Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) believes in
developing its staff, especially those who choose to make a career
out of providing humanitarian assistance by working with MSF. If
you are interested in a long-term commitment to humanitarian aid,
we can offer you various study and career opportunities.
You can broaden your
professional experience by working on various aid programmes where
conditions and your responsibilities vary. Gaining diverse MSF
field experience will make you eligible for positions such as
Project, Medical or Logistical Co-ordinator and Head of Mission
(Country Manager). Many members of our field staff then go on to
continue their careers within MSF in an advisory or management
position in our headquarters.
MSF recognises that studying is an important instrument to
strengthen the identity, culture and spirit of the organisation, as
well as the competence of our staff - with the ultimate aim of
improving the quality of our programmes and therewith the help we
offer to people in need.
As you deal with challenges and your expertise grows, we can offer
you training courses to further develop your professional
capacities within your field of interest. Training courses are
offered by MSF and as well external organisations. MSF’s own
courses have been specifically developed for work within MSF and
draw on the experience gained by our own field staff throughout the
years.
A selection of our internal courses:
- Preparation for Primary Departure
(PPD): this training course gives you more insight into
the organisation and the work we do. Its primary purpose is to
prepare MSF field staff for their first mission. Topics include
humanitarian emergency aid, MSF's identity, charter and principles,
roles and responsibilities within an MSF team, our activities,
safety and security, dealing with stress and cross-cultural
communication.
- Financial & HR Co-ordinator
Course (FCC): this training course prepares current and
future Financial and HR Co-ordinators for their roles. Topics
include financial management and administration, human resources
management, organisation procedures and tools, MSF’s donor strategy
and procedures for institutional fundraising.
- Basic Management Course
(BMC): a training course given to prepare current and
potential Project Co-ordinators and Team Leaders (positions
assigned to MSF field staff who have some experience within MSF)
for their roles. Topics include context and situation analysis,
security management, human resources management, financial and
general project planning, monitoring and reporting, negotiation
skills and stress management.
- Medical Management Course
(MMC): specific training to prepare current and future
Medical Co-ordinators for their role. Topics include project
identification and planning, monitoring and evaluation, human
resources management, staff mental and physical health, medical
programmes (e.g. data collection, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, malaria,
mental health, maternal and child health care, tuberculosis,
emergency preparedness, water and sanitation) and humanitarian
action.
- Logistics Management Course
(LMC): in-depth training to prepare current and future
Logistical Co-ordinators for their role. Topics include project
planning and implementation, supply management, monitoring,
evaluation and reporting, emergency responsiveness, human resource
management, water and sanitation management, security management,
IT and telecommunications management.
- Senior Management Training
(SMT): specific training to prepare current and future
Heads of Mission (Country Managers) for their role. Topics include
MSF strategy, strategic planning and communications, medical and
humanitarian action, international humanitarian law, context and
needs assessment, leadership, resources and security
management.
MSF also offers various courses to MSF field
staff who have completed at least one mission. These courses focus
on specific subjects or activities. Their objective is to further
expand your experience; while they are devised to meet the needs
found in our projects. They can be either medical (e.g. nutrition,
vaccination, HIV/AIDS treatment, response to epidemics) or
technical (e.g. technical logistics, advanced vehicle mechanics and
water and sanitation management).