Medical Professionals
General / family physicians, pediatricians, obstetricians, and gynecologists are the medical specializations the villages we serve request most frequently, but we do have occasional need for those with other specializations, such as otolaryngologists, cardiologists, etc. We also welcome nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants.
Our work in remote areas often prevents us from having access to lab services or from coordinating anything more than basic patient follow-up with local providers where they exist. The Los Médicos Voladores medical team bring with them all or most of the equipment, supplies, and medications needed for a clinic.
All physicians are required to carry malpractice coverage. If retired, you may qualify for free or significantly reduced retirement tail while doing volunteer work. Check with your insurance provider.
All medical professionals, including nurse practitioners, and physician’s assistants will be required to have a verifiable current/valid license to practice in California for California Clinics, or for any state in the US, or other country for International Clinics, including Mexico. Nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants must have an LMV physician present while treating patients or immediately reachable by phone.
All medical professionals should have their own basic examination tools available, i.e. stethoscope, and basic medical bag equipment. Additionally, non-expired donations of medications are WELCOME, antibiotics, over the counter pain reliever/ fever reducer, decongestants, Diabetes supplies, and more. Mexico authorities will not allow expired medications to be brought in the country for clinics.
If you are a resident or intern and would like to volunteer but lack the funds to do so, LMV may cover some of, or all of your trip fee using available Angel Funds, and, depending on the clinic location, you may qualify for our Resident’s Fund.
Further questions? Contact our Chief Healthcare Professional or your nearest LMV chapter.
Dentistry
Dentists, Oral Surgeons, Dental Hygienists, & Dental Assistants are needed on most of the LMV trips since a dentistry component is usually included at each clinic. The absence of services in the remote areas LMV serves, combined with lack of dental hygiene education, and a diet high in sugary foods keeps the LMV dental team busy.
Dentists will need to bring supplies and tools with them on trips. In most cases LMV will provide a full dental kit to take. Many times LMV has items donated, but in certain cases dental professionals may be reimbursed for needed supplies you purchase in advance with LMV approval. Additionally, LMV can help to raise funds or collect donated supplies before the trip starts.
All dental professionals, including dental hygienists, will be required have a verifiable current/valid license to practice in California for California Clinics, or for any state in the US, or other country for International Clinics, including Mexico. Dental assistants must have documentation of training.
Further questions? Contact our Chief Dental Professional or your nearest LMV chapter.
Optometry and Ophthalmology
All of our clinics have a high demand for optometry and ophthalmology services. Most residents of the villages we serve have no access to local eye care, and lack the money or ability to travel the often great distances to the nearest clinic. There’s no greater joy than helping a child who’s having trouble in school because they can’t see, or an older person who has trouble doing close-up work. You can see the delight on the people’s faces when we give them a pair of glasses on the spot.
Optometrists need to bring eye charts and any other tools or instruments you will need on a trip. LMV owns an auto-refractor which is available to take on any trip, but which must be requested in advance from your LMV trip coordinator. LMV supplies approximately 120 pairs of glasses for each Mexico clinic, either newly purchased or obtained through our Used Eyeglasses Program. For our Latin America trips we supply approximately 600 pairs of new reading glasses in addition to the prescription glasses obtained through our Used Eyeglasses Program.
Further questions? Contact our Chief Healthcare Professional or your nearest LMV chapter.
Healthcare Support Professionals
LMV places significant value on the contributions of healthcare support professionals [e.g. Physician Assistants (PA), Nurse Practitioners (NP), Registered Nurses (RN)] to our healthcare activities.
Such LMV members may work on any trip (OASIS, Mexico, Latin America) as long as they are supervised by a licensed physician. The supervising licensed physician must be one of the following:
- Doctor of Medicine (MD),
- Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO),
- -or- “pasante”, a physician assigned to the local village.
The supervising licensed physician must be:
- physically present at the treatment facility,
- immediately available in person,
- -or- immediately available by phone.
The supervising physician may be licensed anywhere in the world, except at OASIS where they must be licensed in California.
(Policy approved at LMV corporate meeting, 9 Jan 2010)
Pilots
LMV volunteer pilots make our Mexico and California programs possible. Although two of the locations we serve can be reached by car, most are only reachable by small aircraft. Similarly, the vast majority of our volunteer teams are able to participate only with the additional speed of travel a small plane affords.
To volunteer for LMV, licensed pilots must meet the following requirements:
All Pilots:
- Current FAA medical
- Successful checkride and oral exam prior to first trip
- Orientation trip to Mexico with another LMV volunteer pilot for first trip
- Maintain insurance (and provide a copy of your proof of insurance to LMV’s chief pilot).
VFR Pilots:
- Minimum of 750 hours of PIC time
- Annual ride-along by approved LMV check pilot
IFR Pilots:
- Minimum of 500 hours of PIC time
- Current instrument rating
- Annual IPC
Spanish Language Translators
Each of our clinic trips requires at least one Spanish-language translator; some trips, like multiple-aircraft Mexico trips or our Latin America trips, require more.
Good conversational-level Spanish is the minimum we require for service as an translator. We particularly value a comfortable knowledge of health-related words.
What’s it like to volunteer as an translator for an LMV trip? In three words: exhausting but rewarding. You may be the only Spanish-speaker on a four- or five-person team running a clinic in Mexico, and although most of our returning pilot and healthcare volunteers pick up words here or there, your skills may be needed not only during patient treatment, but also to help the group order meals in a restaurant, or to translate when the group meets with the mayor or other local officials. You’ll hear the thankfulness of the people LMV treats first, and help convey it to your team. And it’s the best language practice you can get.
Further questions? Ask your trip coordinator to put you in touch with one of our experienced translators, or contact your nearest LMV chapter.
Please note that as with all trip participants, translators pay a trip fee that varies according to the location of the clinic.
General Volunteers
General volunteers do everything on LMV trips from equipment sterilization, to generator maintenance, intake record keeping, photography, or report writing. Even with no healthcare training, the healthcare volunteers on your team may teach you to assist them by handing them instruments, holding a flashlight to help a dentist see inside a patient’s mouth, or do any of the other dozens of tasks required to help a clinic trip run smoothly on the ground.
Because our clinics require foremost the volunteer assistance of healthcare professionals, interpreters, and (for Mexico and Oasis trips) pilots, and because team sizes are limited, we may not have space on a trip immediately for you as a general volunteer. Contributing your time and energy as an administrative volunteer (see below) will help give you additional knowledge that may make you more valuable as a general volunteer on a trip, so consider volunteering for the appropriate LMV chapter if you are able. Otherwise, please do let your trip coordinator know you’re interested in continuing to be considered for a trip, and s/he will place you on a team as soon as circumstances permit.
Further questions? Ask your trip coordinator to put you in touch with one of our experienced general volunteers, or contact your nearest LMV chapter.
Please note that as with all trip participants, general volunteers pay a trip fee that varies according to the location of the clinic. Please visit our trip signup page for more information.
ADMINISTRATIVE VOLUNTEERS
All of LMV’s work is made possible by the leadership and support of the administrative volunteers in each chapter and at the central “corporate” level – our chapter board members, fundraiser event organizers, newsletter editors, membership roster-keepers, and other members who attend meetings and support LMV in myriad ways.