Meet the FTG team

	Mandana Mehta is a paediatric doctor specialized in international and public health. She completed the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and International Health at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. Mandana's experience of working in low resource settings since 2004 provided the experience that led to the inception of Fill That Gap. Having experienced first hand the impact on vulnerable communities of poorly staffed clinics, along with the obstacles and frustrations in arranging medical volunteerism Mandana saw a need for an organisation that could bring together volunteers and communities in need.
	Mirna van der Palen is in the final stage of her general practitioner training in the Netherlands and also completed the DTMIH at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. This is where she and Mandana first met. Mirna has also worked on the board of an NGO which supported a hospital in Ghana and provided medical students with the opportunity to do part of their training in a low resource setting. Furthermore, she worked for a health clinic and NGO in Cambodia and did part of her training and research in Ghana.
	Ghizlaine Menebhi holds a Master's degree in Politics, with a specialization in humanitarian project management. She has worked for the Belgian Ministry of Foreign affairs, a national development cooperative and a major International health NGO. To date her work has included projects that covered human resources, international logistics and project finance management. Ghizlaine worked in complex low resource settings, including South Sudan in 2012 and Syria in 2013 before joining a Brussels based research centre as European projects management officer. Ghizlaine Menebhi is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of our organisation.

Fill That Gap is a Belgian registered not for profit organisation, and our headquarters are based in Brussels.

And our board of directors:

Fill That Gap's management team is guided and supported by a Board of Directors who lend considerable expertise and varied experience to Fill That Gap. The Board of Directors includes medical, legal, financial and communications professionals. Short professional biographies of the Board of Directors are available here. The Board as currently constituted is particularly suited to assist the management team with the setting up and initial activities of the organisation.

What Fill That Gap does, why and how

• Fill That Gap's Mission
  • Fill That Gap is a not for profit International medical locum organisation for local communities in low resource settings who depend on NGOs and expatriate health workers. Our dedicated human resource services help to ensure that local or international efforts can provide continuous access to healthcare. Our mission is to make qualified and experienced healthcare professionals available wherever and whenever they are needed.
• Fill That Gap's Vision
  • Fill That Gap's vision is better medical outcomes through continuous access to health care for all. We specialise in communities living in low resource settings with clinics who depend on international medical personnel - a medical professional accessible for anybody at any time!
• Fill That Gap's objectives:
  1. For expatriate run clinics in low resource settings: To significantly reduce the frequency and duration of closures due to staff shortages.
  2. For expatriate medical staff: A unique opportunity to assist communities in low resource settings and to develop personal knowledge and skills in new and challenging environments.
  3. For healthcare focused NGOs working in low resource settings: To enhance their capacity in the face of complex human resource challenges, and reinforce their effectiveness.
  4. For the global community: To raise awareness of the impact of health workforce shortages in low resource settings.
  5. For funders: To provide a back-up plan for the NGOs they fund by assisting them with their human resources management.
• What does Fill That Gap do?
  • We provide a professional human resources service that allocates staff according to competency rather than availability by acting pro-actively rather than reactively.
• How does Fill That Gap do this?
  • We maintain a database of qualified health workers who are assessed according to high standards.
  • We work with expatriate staffed clinics in low resource settings to identify foreseeable short-term (2-6 weeks) healthcare staff shortages.
  • We manage a matching system which pairs a health worker's profile and availability with an identified gap in health care provision which would normally be met by expatriate staff, and arrange all logistical aspects of their placement.
  • We assess, evaluate and report on the scale and impact of health workforce shortages in low resource settings.
• Why focus on expatriate staffed clinics?
  • We do this to ensure that our work does not undermine local service provision. By fortifying internationally staffed clinics, we hope to prevent locally run clinics from being overwhelmed. This in turn should support the strengthening of local health structures.

Download our Business Plan: