You might find yourself wanting to get involved with organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Merlin, Red Cross/Red Crescent or Medicins Du Monde, but being nothing but a student, you might only find closed doors: ‘Experience needed’, ‘no electives offered’ and ‘qualified personnel only’.

Does that mean you have to wait till you qualify? Well, MSF for one specifies you need to have completed 2 years at senior house officer level before considering going out as a volunteer with them [1]. With the introduction of the Foundation Programme in August 2005, medical doctors completing the training will be required to have successfully completed F2 plus at least 1 year post F2 professional experience before you are ready to work for MSF. Nevertheless, getting involved with MSF is more than going out into the world, and as a student there is a wonderful variety of ways to support MSF, some of which are listed below. Personally, I have had an amazing time last year setting up the Sheffield ‘Friends of MSF’ (FoMSF) group, and the support from MSF head-office has been second to none. Furthermore, the speakers who came to speak were extremely supportive and had great patience in answering the multitude of questions which an excited student audience have to offer.