HIV Test Counseling Volunteers

The AIDS Health Project provides free HIV counseling and testing to gay and bisexual men, men who have sex with men, and transgendered men who are residents of San Francisco. AHP has been a leader in HIV counseling and testing since 1985, when it opened the first counseling and testing site in the world. AHP now delivers more than 4,500 HIV antibody tests per year. In recent years, with advances in technology, HIV testing has become fast and easy. Testing, and the counseling that accompanies it, remains the best way to learn about your risk of HIV in a safe, nonjudgmental, and confidential way.

AHP depends on the efforts of many volunteer HIV and STD test counselors and phlebotomists (the people who do the fingerstick for rapid testing, draw blood for standard HIV testing, and collect specimens for STD testing). This work makes a significant contribution toward curbing the spread of HIV.

AHP offers volunteers training and ongoing support and asks for a one-year commitment of at least two four-hour shifts a week. Success in this program requires good skills working with people, knowledge of HIV, and sensitivity to populations most at risk for HIV infection.

For more information, please contact Francis Salmeri at 415-502-6105 or francis.salmeri@ucsf.edu.

Test Counselors
Volunteers learn to provide client-centered counseling, helping people to assess their personal risk of HIV infection and providing appropriate prevention education and risk reduction support. Counselors also provide support and make referrals to community resources for clients whether they test positive or negative. Volunteers receive extensive training and ongoing supervision to enable them to do this important and sensitive work.

Phlebotomists
AHP offers certified phlebotomists an opportunity to donate their services to the broadest spectrum of San Francisco residents. Venipuncture follows San Francisco Department of Public Health guidelines. Phlebotomists may also be called upon to assist with any medical emergencies that may arise. Requires one year's experience drawing blood and current California certification (CPT I).