Physician Marc Levin: How to Make MSF Work With Your Career

MSF aid worker, Marc Levin, has completed several missions with MSF while also maintaining his job as a family physician in New York City. Here he explains how careful planning -- both professionally and financially -- allows him to balance his work with MSF with his career in the United States. TRANSCRIPT It was always my dream to work for MSF, and so it was important for me to find ways to make MSF work with my career. I think the way that I most make it work is planning ahead, really speaking to my employer and finding times when it will work for both of us, when I can go away for periods. I think financially it is often a challenge because certainly I get paid much less when I work with MSF than when I work in the U.S. But I think in terms of making choices in my life and living pretty frugally so that I can go on a mission for six months where I don't make a lot of money and still cover my costs here. I live in a small apartment here in New York; I sublet my apartment when I go away. I'm careful about how I spend my money when I'm here so that I can have the MSF experience. I think the biggest thing is finding an employer or finding a place that will be supportive of your work if it is something that you want to build into your career. I think that's probably the biggest trick. And it takes a lot of planning. I might want to go tomorrow, but it's just not feasible and I have to wait six months or a year or two years before it's the right time. But for me, that's what's worked in terms of me maintaining a career here and also maintaining a career with MSF.