Volunteer Opportunities Abroad for Physicians

Many physicians find that volunteering their medical expertise is personally and professionally rewarding. If you are a physician who has often toyed with the idea of volunteering abroad, resources like the American Medical Association or American College of Physicians provide information about physicians going out into the world to share their skills. A recent article in The Physician’s Personal Advisory newsletter lists the following popular choices for volunteer opportunities abroad:

• Center for Personal Restoration (www.cprestoration.org): Accepts doctors of any specialty to serve low-income populations in Honduras, Peru, and other developing countries for 1 week intervals.
• Doctors Without Borders (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org): Helps victims of wars, epidemics, and natural disasters throughout the world.
• Emergency-USA (www.emergencyusa.org): Provides surgical and medical aid to victims of armed conflict in Cambodia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, and Sudan.