Who We Are

Our commitment to comprehensive and patient-centered care doesn’t only ensure the best possible outcomes. It’s the right thing to do. It’s a value that’s at the heart of every credentialed medical volunteer we select, regardless of where they call home. We are open-minded and accepting of cultural diversity, understanding that flexibility and humility are the keys to problem solving in challenging and fast-paced environments. We value the opportunity to learn from and share skills with some of the world’s most talented, dedicated and innovative medical professionals. While volunteerism has the power to change our lives and create lifelong friendships, we choose to come together to transform the lives of people affected by cleft conditions who lack access to essential and safe surgical care.

Operation Smile medical programs are almost entirely volunteer-based, so we rely on medical professionals who can take charge of their roles with confidence, conviction and world-class skill. These traits have made Operation Smile a global leader in performing safe cleft surgery in resource-limited environments for more than three decades. Guided by our Medical Global Standards, medical volunteers must be able to work as a team to balance the highest possible quality of care with the efficiency to serve as many patients as our time and resources will allow. This demands stamina – physically, mentally and emotionally – as long hours and a fast pace are expected of our volunteers. Our work also requires travel to locations across the globe, which presents its own set of demands and challenges.

Medical Programs at a Glance

• Operation Smile’s Medical Programs deliver comprehensive care services to patients with cleft conditions. These include surgical and non-surgical interventions offered at hospitals, clinics, cleft care centers or in community settings. These can be short term (ranging from one day to two weeks) or involve long-term placement of medical professionals to support service delivery, technical exchanges and capacity building activities. Additional opportunities for involvement in Medical Programs include areas that support the building components of health systems involved in the delivery of safe surgical and anesthesia care.
• In addition to our typical medical programs, Operation Smile is dedicated to education and training initiatives for our local volunteer bases and health care workers.  
• International volunteers will primarily be recruited to support local programs and, therefore, the criteria and specific skills needed by volunteers will vary by program and country.
  • Please note, that volunteer opportunities will be extremely limited as there may only be one or two international volunteer needs per medical program.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to be a key factor that plays into how we plan and carry out our programs.
• Flights and lodging costs are covered by Operation Smile.

Resident Leadership Program

Operation Smile’s Resident Leadership Program has been an important part of our organization and a signature program for our education team dating back to 2009. 

As Operation Smile continues to grow to meet the needs of our patients and their communities, as well as the health workers who serve them, we continually evaluate programs within the education portfolio as we evolve our strategy. To better serve our patients while also growing sustainable surgical ecosystems, we have paused the Resident Leadership Program at this time. We offer our deepest gratitude to the past sponsors of the program, the Regan family through the Harbourton Foundation and Stryker, which enabled Operation Smile to build the skills of over 1,000 surgeons, pediatricians and anesthesiologists from 57 countries.

Operation Smile remains committed to the training and education of health care workers around the world, and our programs will continue to provide opportunities to elevate the skills of these providers.  

Volunteer Specialties

Operation Smile is a globally inclusive organization, and we recognize that countries have varying job titles and educational requirements. Operation Smile’s medical specialty roles below encompass these differences if they are in compliance with our Medical Global Standards. Volunteers from the following medical specialties make up our medical program teams.  Please review the specialty qualifications and submit a volunteer interest form below.

**Medical Specialty Recruitment Updates**:

Please note, we have temporarily closed applications from the following countries for specific volunteer positions:

• United States: Medical Records (non-medical), CRNA, Pre/Post Nurses (Pre/Post nurse applicants who are fluent or conversational in a language other than/in addition to English are still being considered – French and Spanish speakers highly needed), Dental, Patient Imaging Tech
• Canada: Medical Records (non-medical), CRNA, Pre/Post Nurses (Pre/Post nurse applicants who are fluent or conversational in a language other than/in addition to English are still being considered – French and Spanish speakers highly needed), Dental, Patient Imaging Tech
• Sweden: Medical Records (non-medical), CRNA, All Nurses, Dental, Patient Imaging Tech
• United Kingdom: Medical Records (non-medical), CRNA, Pre/Post Nurses (Pre/Post nurse applicants who are fluent or conversational in a language other than/in addition to English are still being considered – French and Spanish speakers highly needed), Dental, Patient Imaging Tech
• All Countries: Medical Records
• If you currently live in a country where we do not have a foundation office, please follow U.S. guidelines for applications. See a list of countries where Operation Smile works.

Interested in learning more about joining our team of more than 6,000 volunteers? Email us!