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Uniting the humanitarian efforts |
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If you wish to volunteer, you can use the GPSN website in a variety of different ways:
You can indicate your interest in volunteering, specifying where you would like to work, how long you can work, and what your skills are. Not only can surgeons needing assistance look through the list and see if potential volunteers meet their needs, but groups organizing trips can also go through the list and contact you directly if they wish you to join their efforts.
Surgeons who need assistance will give details about the kinds of help they need, whether there are language or religious restrictions, and what facilities are available to the volunteer surgeon.
See if the group planning the trip would welcome you to join, and see what level of experience they require
This section contains links to online texts, journals, videos, trauma resources, safe surgical initiatives, and information about working during disasters.
To help surgeons contemplating humanitarian work, we have put together information that might be helpful to a person wishing to volunteer in areas of limited medical resources.
This section will have information about travel in general, and also information about specific countries. For instance, you might find information about visa requirements, vaccinations, and such (courtesy of Operation Giving Back).
This section will have recommendations for people who are still in their medical training. We have tried to organize this section by country as much as possible, as the requirements do vary.
There are many issues to consider when working in another country, and we have tried to include some material to help introduce you to these concerns.
This section will introduce some of the initiatives at the global level to improve the delivery of surgical care to children in less-developed countries.
We have put together a list of courses or degrees offered to the surgeon who is contemplating a career in global health
We have tried to compile a list of literature relevant to work in areas of limited medical resources.
Once you know you are going to a specific country, consider contacting the pediatric surgeons in that country to let them know of your plans, so that they might help facilitate your work or participate in educational efforts
You might be able to join a trip through these well-established programs
The GPSN does not financially support any trips, but we try to list available funding from other sources.
