> VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

Types of Volunteers

The size of our teams varies depending on the number of operating rooms available. An average team is comprised of four plastic surgeons, four or five pediatric anesthesiologists, a head nurse, four operating room nurses, three recovery room nurses, two pediatricians and a professional who can counsel about prevention and diet. We also invite dentists, orthodontists, and speech pathologists to participate on our trips. In addition, we bring approximately ten non-medical Rotary volunteers. These numbers are based on the availability of three or four operating rooms and an average of 100 children treated during a six-day period.

Medical Volunteers

• Plastic Surgeons w/Cleft Care Background
• Pediatricians
• Anesthesiologists
• Operating Room Nurses *
• Recovery Room Nurses *
• Orthodontists
• Dentists
• Speech Pathologists
• Geneticists**

* We require a minimum of two years clinical experience in this specialty.

**All Geneticist are recruited through the UOP School of Dentistry

Medical team members are selected and approved by the Rotaplast Medical Committee. For more information on requirements for medical volunteers, please email us.

Medical Volunteers (download PDF application)

Non-Medical Volunteers (download PDF application)

Our non-medical volunteers are usually affiliated with the mission Sponsor and are carefully selected. In many cases our pool of volunteers are from Rotary Districts and/or Rotary Clubs sponsoring an international service project with Host Clubs. We ask that our non-medical volunteers' commitment to Rotaplast go beyond the scope of the immediate medical mission.  With a limited number of spaces each year, volunteers become part of our alumni.  As such, they help expand our efforts by creating public awareness of the program here in the United States and Canada.

Non-medical volunteer responsibilities may be shared with other team members or changed during the course of the medical mission. Flexibility is an important quality for a volunteer because the hours will be very long and demanding. Volunteers should be in good physical health.

While the medical staff is responsible for the surgeries, the duties of the non-medical include acting as ambassadors of good will with our hosts. Under no circumstances will a non-medical volunteer assist in the actual surgical process.

We do not accept any high school or college aged students as non-medical volunteers

Mission Director
It is the responsibility of the Mission Director to set the tone for the entire trip. The Mission Director must have at least two years experience as a team member and have been trained by a prior Mission Director. The Mission Director must be a Rotarian and supervises the smooth flow of operations. Included in the responsibilities is facilitating communication among the team and between the team members and our hosts. The responsibility for the safety of the team rests with the Mission Director. S/he takes care of assigning tasks to the non-medical staff and making sure that the medical team is able to function efficiently and with as little stress as possible. In addition, the Mission Director handles communications with the local media and acts as an ambassador of goodwill. Knowledge of the language is helpful.

Assistant Mission Director
The Assistant Mission Director helps the Mission Director with the preliminary preparations for the trip and backs up the Mission Director at the site. The Assistant Mission Director must have been on at least one prior mission and completed the Mission Director Training Program.

Quartermaster
The Quartermaster coordinates the moving of equipment and boxes from the United States to the host country and back again. S/he deals with customs agents, counting of boxes, and unpacking of equipment on arrival and re-packing upon departure. The Quartermaster should be in excellent physical health and have the stamina to handle the transportof boxes and medical cargo.

Translator
The translator acts as a liaison between the medical staff and the patients and between families and local hosts whenever necessary. The role of the translator is to interpret exactly what is being asked and not to comment unless so requested. A translator must be flexible and be able to work under intense, emotional, and often times confusing conditions.

Equipment Sterilizer
The Sterilizer makes sure that the instruments are cleaned and sterilized as the surgeries progress during the day.

Photographer/Journalist

It is the responsibility of the Photographer/Journalist to record the trip in daily updates, to take photographs, and to communicate back to the office a record of what is occurring on site. The Photographer/ Journalist job does not end upon return. The volunteer provides Rotaplast International with a PowerPoint presentation, digital photos, and personal stories of patients and team members in a 1,500 word document we use to create a Mission Newsletter. Knowledge of the language is helpful.