Each year billions of dollars are spent on medical missions that send medical professionals – from medical students, residents, nurses, PAs, to orthodontists and dentists – to provide much-needed healthcare in regions where local communities have limited access to medical services. These far flung destinations include places such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and have the aim to help underserved populations both short and long term.

If you are planning such a trip, or are part of a medical mission, you’ll want to make sure that you and the rest of your team are outfitted appropriately in a way that helps you perform your best, while remaining cost effective.

Here’s what to look for when deciding what your team should wear on your medical mission:

1. Weather adaptive. Many of these regions have unpredictable yet extreme climates, so find a scrubs brand that uses performance fabric to keep you and your team cool in hot climates, warm in cold climates, and dry in humid climates. Chances are you’ll experience some combination of all three!
2. Comfortable. Have you ever had to take a test or give a presentation when you’re wearing a shirt with an itchy tag or that keeps riding up? Appearance may not be a huge priority on a medical mission, but your team will perform its best when they are the most comfortable and aren’t distracted by ill-fitting, scratchy scrubs.
3. Low maintenance. Look for performance fabrics that wick moisture, are wrinkle free, and that release stains easily. Once you get to your destination, you aren’t going to want to worry about wrinkled scrubs and sweat stains!
4. Durable. To keep costs down you might be inclined to spend as little as possible on your medical apparel, but that might end up costing you more in the long run. If you spend $10 on a pair of scrubs pants that start to rip apart after 5 washes, you’re not really saving anything by buying those instead of investing a little on a pair of scrub pants that might cost $40 but will last for hundreds of washes.
5. Consider underscrubs. Depending on the climate, it might be wise to include comfortable “underscrubs” – performance shirts that can be worn comfortably under a scrubs top – in your medical mission uniform.