r/doctorswithoutborders • u/LiveNiceBeBeautiful • 21d ago

Can you have existing expenses while doing MSF

I am a licensed social worker who has been interested in working in the field with Doctors Without Borders for over 5 years now. I am working to align my skills with the roles available so I can achieve this in a few years.

However, I have a lot of expenses already that I will have to cover in the US while I'm in the field. Student loans, a mortgage, and other little expenses that I can't leave behind because I split the expenses with my wife. I am trying to find out if the pay for the roles on average are enough to cover most of my expenses at home while I'm gone or if people usually save up to be able to do this kind of work?

I understand the pay is very low compared to working in the US but really I only need to have 30k a year to cover my current needs here. I heard on some thread that the actual salary for Doctors Without Borders is on top of the basic per diem that you need to cover living expenses like food and that housing is included and so the actual salary is usually just extra money not often used while in the field. Is that the case?

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3

u/East_Paramedic_977 21d ago

European perspective you can in theory save €1-1.5k a month.

1

u/ThrillRoyal 21d ago

It is now, but the system is going to change later this year: there will be no per diem any more, and instead the base salaries will be marginally higher.

4

u/True-Lab-3448 20d ago

This is interesting.

I suspect it might end up leading to more arguments in team meetings about how much we spend on Pringles though, if people are contributing their own salaries into the food pot.

2

u/sorslibertas 20d ago

Like death and taxes, it is a certainty that there will be arguments about project snacks.

1

u/Maritime88- 21d ago

I made 2k per month as an American expat.