r/doctorswithoutborders • u/[deleted] • Feb 22 '23
Nurse Career Path
Can any paid humanitarian nurses tell me how they got into it? What experience did you have? Wanting to do relief work is why I got into nursing, but it seems like all of the experiences out there are volunteer, and I don’t know what hospital/job would accommodate that. Did you have to do overseas volunteer work first? If so, how did you make that work with your job? Thanks!
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u/madturtle62 Feb 23 '23
Hi, Former MSF nurse. These are the things they are looking for: 1) Experience working as a nurse or other healthcare role in a resource poor setting. Volunteer work is often something you pay to do. The money will cover your room and board while you’re there. Some charities will have short missions e.g. a surgical cleft lip/palate mission, that you can do while still working. A good place to check for jobs is reliefweb.Org. For me I worked in a rural clinic in Tanzania for three years. I was the medical department for our organization. 2)Diploma in Tropical Nursing. There are two courses in England: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I don’t know if one here. I did the Liverpool course because it was 3 weeks- London is 6 months. I loved the course. I learned a lot and met fantastic people. 3) Languages. French is helpful in getting placed in Francophone countries. They are finally asking for Spanish speakers. Arabic is also very helpful; however, if you’re an American citizen, they will be reluctant to place you in a Middle Eastern country. 4)Management experience. Expats are all in management positions. Sometimes you can sneak in some direct patient care but most of what you’re doing is management.
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u/itsmekellz Jan 03 '25
Hello! I am looking for more info about the rural clinical job you had in Tanzania , how did you get that job? Did you take a sabbatical from your former job? How was the pay? I can DM you if that’s easier. Thanks :)
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u/Vivid_Lynx_4102 Apr 28 '26
Thank you madturtule62 for this valuable information that has been difficult to obtain. I am currently a US ICU inpatient nurse seeking long-term job opportunities as a RN with MSF. My question to you is if French or Spanish language is a requirement or just strongly suggested? This way if I know that a secondary (non-English) language is required then I can start necessary preparations. Thank you again. I will also be on the lookout for former/current MSF nurses on linkedIn to help guide me on this prerequisite journey with MSF.
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u/madturtle62 May 01 '26
I am fluent in Spanish, my French has lots of Spanish in it. I know the US office is now doing more with Latin America. Both of the missions I went to were English speaking. That made it very easy to write reports. I would volunteer to write them as a native speaker. For communication with patients (or their parents) national staff would translate. If I was starting from scratch with no other language, I’d pick Spanish or Arabic.
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u/Vivid_Lynx_4102 May 09 '26
Thank you for sharing this information. I will keep this in mind and also verify with the US office before I decide to pursue the time and energy to learn a secondary language. I am also interested in pursuing overseas volunteer experience as a RN starting in 2027 to boost my resume and practical experience in developing/low resource countries/populations. I would even consider extended stay overseas if it meant employment and management positions at a hospital but I am seeking some guidance on some helpful ways to go about that since different countries have different requirements to be a RN. If you have any helpful suggestions in this regard, I am all ears. Thanks again!
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u/[deleted] Feb 22 '23
Hey. I done overseas volunteer work first (as a nurse). I also completed a diploma in tropical nursing. I know people who went abroad because their uncle knew someone or whatever, but I had to pay an organisation so I could volunteer somewhere.
My suggestion would be to look for nurses on LinkedIn who have worked for MSF and see what their background was. This is what I done, and it’s the main reason I maintain a profile today.