Evaluation of a short-term medical mission to Syrian refugee camps in Turkey

As of November 2012, more than 111,000 Syrian refugees were living in Turkey, with approximately 12,000 of them being hosted in refugee camps in the province of Hatay, where many services including shelter, food, healthcare, education, social activities and security are provided. Five of these Hatay refugee camps were visited during short-term medical missions organised by the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) to help provide additional medical and psychological support to the Syrian refugees. Since the first mission in September 2011, twenty nine physicians have volunteered through this organisation.

In order to review a short-term medical mission to the Syrian refugee camps in Hatay, Turkey, assessing its overall impact and identifying areas of improvement and most need, a survey has been conducted with individuals known to have participated in the SAMS medical mission to Turkey anytime between September 2011 and March 2012. This document summarises the findings of the survey.