Physicians for Peace is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to transform lives by training, supporting and empowering healthcare professionals working with the world’s underserved populations. Our programs lead with education and training aimed at healthcare professionals because education has an exponential effect: when you heal someone, you help one person. When you teach someone to heal, you help many.
Dr. Charles E. Horton Sr. officially incorporated Physicians for Peace in 1989 after years of humanitarian work. Our international headquarters are located in Norfolk, Va., USA.
We have developed three broad strategies, which serve as the backbone of every outreach effort: we TEACH, we COLLABORATE and we SUSTAIN. When combined, these strategies allow us to strategically deliver services across medical specialties while responding with flexibility to specific training needs identified in a given hospital or clinic.
By focusing on these three strategies we can create sustainable improvements in healthcare that lead to improved better patient care, empowered communities and a healthier world.
Because we believe that teaching local health professionals and building the capacity to heal their own patients is the key to sustainable improvements in global health, our missions are focused on training and education instead of direct medical and surgical care. Our Medical Training Teams are often smaller than typical medical mission teams, and our International Medical Educators (IMEs) are selected based on their ability to train and empower others, and understand cultural nuances that will improve patient care over the long term. Physicians for Peace teams often continue their relationship with the local healthcare teams over many years, building on skills with each training mission.
Since our founding in 1989, we have sent mission teams to more than 60 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. To see the extent of our reach, visit our online map.
Yes. We have sister offices in the Dominican Republic and in the Philippines.
Our mission is to provide medical training and education to health care workers in the countries where we send teams. We employ local professionals in the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. Medical training teams are made up of International Medical Educators, volunteer medical professionals who are highly skilled as both practitioners and educators, and who approach each training mission with cultural sensitivity, humility and flexibility.
Partnerships are at the heart of our work. Physicians for Peace is a member of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations, and the only network of its kind to employ standards, rather than guidelines, for its members. We’re also a founding member of the Haitian Amputee Coalition and we helped found a Burn Care Consortium among Latin American medical facilities, foundations and NGOs. In recent years, we’ve partnered with groups including ChildFund International, ReSurge International and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, through the Millennium Cities Initiative, among many other groups. Click here to view a comprehensive list of partners.
Our work is funded through the generous gifts of our volunteers, individual supporters, corporations and foundations. All of the healthcare professionals who serve as International Medical Educators are volunteers who donate their time and expertise and, in many cases, also supplies. We also are able to benefit from the generosity of corporations, who donate medical supplies and equipment.
Our mission scheduled is posted on our website.
Physicians for Peace Global Health directors work with our established in-country partners to determine need and timing of Medical Training Missions each year. In addition, our Program Directors receive requests from potential new partners on a regular basis. The Program Director, along with established IMEs, perform an analysis of any new request for education and training, based on fit within our core competencies, alignment of values with requesting partner, ability to meet the identified needs, review of the proposed budget needs, ability to ensure the safety of the team, and more. The Program Director then presents this analysis, along with a recommendation, to the Medical Operations Committee (MOC) of the Board of Directors. This Committee meets regularly to oversee our programs and review requests. The MOC then makes a decision to approve a fact find, defer a decision pending receipt of additional information or deny the new request.
Physicians for Peace Program Directors work closely with Volunteer Team Leaders and in-country host partners (hospitals, clinics, Ministries of Health) to identify training needs. Teams of International Medical Educators (IMEs) are then customized based on the identified training needs and may include: surgeons, nurses, therapists, pediatricians, and other healthcare specialists. Total team size also varies based on need, and may include anywhere from 1 to 20 team members. On average, the team consists of about 4 healthcare professionals who volunteer their time and skills, and spend from between 5 -10 days in the field.
Thank you very much for your interest and sharing our belief that medical training and education has a crucial role in creating a healthier world. Physicians for Peace maintains a database of interested IMEs, who are contacted when their skills match our partners’ needs for specific specialties. Click here to view a list of current IME specializations we are recruiting. Only those whose skills may be needed on a Medical Training Mission will be contacted to continue the application process.
Upon submission of the IME application, you should receive an automated reply thanking you for your application and advising you that we will contact you if there are any Medical Training Missions that can benefit from your skills.
An IME is asked to make a $350 tax-deductible contribution to Physicians for Peace for each Medical Training Mission in which he or she participates. In addition, we ask each IME to consider a variety of ways in which you can contribute to the success of our program, including: making an additional donation, sharing your story with friends and colleagues who would be interested in supporting the work, joining our Speakers’ Bureau, or contributing to a scholarship fund for other IME volunteers.
Your $350 tax-deductible contribution is allocated to help cover the costs of our programs where the needs are greatest.
Physicians for Peace strives to raise donor support to cover the airfare, lodging, and transport costs of IMEs. Additional donations from IMEs help offset these costs.
On occasion, we will extend an invitation to a professional photographer/videographer or fluent (preferably, native-tongue) translator to join a mission team. If you are qualified and interested in volunteering for one of these limited slots, please complete the online application.
Because our focus is on specialized colleague-to-colleague training and education of healthcare professionals, we have very few spaces for medical students on our teams. Physicians for Peace does offer a 4th year medical student mission opportunity for up to 5 students in partnership with Eastern Virginia Medical School. Other medical students can apply for one of our limited student opportunities (see more information below).
Interested college and graduate students are also encouraged to apply for internships at our Norfolk, VA headquarters. You may contact info@physiciansforpeace.org for more information or complete the online application.
As a way of benchmarking progress and planning future programs, forward-thinking nonprofits measure and evaluate their programs. Through our Medical Operations Committee, and with the guidance of experts at George Washington University Medical School, Physicians for Peace has implemented a comprehensive system that draws on feedback and data from our volunteers, partners and the populations we serve to measure and evaluate missions.
Physicians for Peace is guided by a Board of Directors comprised of individuals with leadership roles in medicine, business, international relations, academia and government policy. Volunteer leaders from the medical community also provide regular, expert counsel to our Global Health program directors through the Medical Operations Committee.
We put your gift to action. When you donate to Physicians for Peace, you can rest assured that we'll invest your gift in sustainable, education-based solutions. Unless otherwise stated, your donation will be used in general support of our efforts around the world.
Independent, third-party agencies including Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) look at a nonprofit’s financial statements, governance, program outcomes and fundraising practices, among other factors. Physicians for Peace meets all of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Standards for Charity Accountability, and Charity Navigator has recognized us for exceptional organizational efficiency. Physicians for Peace is also a is a USAID-registered Private and Voluntary Organization (PVO), a designation that requires organizations to meet a rigorous set of organizational, financial and programmatic standards.
More than 94 percent of our cash and material donations go directly toward our Global Health programs.
We believe that our donors have a right to expect regular updates on programs and our financial reports. You can access our financial information online, and through our focused communications efforts, we endeavor to keep our supporters aware of our latest news, without overwhelming your mailbox or inbox. And, we always welcome comments, questions and feedback.
IMEs are generally unable to request a specific country, but may make a preference known on their application.
There are many ways in which you can get involved and support Physicians for Peace. Your generous financial gift will help kindle our next training opportunity. We also welcome supply drives to support our partners and their patients with items including prenatal vitamins, antibiotic lotion or collapsible walkers. View our complete list of items. If you would like to host an event for Physicians for Peace or volunteer at our headquarters or warehouse in Norfolk, Va., please contact us.
Read our mission blogs for regular updates from the field. To subscribe to our print or e-mail mailing list, please submit an E-News Sign Up form online. You can also follow us on Twitter (Physician4Peace) and Facebook.
