Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.
The information here is provided on the Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières website. Each year, MSF doctors, nurses, logisticians, water-and-sanitation experts, administrators, and other medical and non-medical professionals depart on more than 3,800 field assignments. They work alongside more than 22,500 locally hired staff to provide medical care.
In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF provides health care, rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centers for malnourished children, and offers mental health care. When needed, MSF also constructs wells and dispenses clean drinking water, and provides shelter materials like blankets and plastic sheeting.
Through longer-term programs, MSF treats patients with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, and HIV/AIDS, and provides medical and psychological care to marginalized groups such as street children.
MSF was founded in 1971 as a nongovernmental organization to both provide emergency medical assistance and bear witness publicly to the plight of the people it assists. A private nonprofit association, MSF is an international network with sections in 19 countries.
Basic requirements for physicians joining MSF in the field:
* At least two years of professional experience
* Availability for a minimum of six months (with the exception of surgeons and anesthesiologists, who may be accepted for shorter assignments)
* Flexibility
* No recent gap in clinical experience greater than two years
* Language skills are considered a major asset
* Relevant travel or work outside the United States
Below is a list of the specialties that MSF recruits. The medical staff composition of each program can vary greatly and is determined by the coordination teams at MSF headquarters together with coordinators in the field.
* Physicians
* Surgeons
* Anesthesiologists
* Mental Health Specialists
* Epidemiologists
For more information about Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, please visit their website.
