Overview
International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility to respond rapidly to emergency situations, International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance. The establishment of International Medical Corps in 1984 was a development that had global significance, not because it added another name to the pool of international relief agencies, but because it boldly declared the emergence of a new kind of relief agency. By providing health care through training, International Medical Corps challenged indeed, changed the very definition of relief.