Hi all! I'm a pre-med university student and MSF has ALWAYS been a dream of mine, but as I get older I know I need to be more realistic about my career, family, etc. None of these are necessary deal breakers for me, I think I'd still like to go for it, but I want to know what I'd be getting into.

What does a year in the life of an MSF doctor look like? Can I have a private practice? Can I be a present mother? Will I be making a good salary? Will there be a toll on my health?

Greetings! I am a MBBS doctor, passed out in 2023 with about 1 year of work experience(not NGOs, but general hospitals) now. I have been passionate about working with MSF since my first year in College. I went through the requirements and down the rabbit hole found this interesting course called DTM&H, and as enthusiastic as I am, I applied for the program in Nagasaki University. I recently got a mail saying I have been accepted into the program and have been in a dilemma since. The program starts in April so by then I would have garnered about 1.5 Years of work experience. I would like to know from the community here if doing this program will be beneficial for my entry(as well as my clinical understanding of infectious diseases) into MSF and if my work experience will be a hinderance when applying to MSF(Their website mentions 3 years of experience is required).

Hi, everyone!

I’m an undergraduate pre-med student in the US, and I’ve been considering going on a mission to Africa after medical school and residency. I know it might be a bit early to plan for this, but I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do during undergrad to help prepare. Are there specific research areas, classes to take or volunteer experiences that would provide valuable experience or knowledge for this kind of work in the future? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I am wondering what a full-time CRNA role would look like for Doctors Without Borders. Any insight?

Hello! I am currently a medical student in Canada. It is my dream to eventually give back and work with humanitarian organizations like Doctors Without Borders. I haven't done much research, but I'm interested in ENT (still very early in my journey so that could change) and I've been struggling with the thought that that might not allow me to later participate in these initiatives because of my training. Does anyone know if I still have a shot? Or if they only hire emerg docs, general practitioners, etc.?

I am a physician based in Manila, Philippines. It is my goal to work with MSF and build a career in the area of international and global health. I am a general practitioner in the Philippines and that means I completed 4 years of medical school, 1 year of internship, and passed the licensure exam in my country. I am not planning to enter a residency program, so I am currently working as a GP catering mostly to outpatient services. I am also looking for opportunities to work as a physician in underserved communities in my country. In the future I am planning to take a Masters degree in tropical medicine from another country just to gain the necessary skills to be an MSF physician.

Given that I am not planning on specializing and that MSF sends physicians with specializations (peds, IM, surgery, OB etc) on missions, do you think my current plan will work?

This could easily be confused with proselytizing.

I am a psychologist in Canada and work a lot with trauma (among other concerns). I am incredibly interested in applying to work with MSF but I have two things holding me back. First, I only speak English which of course can be limiting. Second, I have limited travel experience in the areas MSF serves. Because of my current work arrangements, I don’t see myself obtaining the required travel experiences anytime soon as I am not able to take long periods of time off - unless it was on a leave (ie., working with MSF). Is it even worth applying if I don’t meet these requirements? Any Canadian psychologists here able to share their experiences? Thanks!

Hello!

I recently received a letter in the mail promoting one of the 3X donation match events for this month, and curiosity just got the best of me: is there any way to track the progress towards the $200,000 limit of the match?

I'm assuming the match is not at a per donation level, and rather at a global total level, since I can't see that scaling very well at a per donation level. It would be interesting to see how close the donations come to hitting the total match limit like a lot of donation websites provide.

I realize this isn't the goal of the sub to answer questions like this, but curiosity really just got the best of me and I'd be interested to see if this is available somewhere. It seems like it would even encourage people to donate more just to try to hit the goal!

Cheers!

Hello, this may be an insane thing to ask however here we go:

I'm a Y3 medical student studying in the UK. This summer we all have to choose an elective and while many people choose to work in LEDCs, I personally have a great interest in Eastern Europe. Couple that with my desire to hopefully work with MSF in the future, I was wondering if it was possible to do my placement in or around Ukraine. My knowledge of the Ukrainian language is poor however I do speak some basic Russian. My university doesn't allow travel to red zones (based on UKgov) for obvious reasons however some parts of Ukraine remain orange and have MSF projects (Lviv, Zakarpattiam Ivano-Frankivsk and Zhytomyr).

My question is basically this: Is this feasible and if so wise? Or am I just being overenthusiastic and will cause more problems than good by getting in the way of important humanitarian work?

Thanks, and apologies in advance for the potentially stupid question.

Hello! I'm currently in the process of applying to MSF for a finance position. I would like to know about the living conditions, how did you feel about your experience? What was working with your coworkers like? how you felt about the security? what was your daily life like? what were the positive and negative aspects about it? what was the toughest situation you were in? how did you feel about the salary, was it enough or not? etc ...

I’m having a hard time building up enough experience to qualify for any MSF position… Are there any (semi-) entry positions I could apply for, and then try to make my way towards my dream position once already in MSF? I have a BSc in public health and a MSc in Epidemiology

I'm very interested in the health promoters position with doctors without borders. I was wondering if I'd be able to get this position with a social work degree? It's not listed under required degrees but it's close to them. What kind of low resource work can be done to gain that needed experience? Is it something I can do in the USA or would that be done abroad? Thanks!

Hi, I’m training to be a Mental Health nurse in England and would love to join MSF sometime after getting my degree, i would like know if they would allow or employ me?

I’m a high schooler who’s interested in becoming a conflict photographers. After asking around other Reddit’s people told me that I should look into becoming a photographer for MSF to start out. Is this truely a thing, or am I being misled? Thank you in advance!

I've donated lots of money to MSF. I just want a hat. I found their store but I didn't recognize the currency and they won't even ship to the US. It says ships to South Africa and I can't change it.

Is this the real store? Can I not buy these?

https://msfmerchandise.store/

Does anyone know where I can find a current (or recent) MSF Global Salary Grid, with actual numbers (€/$) for the seven levels + indemnity levels, so I can potentially calculate the gross pay for certain positions? Let's say for a HQ-3B role based in an MSF OCBA hub?

Hello, I am currently an undergrad student looking to go to medical school soon and eventually do Doctors without Borders. Unfortunately, I have a year in between me graduating and actually going to medical school. In this time, I was considering doing a masters in either Biomedical Engineering or BioTech to potentially use those as a means to bring medical devices to different countries I may be working in. I wanted to know if this is even a feasible thing or if Doctors without Borders even helps with bringing medical devices to other countries, so I know whether to actually pursue this or not. If they are, which Master's degree would be more beneficial to get? A Biomedical Engineering one or a Biotech one?

Hi all, I'm contracted as IMS through my home country partner office, but my partner and I are looking at getting married and getting me a work visa for his country, which has its own partner office. Would I need to go through the standard recruitment process again to continue working as IMS through his country's office, or is there an expedited process given that I'm already "in the system" so to speak? Thanks!

Hi all

I’m in the field now on my first MSF mission and I have a question about future assignments. Do people tend to stay with the same OC or is it common to move around?

Thanks

As a paramedic who has always wanted to work in remote and austere medicine, I have looked to MSF as a paragon of medical charity. I however was heartbroken to find out that paramedics are not able to work for MSF however with the increased training and even mid-level provider levels coming available in the United States as options and master’s level degrees in remote and offshore medicine from places like CORUM. I was wondering if such a provider would be accepted as a part of MSF? I love working in the field and would love to take my skills to those who need them globally. I know I am not some god of medicine, I feel that I am at least a competent medic however.

I've been an RN for 5 years. 3 years OR experience, two of which are at a level 1 trauma center. I only speak English. I would like to go to Gaza or as close as I can get to help. Should I bother applying if I don't speak another language? Would they take me? I am Palestinian and have family in Jordan if that means anything at all. Any input is appreciated. Thank you.

So I should be starting four years of med school next year. The impetus for changing careers was a desire to work with MSF (or similar organisations) to provide direct on the ground humanitarian aid as a doctor. tentatively thinking Anaesthetics. I (29m) am married, looking to start a family soon and have a few questions:

1. what advice would you give me?

2. I am currently thinking of the humanitarian work as more of a....side-hustle in a career? I.e., do a couple of smaller deployments in a year, while I continue to work within my countries public health cares system. Is this possible with MSF? If not, is this possible with similar organisations?

3. Life insurance as someone visiting warzones..... is it possible?

4. What can I do now/during med-school that will help me walk down this path?

question two is probably my biggest question: The reason I am thinking of things this way is that, while my wife is supportive of me in this currently, I want to treat her and my (hopeful) future children kindly, and I think this requires taking a.... "minimum amount of engagement with humanitarian work while still doing humanitarian work" sort of approach. I am not sure. All these things will become clearer as time moves on.

I’ve completed the majority of the MSF application but cannot find the Self-Assessment Form they want uploaded along with the CV & Motivation Letter. I’ve emailed my question to the NYC office, but… it is Sunday and I’m impatient 😕

As a recent MBBS graduate from India, I am eager to learn more about Doctors Without Borders and explore opportunities to contribute. Can anyone provide guidance on how I can join and make a meaningful impact?

Hi everyone,

I’m interested in hearing from anyone who has experience working as a Communication Manager/Officer with MSF.

•	What was your typical day like in this role?
•	What kind of challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
•	Can you share any specific testimonies or stories that highlight what it’s like to work in this position?

I appreciate any insights or experiences you can share. Thank you!

Hey all

I'm a board-certified pulmonary & critical care medicine doctor in the US.

I know MSF looks for ICU docs, but I have no experience outside of highly-funded academic ICUs in the US.

I know I can reach out to MSF directly but was looking for anyone who may have experience here - what's expected in terms of flexibility of ICU care in areas that may be lacking a lot of the essentials of an ICU.

I am proficient in POCUS which I imagine could at the very least be beneficial to teach practitioners abroad as it's flexible and relatively inexpensive piece of diagnostic machinery

Just trying to get a gauge of how useful I could actually be.

EDIT: fluent in English, C1 in Spanish, which would guide my deployment locations

Thanks!

Hi all

Currently pursuing a career in ENT - applying for CST next year. Was keen on sub-specialising in Paediatric ENT (love paeds).

My dream is to work with MSF as a surgeon. I thought ENT would be a nice option for a comfortable-ish life in the UK/I genuinely find it so fun and interesting.

But now I see there's not really a demand for ENT surgeons abroad from what I can see...

What speciality would be best to go for? I'm pretty early on in my career so I have time to prepare. I wanted something where I wouldn't be stuck coming in overnight in the UK for the rest of my career but can also spend most my time doing charity work. The obvious choices are T&O but as a woman it's hard to fit in such a male-dominated field. There is also plastics but I don't really find it that stimulating.

Is there space for ENT in doctors without borders? Airway management, facial reconstruction etc. I know I may be asking for too much but I want to try.