Mae Tao Clinic staff come from all over Burma to recieve medical training so they can help their people.
Today the clinic’s staff spans a range of age, experience, and ethnicity. A visitor to the clinic might hear three or four languages being used at any given moment as the staff go about their work. Medics volley in conversation, jumping between Burmese, English and their own ethnic languages. Of course, the original founders of the clinic were from the Karen and Burman ethnic groups, however, this was due mainly to the proximity of the clinic to Karen State, and the linguistic needs of the majority of patients.
Despite the traditionally large contingent of Karen speaking staff, recent years have shown a growing diversity in the languages used in the daily running of the clinic’s operations. We have been fortunate over the years to have good working partnerships with national, regional and international partners. Thanks to our partners, our staff have given great opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge through training, accredited university education programmes, and workshops.
Births, weddings, deaths, and festivals are celebrated within the clinic society, with staff quarters centered around the clinic grounds. When Dr. Cynthia remarks, “This is not only a clinic, it is also a village”, one can see that this applies to both patients and staff.
In 2019, around 390 staff are working in Mae Tao Clinic from the health to education to training to Burma Based Health Services.
(Last Update: 7 August 2019)