Medical Volunteer Opportunities Abroad

Our Mission

The Floating Doctors mission is to reduce the present and future burden of disease in the developing world, and to improve healthcare delivery worldwide.

Providing Free Acute and Preventative Health Care Services

With the assistance of our healthcare providers, we provide the most useful and accessible means for leading a healthy lifestyle. It is essential that individuals in underserved communities maintain good health and vitality so that they can contribute to the productivity and innovation that will shape their community’s future. It is proven that students who are fit and healthy go to school eager to learn; workers who are free from mental and physical conditions are more productive and contribute to a stronger economy; and older adults who remain physically and mentally active are more likely to remain independent as they age.

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Improving Access to Specialist Medical Care in Developing Regions

Using timely, skillful application of medical technology, we are able to improve access to specialist medical care for an individual or a population. Better quality of care will not only improve health outcomes in developing countries but will also eliminate underprovision of essential clinical services, overuse of some services, and misuse of unneeded services.

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Supporting Community Development and Capacity-Building Initiatives

In order to achieve success, we must invest in the ability of the people who have the greatest stake in the outcome to come together under their own power and acquire the skills and resources that will allow them to address the problems in their families and communities. By preventing a dependency relationship on outsiders, we can encourage local residents to take action on local issues themselves. By doing so, community partners gain greater control over their own future development and a sense of ownership.

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Collecting Clinical Data for Program and Health Landscape Monitoring

Clinical data can be utilized as part of a surveillance system for determining the size of a problem, identifying groups more likely to have negative results, analyzing the connections between risk factors and outcomes, and creating interventions to lessen complications or consequences. Analyzing surveillance data can be useful for a variety of objectives, including health care and patient advocacy; determining priorities and allocating health care resources; giving improved statistics about population health; and supporting medical care quality assurance and quality improvement.

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Reducing Child and Maternal Mortality

Healthy women and children are key to healthy communities. With this in mind, Floating Doctors provides pre- and postnatal care to thousands each year. Additionally, we empower local healthcare workers by facilitating partera conferences in which local midwives can hone their skills and share their own knowledge across communities in the region. We also provide family planning education and options to those interested.

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Promoting improvements in health care practice worldwide

Volunteering with Floating Doctors provides rare clinical training, with high numbers of patients across a wide spectrum of diseases. The insights into community health, holistic approaches to patients, clinical examination and diagnosis, teamwork and coordination of field activities, and consulting across cultural and language barriers are a unique opportunity for clinicians and trainees. It is our goal that volunteers return to their home country with an invaluable clinical skill set and humanitarian focus to add to their practice and benefit patients at home and on future international medical work.

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Testimonials

“Volunteered with FD for 3 weeks as a medical student and had an incredible and real experience
medically serving the communities of Bocas Del Toro Panama. Highly recommend!!!”

- Sabrina J

“Thank you for servicing the communities of Panama, helping to ensure the residents have proper health care.”

- John K.

“Floating Doctors have done the impossible, providing health care to underserved communities. Thank you for all you do!”

- Robert P.

Our Mission

Providing Free Acute and Preventative Health Care Services

Improving Access to Specialist Medical Care in Developing Regions

Supporting Community Development and Capacity-Building Initiatives

Collecting Clinical Data for Program and Health Landscape Monitoring

Reducing Child and Maternal Mortality

Promoting improvements in health care practice worldwide

Testimonials

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