International Volunteering

Professional experience:

Depending on the projects we have in progress, the level of professional experience required will vary. AMI’s health workers are often the only practitioners in the field, and are required to have a great ability to solve problems without often having the ideal resources to do so. Professional experience varies according to the vacancies to be filled.

Availability:

Once the international volunteer is available to leave on a mission, he/she should consult this site to check what vacancies exist at the moment. The volunteer should also contact the International Department ([email protected]) to let them know about this availability, even if he/she has been a volunteer for some time.

If the volunteer’s profile is adequate for the ongoing project, the mission proposal with date of departure and duration will be created and the volunteer will be invited to enter the selection process and conduct a personal interview at AMI’s headquarters in Lisbon.

In emergency situations, the volunteer may be invited to leave for the terrain in a very short time, so at this point true availability is required at the time of the call.

When medical and nursing volunteers intend to leave in a non-disengaged manner from their employer, they may do so on an “unpaid leave” basis if they belong to a public health agency.

To this end, AMI initiates an application to the Ministry of Health which, in turn, directs it to the Hospital or Health Centre where the volunteer works. This process usually takes 1 month. It is recommended, however, that the volunteer contacts his/her superior in advance to discuss the openness to this authorization.

Foreign languages:

The need to master foreign languages ​​will depend, once again, on the country of destination. It will be preferable — and, in some missions, compulsory —  the command of English or French, for ease of travel and contacts with international organizations in the field.

The domain of the local language or dialect will be a preferred factor.

For all the functions defined below, the volunteers with the appropriate profile for the project that they intend to integrate will be prioritized, as well as the volunteers who have attended the Training of International Volunteers, which is held once a year for a period of two days.

I – International / Technical Volunteers

Doctor:

General practitioners are the most needed in the field, as there are often no doctors in the intervention area. Preference is given to those with a background in tropical medicine and/or professional experience in tropical countries.

The duration of the mission should not be less than 3 months, and an availability of 6 months or more is a preferable scenario.

Specialist doctors (mainly surgeons, anaesthesiologists, gynaecologists, obstetricians, paediatricians, ophthalmologists) usually perform short-term missions (from 1 month to a maximum of 3 months), only integrating projects in which this training is crucial.

For longer-term missions they are usually integrated into the medical infrastructures where AMI provides assistance.

Doctors trained in epidemiology and public health are particularly helpful in designing and following up our programs.

Nurse:

Priority is given to training/experience in Tropical Medicine and Obstetrics. Preference is also given to nurses with field experience, particularly in developing countries.

He/she must remain for at least 6 months in the field (except for emergency missions).

Other professionals:

Due to ongoing projects, professionals from other areas such as development technicians, engineers, nutritionists and logisticians are also sent to the field.

The duration of the missions shall be of no less than 6 months.

AMI accepts, for future registration, entries from other health and developmental areas, but does not currently submit volunteers other than the above mentioned areas.

Head of Mission:

Only in missions where there is no “AMI coordinator in the country” or where there are two projects in distant locations, is a “head of mission” appointed. This function is assigned to one of the technicians in the field who accumulates it with their functions as a doctor, nurse or other.

The Head of Mission represents AMI at the intervention site. He/she is responsible for the local implementation of the project and the management of the team and resources.

In missions where there is no “AMI coordinator in the country”, he/she also assumes the functions inherent to this position. The Head of Mission is one of the technical volunteers of the team appointed for the purpose according to his profile, previous experience in AMI missions, etc.

II – Contractor / AMI coordinator in the country

He/she is the official AMI representative in the country, representing the Foundation before all local authorities, foreign representations, international organizations, among others.

He/she coordinates on-site the ongoing project(s), in close coordination with AMI’s headquarters, working on the assessment of needs, design, implementation and evaluation of the project, as well as reporting. Therefore, knowledge and experience in project management is required.

He/she is also responsible for all the mission’s management: customs clearance, travel, accommodation of the teams, documentation, hiring of local personnel, coordination of the expatriate team; Financial management of projects.

Selection Criteria:

Fluency in English, French and the official language spoken in the mission’s country; Experience in project management in developing countries; Teamwork; Experience in team management; Integration in multicultural environments.

For each vacancy, terms of reference are defined, with certain criteria according to the specificities of each mission.

The selected candidate will depart with a contract of employment for a period of no less than one year.