Leading a STM Medical Team

Early Pre-Trip Tasks

Trip Objectives

The trip objectives are among the earliest decisions for the leader to begin discussing with the sending organization and the national host. The trip objectives must align with the needs of the host as well as the overall missional objectives of the sending organization. This alignment of expectations between the sending organization, host, and ministry partner (if one) will help set reasonable expectations for all parties.

These expectations may be limited due to financial, time, or other constraints and these are always better stated at the outset. The careful definition of clear objectives also helps in recruiting team members since the objectives will define the skill set of the team needed to carry out a particular mission. If the correct mix of team member skills is not recruited (provided by God), then reassessment of realistic trip objectives must be made in consultation with the medical director and nursing director.

The importance of careful and explicit definition of trip objectives cannot be overemphasized. For example, if the team is going to a remote village to host a mobile medical clinic, the national host might envision a campaign in which 500 or 1,000 patients per day will be seen, when the reality is that the team of three providers can realistically only see 100 patients per day. Being as specific as possible with the national host key contact about days, hours of operation, capacity, skill set, etc. will go a long way towards avoiding misunderstandings or hard feelings once you are in the field. You will also want to verify that the host key contact is actually passing along this information to the local nationals who will be present at the site. This can be done in the form of a meeting once you are in country, with the key contact and the others all present to review the objectives and expectations for the services to be delivered by the team.

Reviewing and refining this information with the host during the entire pre-trip period is important. As the trip departure date approaches, this process will of course become critical since the trip objectives serve as the basis for much of the final phase of planning including: ordering supplies and meds, training requirements for the team, finalizing the daily schedule, determining transportation and translator needs, and finalizing the budget. It becomes ever more apparent that the earlier this decision about trip objectives occurs, the better!

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