Midwives: Midwives are an important
component of MSF’s maternal health projects. Their specialized skills
ensure women are provided critical care during pregnancy, labour and the
postpartum period. Midwives also provide training for nurses and local
traditional birthing attendants and supervise all maternity services.
In resource poor settings, midwives are usually the first and only medical
professionals to treat pregnant women.
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Obstetrician-Gynecologists: OBGYNs provide emergency surgical care to pregnant women, often performing c-sections and other essential operations. Their responsibilities can also include training local medical staff.
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Project Coordinators: Project Coordinators supervise our humanitarian projects and manage all MSF personal. They are responsible for the security of the team and ensure the independence of our aid workers through negotiation with various local authorities. Project Coordinators tend to serve a key role in identifying and coordinating local advocacy priorities along with medical volunteers. Ultimately, they are responsible for implementing the goals of the project in their mission area.
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Human Rights Specialist: Bearing witness on behalf of populations in danger is part of MSF’s mandate. Whether giving testimony at the United Nations or conducting an educational campaign aimed at schoolchildren, we are dedicated to raising awareness of the plight of the populations we serve. Although not a standard component of MSF's field teams, Human Rights Specialists are, upon occasion, deployed to gather interviews and conduct analysis for MSF's advocacy reports and initiatives.
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Mental Health Specialists: Psychosocial care is a core component of many MSF emergency and long-term projects. Experiencing the death of loved ones; witnessing acts of violence, confronting life-threatening illness, hunger, and thirst; these are but a few of the experiences that can give rise to serious mental and physical difficulties in victims of conflicts and emergency situations. Mental health specialists provide counseling to victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and train local counterparts and medical staff in order to increase community coping capacity.
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Physical Therapists: MSF has, at various times, deployed physiotherapists to the field, although they are not a common component of field missions. In specialized circumstances involving amputees or people incapacitated by serious injury, MSF will devote a project to physical therapy for an entire community.
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Heads of Mission/Country Managers: The Head of Mission (HOM) or Country Manager holds supervisory authority over all activities of MSF in a given country or region. Usually based in the capital city, HOM's work directly with project coordinators to plan and implement the goals of each medical project; they are MSF's representatives to the host government and coordinate access to populations in danger and any relevant advocacy effort. HOM's are ultimately responsible for the safety of our field workers.
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Financial Coordinators & Administrators: Financial Coordinators and Administrators are responsible for project bookkeeping, budget control, financial reporting and human resources management for international volunteers and local staff.
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Physicians: Primary care physicians undertake a combination of curative care and teaching duties, with the balance varying according to the project. Curative care generally takes place in clinical settings and to some degree in mobile clinics, field hospitals, or existing hospitals. Teaching and administrative responsibilities include supervising and training local medical staff, planning medical programs, ordering medication and medical supplies, and reporting on medical activities.
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Surgeons and Anesthesiologists: During conflicts and their aftermath, surgeons and anesthesiologists are crucial components of MSF's medical programs, offering skills frequently lacking in resource-poor regions. MSF's Surgeons and Anesthesiologists conduct difficult procedures often without the technological equipment and extensive support personnel that they would have in the United States and Europe. They are sent on assignments generally lasting from six weeks to three months or longer. Responsibilities include general surgery, surgical-needs assessment, and training of local staff.
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Registered Nurses/Nurse Practitioners/Physician's Assistants: Nurses provide primary health care; establish and manage health posts; operate feeding centers, in and outpatient clinics and hospitals, plan and implement vaccination campaigns; and organize mother-child health programs. Training, supervising and managing local nursing staff or community health providers is a key responsibility.
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Logisticians: Logisticians provide support to MSF’s medical programs. They coordinate the purchase and transportation of supplies, both locally and internationally; oversee transportation and communications equipment use and maintenance; and supervise local non-medical staff. MSF has built a strong logistical capability to support its medical expertise, enabling its volunteers to work in the most remote or unstable parts of the world.
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Technical Specialists - Water/Sanitation & Construction: Clean drinking water and well-built, sanitary health and nutrition facilities are essential to MSF's work. Technical specialists in water/sanitation are responsible for the design, rehabilitation, and management of water supply and waste management systems. Construction specialists manage projects such as health facility rehabilitation and the construction of makeshift clinics in times of emergency. Technical specialists must have formal training or extensive work experience in their areas of specialty.
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