About Us

Medical Teams International is a Christian global health organization, demonstrating the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty. We deliver medical and dental care, humanitarian aid, and holistic development programs to all people in need, regardless of religion, nationality, sex, or race. We respond to disasters around the world—and here at home—by sending teams of volunteer medical professionals and medical supplies to care for the sick and injured. We also mobilize long-term health promotion initiatives, collaborating with established partners within each community to ensure that our programs have a sustainable impact. 

Formerly Northwest Medical Teams, Medical Teams International was founded in 1979 when Oregon businessman Ron Post was moved to action by a news report detailing the plight of starving refugees on the Thai-Cambodian border. Post organized 27 medical volunteers within two weeks to bring desperately-needed supplies and medical care to the refugees. Since 1979, we have sent more than 2,200 volunteer teams and shipped more than $1.5 billion in lifesaving medical supplies around the world.

Last year alone we helped more than 2.1 million people in 72 countries.

Medical Teams International is uniquely positioned to leverage every dollar of funding for maximum impact by managing over 2,000 volunteers each year to ship and administer millions of dollars worth of donated medical supplies. For every $30 spent on aid shipments last fiscal year, Medical Teams International sent $1,954 in humanitarian aid. 

Medical Teams International delivers personal hygiene and medical items to 70 social service agencies in the northwest. These agencies received $1,136,125 in gifts in kind during the 2011 fiscal year. The list of our agencies is on our Pacific Northwest Partners page.

Charity Navigator, America’s largest and most-recognized charity evaluator, named Medical Teams International as one of its 10 Top Notch Charities. Charity Navigator has also consistently awarded Medical Teams International four stars, its highest ranking. We are recognized for sending 97% of resources to the programs that help people around the world. “This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Medical Teams International from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust,” writes Ken Berger, president and CEO of Charity Navigator.

For an overview of our organization, please see the Medical Teams International Overview video.

Fast facts for fiscal year 2011

Download and print our Fast Facts brochure.

Our work

We currently have programs in 28 countries.

Afghanistan Burundi Cambodia Cameroon El Salvador Ethiopia Gabon Guatemala Guinea Haiti Honduras Indonesia Kenya Liberia Malawi

Mali Mexico Moldova Mozambique Nicaragua Niger South Sudan Sudan, West Darfur Uganda United States Vietnam Uzbekistan

We have sent medical aid and supplies to the following countries.

Afghanistan Bangladesh Bosnia Cambodia Cameroon Dominican Republic DR Congo Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Gaza

Ghana Guatemala Haiti Honduras India Indonesia Iraq Israel Kenya Lebanon Liberia Malawi Mali Mexico

Moldova Mozambique Myanmar Nepal Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Romania

Rwanda Sierra Leone Sri Lanka Sudan Tajikistan Uganda United States Uzbekistan Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe

Employment and Volunteering

If you are interested in joining us to help people in need around the world, please see our job openings on the Employment page and our volunteer opportunities on our Volunteer page.

Connect with us

Learn more about us by seeing our photo albums on Picasa and videos on YouTube. Stay in touch with us by following us on Twitter and joining our growing community of friends on Facebook.