.
Volunteer dentists may join one of our week-long group trips, held three times each year with other dentists and physicians, or volunteer independently at any time. Philos and our local dental team provide logistical support, and independent visits can be arranged for as long as the volunteer wishes to stay. Many of our dental volunteers bring family members, making the experience something they can share together.
“Being part of these medical missions has shaped my future aspirations towards pre-dental and humanitarian work. Next summer, I plan on returning to the Philippines and continuing to grow within my newfound community. The work has given me a clearer sense of purpose, responsibility, and my pathway forward in this world—for which I am deeply grateful.”
Josie Vogel, Palo Alto High School ’24, UW - Madison ‘28
Young & Non-Clinical Volunteers
For young volunteers, a Philos trip is a chance to do something genuinely different: spend a week in the Philippines, work directly with local communities, contribute to real healthcare programs, and get hands-on experience that is difficult to find almost anywhere else.
High school and college students, family members, and other non-clinical volunteers spend much of the week visiting elementary schools in communities throughout the area. They provide fluoride treatments, distribute toothbrushes, help with oral-health education, conduct vision screenings, and collect basic health measurements that help Philos understand local needs and evaluate our programs. No prior medical training is required; volunteers are taught everything they need to know on site. Despite their relative simplicity, these procedures make an enormous impact on the oral health and quality of life of local children.
School visits are incredibly joyous and memorable. The local kids welcome volunteers with tremendous enthusiasm, and days are filled with high-fives, selfies, laughter, and choreographed dance routines. Volunteers often form close friendships with one another, and many remain involved with Philos long after the trip is over.
Those interested in medicine, dentistry, public health, or other healthcare careers have opportunities to shadow or scribe for our clinical volunteers. For young people especially, the combination of meaningful impact, exposure to healthcare, and time spent in communities very different from their own can make the experience deeply formative.
