The administrative structure of GO-MED is shown below.

Note: We have listed the members at the top and the Board of Directors and Officers down below, since they are there to serve the members (something that many corporations seem to have forgotten these days!).

Members:

Yearly Membership……….annual fee – FREE

Membership is open to all.

Board of Directors:

The current Board of Directors consists of the following individuals:

  • Lisa Britte Bruhm – PRESIDENT
  • Robin Victor Carr – SECRETARY & TREASURER
  • Rizalina Fandialan Guilatco Carr – DIRECTOR
  • Cynthia Moreno – DIRECTOR
  • Shirley Pinlac-Tiamzon – DIRECTOR
  • Garth Loren Warnock – DIRECTOR
  • Phyllis Emily Reader (REGIONAL DIRECTOR)
  • Dr. William Rolf Young (REGIONAL DIRECTOR)

Their duties can be found in the By-Laws section of the Constitution page (item numbers 12-25).

The Provisional, founding directors of GO-MED were the following individuals (listed alphabetically by last name):

  • Norman Peter Blair
  • Lisa Bruhm
  • Rizalina Guilatco Carr
  • Robin Carr
  • Miechiel Maas
  • Shirley Maas
  • Sam Sarophim
  • Miriam Stewart

In November of 2009, when we began the application for charitable status with the federal government, we discovered a regulation which stated that the number of directors “not at arm’s length” had to represent less than 50% of the total number of directors. Since there were two married couples on the provisional Board (i.e. 4 of the 8, or 50%, were not at arm’s length) Rizalina Guilatco Carr offered her resignation from the Board to allow the application to proceed. Now only 2 of the 7 remaining directors are “not at arm’s length”. (I bet that’s more than you ever wanted to know about a government corporate regulation!)

Officers:

(President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer)

The President is normally elected at the Annual General Meeting. All other officers are appointed by the Board of Directors. Their duties can be found in the By-Laws section of the Constitution page (item numbers 26-33).

  • President (Lisa Bruhm)
  • Secretary & Treasurer (Robin Carr)

Coordinators:

Coordinators are volunteers, some of whom may also be directors. They are in charge of specific responsibilities suggested by their titles:

  • Mission Coordinator
  • Surgical Coordinator
  • Anaesthesiology Coordinator
  • Nursing Coordinator
  • Fund-Raising Coordinator
  • Logistics Coordinator
  • Webmaster

Some individuals may hold two or more Coordinator positions at the same time.

GO-MED Medical/Educational Mission Team:

Each GO-MED “Mission” team consists of members in good standing, who have been selected by the Mission Organizing Committee to fulfill positions required by the specific mission in question.

Mission Team Structure:

The GO-MED Mission Team will consist of some or all of the following:
Mission Leader, Surgical Leader, Anaesthesiology Leader, Nursing Leader, Surgeons, Anaesthesiologists,
OR Nurses, PACU Nurses, and Support Staff (including health educators & other non-medical volunteers).

Mission Organizing Committee:

The members of the Mission Organizing Committee are the following:

  • Mission Coordinator
  • Surgical Coordinator
  • Anaesthesiology Coordinator
  • Nursing Coordinator

Mission Team Selection Procedures:

Application Files:

All applications to volunteer for GO-MED missions are kept on file. Paper applications are scanned and filed electronically. Also kept are records of all selected GO-MED mission team members, including the roles and responsibilities accepted by those members. These files may be appended with evaluations by the Mission Coordinator and Mission Organizing Committee after the missions have been completed.

Selection Procedures:

The Mission Organizing Committee selects volunteers for each mission team according to the following procedures:

  1. A list of the skilled positions required is determined by the Mission Organizing Committee, based on the nature of the mission in question.
  2. An attempt is made to fill 60% – 80% of these positions with applicants who have had previous mission experience with GO-MED. Preference will be given to those who have served on two or more mission teams.
  3. An attempt is made to fill 20% – 40% of these positions with applicants who have had no previous mission experience with GO-MED. This provides an opportunity for new volunteers, as well as ensuring that fresh perspectives are always brought to the GO-MED teams.
  4. The percentages listed in B and C above are guidelines only, however, as the primary consideration is always to fill the required positions with highly skilled personnel who are professional in their orientation.
  5. While an optimal “staff to patient” ratio may depend upon the nature of the mission in question, and certainly depends upon the duration of the mission, the Mission Organizing Committee must always attempt to find a balance between providing adequate back-up personnel and maintaining a professional efficiency. The maintenance of patient safety is the priority.
  6. The Mission Organizing Committee encourages past mission team members and GO-MED Board Members to consider becoming trained as Mission Coordinators, Site Coordinators, Team Leaders and Team Managers for future missions to other developing countries.

Terminology:

Coordinators are responsible for their areas and accountable to the Board for the entire duration of their term.
Leaders occupy the same positions as coordinators during the missions abroad.

For instance, the Surgical Coordinator is called the Surgical Leader during a mission. If the Surgical Coordinator does not go on the mission, she/he will appoint a Surgical Leader who will be accountable to the Surgical Coordinator.

General Guideline:

The following is a general guideline for the positions needed for a two-week surgical mission serving 70 to 80 general and gynaecological patients in two operating rooms with 28 volunteers:

1 mission leader;
1 team leader;
1 site coordinator (can be a local host country contact working with the mission leader);
3 anaesthesiologists;
4 surgeons;
2 registered nurses (RN’s) for pre-op, post-op and intra-venous administration;
6 operating room (OR) nurses;
1 back-up lead operating room nurse (back up for OR and/or PACU);
4 post acute care unit (PACU) nurses;
1 secretary (administrative support) as scheduler, financial manager, and mission journalist;
1 supplies manager;
1 equipment manager;
2 interpreters, “gofers” and transporters;

28 volunteers total.

RACI Model of Business Functioning:

GO-MED uses the RACI model of business functioning. The RACI acronym stands for:

R = Responsible (who “owns” the task);
A = Accountable (who has final authority and “signs off” on the work by R);
C = Consulted (who can be relied on for task consultation & support);
I  = Informed (who must be notified but not necessarily consulted).